Celhaus Quintessence

NAC, S-NJC (Superior), OJC, O-NTN, NCC TDInc

Mother & Grandmother

9/14/04 – 12/27/12

Photos taken Christmas Day, two days before her death

It is with a very sad heart that I put Quinta down.  Dr. Cindy came to the house just as Quinta & I were finishing her play session.  Quinta went with her ball in her mouth and my endearments in her ear.

She had been steadily losing the sense of where her hind feet were.  She fell a lot, walking.  At playtime the last couple of weeks she would only want me to throw the ball twice and would spend most of playtime with her feet firmly planted like she was telling them THIS is where you’re supposed to go.  The last few days she would sit or lie with the ball in her mouth and just look around.  I felt she was saying good-bye to this beautiful world.  I had planned to take her on one last walk at the park last night – something she really enjoyed –  but by the time I got off work it was snowing steadily and very slick.  I didn’t take the chance of her hurting herself.  She spent most of the night cuddling in bed with me.

We’ll do a post and check that cyst/tumor that was found during her surgery for a slipped disc this summer, and also the spinal cord, to see if we can learn just what it was that took her away from me.  She did have both the mutated genes for DM (spinal myelopathy), but that solid cyst/tumor, discovered during the disc surgery, could have been the problem. The surgeon couldn’t remove it because it was involved with the nerves, and hoped it would deflate once the pressure was removed, but there was no way to tell that. It didn’t show up on the ultrasounds we did to, finally, find the slipped disc, so there was no way to monitor it after the surgery.

She really went downhill the last week.  At least the agonizing over the decision is over, and I’ll no longer be crying each morning during her playtime, noticing her beauty and perfect conformation and furious that she was becoming more and more crippled, watching her continue to try to play despite her rear end collapsing all the time.  She wouldn’t actually tell me it was time, but when we weren’t out doing something, all she did was lie on a dog bed – even when it was time for a bite of my breakfast.  I would have to take it to her rather than her being there, ready.  I finally got to where I couldn’t stand it anymore.  I didn’t want her to lose her dignity – she was a proud dog.  It was bad enough watching her want to do things and getting frustrated that her body was failing her mind and drive and enthusiasm for life. So, before my Wild Thing lost heart, I released her to run and play and race the wind in company with her mother, Jubilee (who died Nov 20), and grandmother, Glory, while they wait for me to join them.  Hopefully there will be agility up there to keep her amused.  Gosh, did she love the sport!!!

Be sure to see all the photos of her in better times.

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