Sheena

Sheena came into our rescue group from BARC, in March 2008. Everyone there said she was not only beautiful physically, but beautiful in spirit. She was a wonderful, very affectionate girl, who loved to be loved on and petted. And she seemed to love everyone, including children, and small and large dogs. She was adopted to a family where the husband took her to work with him for over a year. She would sleep under his desk and walk around quietly visiting the staff and getting her pets and treats. Somewhere along the line, her owner moved his firm to another building and was no longer allowed to bring her to the office. One day the family asked that we take her back. We had no foster home open, so we had to put her into Animal Crackers, a very nice kennel that our group uses when necessary. It was discovered that Sheena was ill. On her last day, a beautiful, sunny, cool day, she was taken to our Meet and Greet at Petco, where she was outside all afternoon being loved on and petted. It was noticed that she was walking awkwardly and bleeding from her two back paws. The nails on her back paws had been worn down from her dragging her feet to the point they had worn away the quick. She also didn’t seem to be able to get really comfortable lying down. She was taken right away to a vet clinic where two vets diagnosed her with Intervertebral Disc Disease. They also found a very large mass in her abdomen they both believed was Hemangiocarcoma….cancer. The mass was so large it was compressing her spinal cord, causing the IDD. One of our members who works at Gulf Coast pointed out that this is a devastating disease that is “a quickly metastasizing cancer which is frequently too far progressed for successful treatment by the time the diagnosis is made. It most frequently begins in the spleen, and can grow so rapidly it can claim the life of a dog with no clinical signs within weeks.” There was no hope of recovery for beautiful Sheena, and all we could have done was delay the inevitable, so the decision was made to give this beautiful girl peace. Our president, Austin Brisco, stayed with her stroking her head and reassuring her that she was loved and all would be well. She went peacefully. Sheena, you were a true sweetheart, and we miss you, but we know you are now well and happy.