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Winnie's been through alot in her 15 years.....eye ulcers, bladder stones, returning eye ulcers and the attacks she endured from Elliott but she was always such a laid-back girl. Not much got her dander up and her personality made everyone in our family love her...even my Mom who was never an animal lover. I knew Mom would sneak table scraps to her even when I told her not to feed the dogs from the table.
At first I thought the coughing was because she had a fixation with fleece toys....she would lick them to death and I assumed small pieces of the fleece were in her esophagus causing the spells and gag reflex. I gave her toys the name "licky-lickies" because she had so many different kinds...the little balls that go in the puzzles, the stuffed bees that go in the puzzle hive. And I made the mistake months ago of taking these fleece toys away from her hoping it would stop the cough but it didn't.
They said it was heart disease and it slowly crept up...at first it was an occassional cough but it became more numerous and prolonged. We tried different drugs and I tried a different vet to see what his opinion was.....heart disease.
The coughing jags became more numerous and I would hear her at night, unable to sleep peacefully. Many times these spells would be prolonged and last for more than 5 minutes.
The day I gave her to God I left our screen door open hoping she would follow the others outside to bask in the sun...it was a beautiful morning and sun was warm. She just laid on the hall floor like she had been doing for weeks.
I guess I am blessed that I had 15 years with her....many lose their beloved pets at a much younger age. But my heart is heavy and I will be mourning her for a long time.
Thank you, fourm members for letting me "talk".
