Friday, February 12, 2010

In Memory of our Zazsue

Last week we lost our beloved 15 year old mixed terrier, Zazsue. She had 4 seizures since December 29th, but seemed to bounce back quickly after each episode.

On Wednesday, Feb 3rd, she woke up having a difficult time breathing, but still did her normal activities, ate breakfast, and went outside via her 2 doggie doors. By 10:30am she was quite anxious and pacing, then went out the doggie door and promptly collapsed. Over the next 4 hours she would get dizzy when she walked, only able to go 4-5 feet. We decided to call the vet because she was suffering. As a nurse I clearly recognized all the signs of congestive heart failure. Her lungs were filling up with fluid. It was heart-wrenching.
At the vet's office she was treated with such sweet compassion. I held her as Dr. Wynn put her to sleep... finally getting relief from her struggle. We brought her home and buried her in the southeast corner of our yard.


She has been such a sweet blessing to our family. My favorite memory of her is her innate ability to be reverent. When we would have kneeing family prayer, she would get her "rag bone", bring it to the circle, put it between her paws (like she was praying) and suck on it quietly while we prayed. We have missed her friendly greeting at the door since she lost most of her hearing last year. It was a tender mercy we were home with her these last 18 months since returning from Portugal.
She is gone for now, but will never be forgotten.....

3 comments:

Super B said...

Awww. We loved Zazsue too! I am glad she had such a loving family all these years! I bet she and Annie are having fun in doggie heaven.

Brie said...

Zazsue will be missed. She was so cute and so sweet. We had to make the same decision when our family dog was suffering as well. It was tough but I have never doubted it was the right thing to do.
love you guys!

Emily Gillrie said...

That is so sad. She really was a good dog.