The Story of Pretzel

 

This is a story about a very sweet basset hound/beagle mix.
I was on the computer one day at Chewy.com looking for some Easter treats for my grand dogs.
Yep! they get baskets too from their MiMi.

This sweet girl came up on the screen.  Thanks to AI.
Kind of creepy how artificial intelligence knows everything about us.

With Terry and I having past basset hounds this rescue popped up and had this sweet girl needing a home.

It has been over a year and half since we lost our last dog Buddy to  neurological issues.  
We were just settling in to life without a dog.

That was hard for us since we have had dogs our whole 44 year marriage.

Then this girl popped on the screen.

I went back and forth for a few weeks thinking about her.
I just could not get her out of my mind.

 I decided to fill out the application and if she was still available we would take the plunge again.

She was still in need of a home.

Then I find out she is located in Georgia and we are in Illinois.
Ok challenge number one to get her.

We worked it out and the Foster mom taking care of her would meet us in Nashville Tennessee which would cut off some of the hours to get her.
Challenge number one accomplished.

I was worried about a dog in a condo.  Dogs and condo's do not always go well together.
Noises heard, people living in close proximity etc. etc.

Well this sweet girl never barks says the Foster Mom.  She was living with three cats and two dogs in Foster care getting along fabulously.
She did not get on furniture or beg.  No bad habits only sweetness.  She loved everyone especially kids.
We needed to know she would be good with our grand kiddos and our grand dogs.  We are a close family and we all get together all the time dogs included.  Getting along would be a must.

We drove the 7 hour trip home and this sweet dog slept the whole time in her doggie bed as you can see in the picture.  The only time she was up was when we stopped along the way for food, water and to get out of the car ride.

This dog could not be more perfect.

Here's where her story takes a big turn.
We got her established with out wonderful Vet.
I wanted to make sure she was up to date with shots and make sure she was good and healthy.

When she came to the Rescue in Georgia she was only 20lbs and starving and full of skin and ear infections.
While with the Foster Mom she was treated by the Rescues Vets.  All the infections were treated and she was able to put on 10lbs. 

Our Vet did blood work and looked at all the records from the Rescue Vet and said she was looking great.

 Yay!!! Let's go home and start our lives together.  
We named her Pretzel.
Pretzel now was going to have a forever home with lots of love and she would learn how to get on furniture and beds.  We allow all our dogs to be part of the family and be on furniture etc.  

We had her for a week when things took a turn.
4:30 in the morning Terry and I woke to her having a seizure.  It was scary but she pulled out of it.
I called our Vet when the office opened.

She told us to record everything and since she came out of it we would just watch her for now.  If she were going to have another one in the next 30 days we would have to begin to treat her and figure out why she was having seizures.

Well...... Friday night around 8pm she had another seizure and this one was a Grand Mal.  It lasted more than 3 minutes and was scarier than the first one.
She had a hard time coming out of this one so we took her to an Emergency Vet.
They stabilized her and then admitted her to the hospital to begin anti seizure meds.  She had to stay there  24 hours seizure free to be able to come home.

She did not come out of the blindness that happens in the post stage of a seizure.
That was a big concern it was taking a long time to get her sight back.

Now the thought was she has a brain tumor on top of possible epilepsy.
It would take thousands of dollars to get her into a neurologist.  MRI alone to diagnose would have been 3 thousand dollars.
There would be nothing much they can do except treat the epilepsy with anti seizure meds and if it is a brain tumor most are not operable so to spend lots of money would really not give us much except a diagnosis.

There are only a couple of issues in dogs that cause seizures and the biggest two are epilepsy and brain tumors.

I thought here we go again like what we went through with Buddy.
I did not want to go through that again.  
I just do not have it in me to go through having a dog that could possibly only have a short time to live if this is cancer in her brain.
Epilepsy is doable in dogs but they still need medication that are timed out and have to be given on time three times a day.  You cannot miss or be off the time or she could go into a seizure that could end her life.

It gave me such anxiety to think about having to worry about this sweet girl every time we left her alone or having to be set to a schedule  each day.
I am on the go a lot with my grand kids and helping out with my mother in law.
This would a big challenge for our lifestyle. 

To make this really long story a little shorter,  one of the Vet techs at the hospital said she would take her if we wanted to re home her.
Terry and I were in love with this sweet girl so we had to really think on this offer.

I know this Vet Tech would have more access to medications and her care needs.  The Vet tech deals with special needs animals everyday.
With a heavy heart we felt this is where she probably should be for a forever home.
Pretzel would have other animals and two really good dog moms to take care of her.

Terry and I were just suppose to be the bridge to get her from Georgia to her wonderful life with her new family.

I miss that sweet personality and cute face this morning but my heart smiles that she is having a great second chance in life.

Have a great week.
Hugs,
Kris