Cas - One in a Million

It is with a heavy and broken heart I have to let you know that my beautiful girl slipped peacefully away earlier today.  Cas was diagnosed with liver failure and possibly cancer earlier this year, we managed to keep her free of pain and still active until recently when her body really started giving up on her.  She didn’t let it get to her and remained so bright and kept such a passion for living life, but we could tell no matter how hard she tried to hide her pain, the pain was becoming too much, I knew and so did she but she just didn’t want to give in.  Cas was a determined little dog and she always tried her best, she gave 110% and put her heart and soul into everything she did.  Nothing made her happier than when she was making us happy.  When I saw her sigh and go peacefully to sleep free of pain I knew we had made the right choice, she could run free without any pain and was happy again.

I don’t really need to say much about her life as the video tells it all:

The Story of a Rescue Dog from Gina on Vimeo.

  

I am just glad she chose us and so proud of what she achieved, not in terms of competition achievements but in that she really turned around and loved everything she did.  I will never enjoy working a dog as much as I did Cas, she was one in a million and never even needed a reward, my praise and happiness was reward enough for her and she knew it was a job well done.  I would give anything to have another Cas, she was such a crazy oddball of a dog, but I knew that she loved us to bits and we returned that love.  Some people would say they wished they had had their rescue from a pup to give them a better start, with Cas, her beginning in life made her the dog she was, made her appreciate her life with us, I wouldn’t change it for the world.  God I loved and still do love that dog!

Her colour was pink, she was a merle, she was a girl, so it HAD to be.  The sky tonight was lit up pink, thank you Cas for our wonderful memories that will last a lifetime and you will stay in my heart forever.

My Little White Dog

My little Cas is aprox 14 years old, we rescued her from Border Collie Trust when she was 6 months old. She was in such a poor way and so frightened of everything. That soon changed, we taught her how to enjoy life, she loved and excelled in agility, canine freestyle and flyball.

Last Tuesday I went to bring her in from her morning wee to find she couldn't move, I carried her in and sat with her all day, I thought it was the end. She perked up a little and so we came from the vets with metacam & antibiotics. Wednesday evening she had her first dose of metacam, a couple of hours later she was so unhappy, breathing heavily and quickly I didn't think she would make it through the night. She did, so I booked in for blood tests that day. Results were her liver wasn't performing well, an ultrasound showed that there wasn't the dreaded C word present. So a different painkiller prescribed and advised it looked like her liver may be failing and it may only be a matter of time but to see how she goes.

That was Thursday, having researched the internet it seems the liver can repair itself to SOME degree. So off I went to the shops and came back with milk thistle, broccoli (rich in vitamin e), sweet potato, porridge, courgette - all things that should help to not work the liver too hard. A special raw diet is on order and arriving tomorrow. So far so good and she is doing fantastically well at the moment, however painkillers stop on Friday so we have to see whether she is okay without. She still won't eat things that she used to love but she's eating well and putting weight back on.

These photos were taken today, she looks so healthy! Fingers & toes crossed we can slow things down, even better to reverse it?

I created this video a few years ago:

The Story of a Rescue Dog from Gina on Vimeo.