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Sunday, August 10, 2014

Teddy is gone.

Teddy 
April 23rd 2011 - August 7th 2014

Wednesday morning we awoke to a sick Teddy.  She was lethargic and had lost her appetite.  Brad took her to the vets right away.  She had a temp of 105+ and a high white cell count.  Our vet put her on antibiotics and said if she didn't improve he'd send her off for a ultrasound.  All her other blood tests came back normal. 

She seemed to rally that evening and even ate a little bit of sour cream and other tasty things.  By the next morning she was very ill.  She couldn't walk and was very weak.  Once again, Brad and William took her to the vets.  Our vets is 35 miles away and she died just before they got there.

Our vet was very surprised and asked to take a 'look' at her.  He was even more surprised to discover she had cancer.  Poor Teddy had a huge tumor between the top of her lungs and her heart.  He suspects it had spread to her brain. 

Two years ago Teddy was coughing, hacking like she had something caught in her throat.  We took her to WSU animal hospital and she was diagnosed with asthma.  We have been giving her prednisone ever since.  We gave her the lowest dose we could get away with and if she got had trouble we'd give her Benadryl (Diphenhydramine).

Our vet told us there was nothing anyone could have done to save her.

Teddy was a wonderful cattle dog.  While working cattle she would glance back often for instruction and was very obedient.  She loved riding in the front seat of the pick and was one of the crew.  She was a very sweet gentle dog.  She was also very affectionate with us and she loved to snuggle.  She didn't care for other people much and she'd give them a little growl to keep them moving....kind of like she would to cattle.  

Her last evening was spent watching Biskit race around the lawn with a plastic flower pot on her head.  (She was peeking through the holes in the bottom).  Now Biskit is our senior dog.  Gawd help us.  (We don't consider Blondie a real dog).  Biskit does happen to be a very good cattle dog but with a much different style than Teddy.  Teddy was been acting like she was tired sometimes this year and would sit by Brad's feet and let Biskit work the cattle.  We thought her tiredness was due to the massive amount of weight she put on due to the prednisone.

Teddy's last picture taken last month.
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She went everywhere with us, as long as the weather wasn't hot.  Here she is in Seattle.
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and in Spokane.
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Herding cows as a pup of about 6 or 7 months old.
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Last month with her friends.  Left to right, Biskit, Teddy and Blondie.
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We really miss her.