In this month's Blog I
would like to pay tribute to a very special little beagle named Sammy. I was
blessed to have been given the opportunity to meet, care for, and grow to love
Sammy. Sammy was super resilient boy who battled a severe heart condition in
addition to the bladder cancer I was treating him for. He fought hard, had a
fabulous quality of life, and constantly proved me wrong by outliving all the
predicted survival times for his condition. Sammy was blessed to have a
wonderful human family that loved him immensely and took amazing care of him.
Sadly, Sammy lost his battle in July 2012.
Below is “Sammy's
Story” authored by his human parents. It is a wonderful tribute to his life and
it proves how often animals actually end up rescuing us when we think we are
rescuing them.
Dr. Gina Olmsted
On Sunday, July 22, Sammy, our sweet Beagle, passed away at home, surrounded by those who loved
him.
We'll never forget when we first saw his adorable
face. We brought dog and cat food to the Animals for Life
shelter in Middlebury, CT one Saturday morning in February, 2010, and
as we walked through looking at all the dogs, there he was, quietly
sitting on his haunches, one paw up against the cage door, calling to us with his
eyes."I belong to you", he was saying. We filled out an application, but were told that another
family was ahead of us. But fate would bring him to us
instead. When Sue brought Mac to the vet to be neutered, (that was the
name they had given him) she discovered that he had a heart murmur and would need daily
medication. When the other family heard this, they no longer wanted him, and so Sammy found his forever home with us.
He was sweet and funny and cuddly and a bit of a devil. He
loved his walks and his couch and his stuffed lion and llama, which he "stole"
from the stuffed animal basket. And he adored his people. His heart and lungs got
progressively worse, but it didn't slow him down. With the help of his local
cardiologist, as well as the chief
cardiologist at the Animal Medical Center in New York City, he
was stabilized.
Then on December 10, 2011, we received the devastating news
that Sammy had a tumor in his bladder. A wonderful internist at VCA
Shoreline Veterinary Referral and Emergency Center in Shelton, CT diagnosed it,
and that same day we had the good fortune to meet Dr. Gina Olmsted, an
oncologist from the Veterinary Cancer Center in Norwalk, CT. She became not only
Sammy's oncologist, but a dear friend who loved Sammy so much. We tried 3 months of different protocols, including intravenous
chemotherapy, but the tumor wasn't shrinking. So together with Dr, Olmsted, we made the decision to stop all
treatment. His kidney function was very poor, but much to every one’s
surprise, he rebounded, got a second wind, and had 4 more excellent
months.
We believe that he knew how much we needed him to stay with
us through July. My father's funeral was July 14, and by July 19 my nephew and
sister, who were here from the west coast, had left to go
home. The house quieted down, and then Sammy began to slow down. For
3 days we were constantly with him, every moment of the day and
night. He wasn't eating any longer, nor could he take his
walks, but he loved being outside on the grass and sleeping with us at
night.
On Sunday, July 22, he spent most of the day outside on the
grass, and we took turns staying there with him. By early afternoon he
let us know that he did not want to be outside any longer, and he stumbled to the
front door. I
carried him inside, and put him on a soft bed in the entry, but he was very
restless. Finally, he tried valiantly to walk to his couch, and so I
gently picked him up and laid him in a comfortable position. At 5:10pm, he took his last breath,
and went over the Rainbow Bridge.
Over the past years we have loved a Springer Spaniel, a Collie,
2 Basset Hounds, a Flatcoat Retriever, and 2 mixed breeds, but none ever stole
our hearts like this little Beagle. We are heartbroken and bereft, and wait for him to come
trotting around the corner. We are so grateful to everyone who walked with us and Sammy on
his difficult journey – His local veterinarians and cardiologist, the veterinarians and
staff at Shoreline and Animal Medical Center, and Dr. Gina Olmsted and the staff
of the Veterinary Cancer Center.
We have been told by so many people how blessed Sammy was to
have found such a loving home and such devoted parents like us. But we are the ones whose lives were touched and blessed by the
gift of this loving, adorable Beagle.
-Helen and Karen
