Carrie - January 12, 1990 - February 21, 2000

Carrie came to me late in her life. She was born on January 12, 1990 and came to live with me on December 30, 1998 from Seattle, Washington. Because she was diabetic, her former owners decided they didn't want to take care of her anymore and turned over to a rescue group. This was my first experience with a diabetic dog, and I learned a lot from her. She was very patient teaching me. We went to the vet so I could learn how to care for her, and he walked me through a practice shot with a little bit of water. After I gave her that shot, she turned her head and licked my hand as if to comfort me and let me know I did a good job. She was very sweet, yet very bossy at the same time. I think she walked into this home, saw she had two younger brothers and just took charge. The poor boys had no idea what even hit them. Taking care of her initially involved a very strict feeding schedule and two shots of insulin a day. I had to check her sugar level every morning to make sure she was at a healthy level. I did my homework on taking care of her though. You should have seen the stack of information I printed off and reviewed prior to getting her! It was overwhelming! However, I think I did a pretty good job managing her diabetes. It was only later that it became difficult.

On March 15, 1999, after a weekend of not eating and being very sick, we found out that Carrie had Cushing's Disease and cancer. We were devastated that our time with this sweet girl would be so short. She was put on some medication that made her tummy feel well enough so she would eat and be comfortable and back to her normal sassy self. The only estimations the vet could give us for quality time left with her was anywhere from 3 weeks to 6 months. However, we did not know exactly how strong her spirit was and how determined she was to live.

By August, she was still doing great but down to 9 lbs from the cancer and looked very skinny, especially compared to how she looked when I got her at 16 1/2 lbs! I took her to a holistic vet and got a "witch's brew" to give her daily. It consisted of many vitamins and shark's cartilage and many other things I probably don't want to know. She had a bad spell a few weeks before and I almost put her down, but I think she heard me make the appointment at the vet and decided that I was NOT going to decide her place and time, only she would do that.

Sept 22, 1999: Carrie was still doing great! I saw her play with a toy for the first time ever. She was on thyroid medicine by then as well as some meds to help her digest her food. She was still very skinny and had lost almost all her muscle tone, but that strong spirit of her's was still very much present and in charge!

The biggest change in her came about after I started the thyroid medicine. She got so sassy! When I got home from work, she had to announce to everyone that mom was home and it's dinner time! She would run to the bedroom door to greet Rea as I let him out then chase both Dami and Rea outside as if to say "hurry up, mom's home and she's gonna make dinner as soon as you potty!" I of course translated all of this from her famous "WooWooWoo".

JAN 11, 2000 - A day before her birthday; a day I thought would never arrive in time to share with her. Who would have thought 10 months previous that she would still be here and doing as well as she had been? She was completely blind by then, probably as a result of her diabetes. She got around pretty well, just much slower. She still demanded her dinner with her "WooWooWoo" and still kept all the other dogs in line. She had her daily routine that she stuck to, and of course food played heavily in this routine :-) She was so happy when we got back from Michigan over Christmas. I think she actually missed her pesky brothers!

Carrie enjoyed her birthday immensely! The night of her birthday, she was sleeping on the floor of my bedroom in front of the heater. For some reason, Dami started giving her kisses and "fluffing" her bedding. He then started making these funny noises at her. I like to think that he was singing her happy birthday in min pin talk. I also had a foster dog at the time who became interested in what Dami was doing. Dami then started growling and barking at him as if warning him to leave his sister alone! He has never done any of this before or since! He must have known it was her special day :-)

Dami singing birthday wishes to his sis :-)

Starting the week of Valentine's Day, Carrie stopped eating yet again. By Thursday, I took her in to the vet to see if they could get her to eat. When I picked her up that night, they had good news for me. They were able to get her to eat some prescription food, A/D, which is very rich and they use for dogs and cats who, for whatever reason, have lost interest in eating. I took home a case of it. However, she refused to eat that for me too. I tried everything I could think of and finally got her to eat some meatloaf on Sunday night. Unfortunately, she was unable to hold it down. On February 21, 2000, at 4:30 pm, we sent Carrie on to Rainbow Bridge. 

 We had taken Dami with us for a check up, I don't recall exactly why.  However, Jim took Dami out to the car prior to us letting Carrie go.  All Dami knew was we left his sister at the vet.  I had to take him back about a week later for another visit.  As soon as we walked into the vet office, he started barking at the door that leads into the back.  He had never done this before (or since).  I think he was looking for her figuring we had left her there.  He was very anxious the entire visit to the vet that day.  Dami and Carrie had some special bond that was a joy to watch and remember.  

I know that her spirit is one that is just too strong to simply cease existing. She fought too hard and too long to live life to it's fullest. I'm sure she is busy now bossing Brandy and VanDyke around at the bridge. And I'm sure whoever is in charge of meals there is already familiar with her "WooWooWoo".