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Veya, 2000-2008
Our sweet Veya, my faithful running partner and friend, is gone. After being diagnosed with IMHA on Monday, she went downhill quickly. Yesterday afternoon about 12:45pm, she slipped into a state of labored breathing, and couldn’t walk, stand, or even lift her head. I carried her to my car and rushed to our Vet’s office, less than a mile away. The vet confirmed what I feared, her lungs and abdomen were filling with fluid. Veya was fighting for every breath, and when she looked in my eyes, I could tell she was terrified, almost pleading for help. From the exam table, while the Vet was getting a quick blood count to see if her red-blood cells had improved at all (they hadn’t), Veya turned her head slightly and just kept eye contact with me.
Sadly, there was nothing else that could be done. Even a blood transfusion, if we could even get her to a hospital quickly enough, had only about a 10% chance of just buying us some time. She still would have had to deal with the disease, which wasn’t responding at all to the drug therapy. Once my wife arrived, we said our goodbyes, and gently laid her on a blanket on the floor. We laid down with her, held her and pet her as she was euthanized. She quickly relaxed, and calmly slipped away. Veya died at 1:45pm. We just sat in the room with her, stunned, devastated, and heartbroken.
I don’t think I can manage to write much more today. It’s so hard just being in our house without her here. And our 3-year-old son, Garrett, was quick to ask, “Where’s Veya? Did you go for a run?” when he woke up this morning. Her fur is still everywhere, and I can’t bear to turn on the vacuum yet. It all happened so quickly, and we’re glad to be leaving our house for a few weeks to visit family back-east. Coming home, on the other hand, is going to be excruciating, without her to welcome us home.
One more thing…while I was waiting for Bethany to arrive, I promised Veya that I’d finish what we started together: this 50-states marathoning thing. It almost seemed like she was asking me not to stop, and I assured her that I would finish it for her.
We love you Veya. Thank you for bringing so much joy to our lives. We miss you terribly.
Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in your household. She was a wonderful dog and I know how much she inspired your running. I hate running and she made me do it daily at excruciating hours but I’m thankful for having spent those beautiful mornings with her. Keep up with the 50\50\50, there’s lots of us behind you.
Dear Son:
Who could have known that just a short time after saying goodbye to our Chi, you would be faced with the same terrible decision for your beautiful Veya? We share your pain and many of the same memories as you. From her singing happy birthday for the frame you sent to Hanna to the time her leash slipped from my hand when we were hiking in the Rockies and I almost broke my neck scrambling across the boulders to grab the leash before she realized she was free and took off. Your decision was the right one and the only one you could have made because you loved her so much. She and Chi are running together, free of pain and illness now. I hope your being home with us can help a little. We loved her dearly too.
Kevin,
I’m so sorry that Veya is gone, and I while I’m sure the pain is deep and lasting, I hope that you are able to equally remember the joy she brought to your family. I read an interesting book, The Darkest Evening of the Year, by Dean Koontz, a few months back that had some great passages about dogs (he had just lost his beloved golden retriever). Just wanted to share one with you:
“Dogs’ lives are short, too short, but you know that going in. You know the pain is coming, you’re going to lose a dog, and there’s going to be great anguish, so you live fully in the moment with her, never fail to share her joy or delight in her innocence, because you can’t support the illusion that a dog can be your lifelong companion. There’s such beauty in the hard honesty of that, in accepting and giving love, while always aware it comes with an unbearable price.”
I know that Veya will be with you on your runs, and at your bedside on those dark, cold mornings, nudging you to get up…and get going!
Hey there! I know this is kind of off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you
using for this website? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.
Hi Jewell,
I use WordPress for this, and have been really satisfied with their spam-blocking controls for the most part. It has gotten better the longer I’ve stayed with it. Maybe it needs time to “learn” what kind of traffic you get on your blog?
I used Blogger before, and got a ton more spam than I do on WordPress. But maybe that’s just my own experience, and maybe there’s something better for your use out there. Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful! Good luck, and thanks for checking out my site.
– Kevin