Our precious Maggie Mae
by Peg
Maggie Mae
She lived the rest of her life (til 14) with my husband, Ed, and myself and our then 1 year old Golden, Genoa. Maggie was epileptic and we knew that when we adopted her. She had been with a family with a young child, and since Maggie was having frequent grand mal seizures, it frightened the child. Maggie was given up for adoption. We later found out that Maggie was confined to a front hallway and left with a huge bowl of food and water. She weighed 80 pounds -- which was very fat for her. She was a very small reddish Golden. She was not given her meds on a regular basis and seized often. She went into foster care and lost the excess weight and got the seizures somewhat under control. As Maggie's life with us went on, she frequently suffered from cluster seizures -- which are grand mal seizures over and over again. She was on heavy doses of two drugs to control them and still was having them. We visited the vet often. At one point she was so drugged we left her to be boarded and left instructions about her meds and was told they had never seen such high doses for a dog so small. She was like a zombie but seizures were pretty much under control. We decided that her life was not all that great in her zombie-like condition, so I gradually started reducing her meds. She was getting fed normal amounts of food for her size and age, and getting exercise with walks or swimming or playing tennis ball in the yard. She still had seizures (and some cluster) but at least she was a dog again. Maggie's health continued on a pretty even keel until her last year or so of life. She was aging fast. She was having a great deal of trouble walking so we limited her walks. She had to give up swimming. She just could not do it anymore. Finally just as she was turning 14 we were carrying her about...out to pee, but she had a lot of difficulty squatting. We took her into her vet for a check-up and were told that the problem we all thought was in her leg muscles was, in fact, in her spine. Her discs had degenerated to the point that although she was not in any pain yet, she soon would be. The vet told us that the kindest thing we could do for Maggie was to put her to sleep before that happened. Believe me, I was not ready to put her down. I wanted another 14 years. But common sense prevailed and we did put her down at that time. I held her head in my hands and had my face up against hers, giving her kisses, when the drug took effect. I still tear up remembering that day. Our other dog, Genoa, is now 12 and aging gracefully. She has a totally white face and is slowing down a lot on her walks and swimming but still doing pretty well for 12. I pray she is with us a long time to come. I will never forget our Maggie Mae. She was a very special dog. The foster mother called her a velcro dog and that was so true. Maggie was always attached to Ed or me. Nancy's Note: Thanks for sharing Maggie Mae with us, Peg. She was indeed precious, and so blessed to be a part of your family for so many years. Not just anybody would be willing and able to help an epileptic dog. You and Ed are very special folks! And they just never live long enough, do they? I'm glad you have Genoa, and I hope you're blessed with her for a long time yet. |
