We adopted Juliet when we lost Winston in January 2016. Winston had a lot of personality but Juliet was as sweet as Charlie was, and Charlie was an angel.
Today we had to help Juliet over the rainbow bridge. About a month ago, she developed a eye condition we learned was Horner’s Syndrome.
We took her first to our regular vet, then to a vet ophthalmologist who made the diagnosis. We concluded that it was idiopathic, meaning no specific cause, but now I wonder. The timing seems too close to be coincidence.
Anyway, last week I notice she was trying to pass a stool but nothing was coming out. Finally, she had a watery stool but I thought nothing of it. Then she began coughing and retching so I took her in thinking she might be developing heart failure. In examining her, the vet did a rectal exam and found a rectal mass. A chest x-ray showed a few infiltrates that could have been pneumonia. Her lab tests were pretty normal but she had not passed a stool, even a watery one, since last Wednesday. Today her belly was distended and she was coughing more. There was no cure but it went faster than I could have anticipated.
That was my last photo of her. Sleeping next to me, where she usually placed herself but showing her distended belly. She was a wonderful dog.
We will miss her. After Christmas, we will probably get another dog but it will be hard to replace Juliet.
