As I think all the western world has heard at this point, last Friday, my beautiful, sweet Destiny died. She had bloat. When researching about Great Danes prior to getting one, I had read that the most common causes of death for the breed are bloat and heart attack. I didn't really know what bloat was so I paid little heed. I have now learned the hard way how horrific it can be.
I was out late Thursday night but when I got home Destiny seemed to be herself, enthusiastic about me coming home, willing to go outside, happy to go to bed. I saw nothing that indicated within 24 hours she'd be gone. She woke me up at 6:00 in the morning, trying to vomit. She tried unsuccessfully to vomit for almost a half hour. She was producing a lot of saliva but nothing was coming from her stomach. Her stomach was distended and obviously uncomfortable. I now know that these are the classic signs of bloat and I should have rushed her to emergency immediately. I didn't recognize the signs and instead thought that she was struggling to digest a new rawhide treat I had given her the day before. She has always had a sensitive stomach and I knew giving her a new treat may not sit well with her. Although she was in obvious discomfort she was still wagging her tail and coming to me for comforting.
By 7:30 a.m., she was in a great deal of pain. She was whining and pacing. I knew then that she needed to go the the vet for treatment but this was the time right in between the emergency hospital closing and her regular vet opening. I decided to wait until 9:00 when her usual vet opened before seeking treatment. I called them at 9:00 when they opened, said that my dog had been trying unsuccessfully to throw up and that she was in a lot of pain now. The receptionist didn't immediately recognize the signs either. She told be to bring the dog in 10:20 for an appointment. We saw the vet quickly once we got there. Destiny was lethargic at this point and clearly miserable. A woman in the waiting room even mentioned how you could see the misery on the dog's face. The vet didn't mention bloat at this time either but took Destiny to run test and do x-rays on her abdomen. He called me at home at 11:45 and said her stomach had twisted and needed immediate surgery. I gave permission and they prepped her for surgery. I called back at 3:00 and was told that she had made it through surgery and that she was still in critical condition. They asked me to come back just before they closed so we could move her to the emergency vet for overnight care.
I got to the clinic at 5:30 p.m. and the doctor told me Destiny was in crisis. Her stomach had portions (60%) that had died and needed to be removed which was done during the surgery and in the last 15 minutes her heart had started going. He said he would go with her to the emergency so he could keep heart monitoring machines on her in transport. We followed behind the SUV carrying Destiny and the vet. At one point they started driving faster and weaving in and out of traffic. We knew that she was in trouble. When we got the hospital, Destiny had already been taken to the back. We sat in the waiting room for about 15 minutes and then they moved us to the tastefully painted room with the calming pictures and plush leather couches and we knew that we would not be getting good news. The lab tech told us when leaving us in the room that they were performing CPR on Destiny at the time. Ten minutes later the vet came and told us that she was gone. They brought her in on the hospital bed so we could say good-bye. It was quite a blow to go from having a happy, healthy dog to a dead one in twelve hours. We said our farewells and came home to tell our loved-ones.
In the past week, God has been very good. He has gathered people around me who comfort. (My work even gave me a gift basket!) My mum mentioned the other day how good it was that this had happened on a vacation day as it could have happened a few days later and Destiny could have died untreated and in agony in her kennel. I've been reading a lot about bloat in the internet. I have regrets as I should have recogonized the signs at 6:00 and she could have been in surgery within the hour instead of 6 hours after the symptoms started. Reading online has helped in that I read stories of people who did everything perfect and still lost their dogs. The websites all point out how deadly it is and how quickly it can come on. I wish I would have known more and done more but I am not blaming myself for her death. It was sudden and horrible and unexpected. Not even the vet recognized it instantly.
I am missing her a lot. She was a rescued dog who had a lot of anxieties. She needed steady reassuring from me. I still sneeze and expect her to see that as an invitation to come visit. I tense up every time a doorbell rings on t.v. as that usually results in some very loud barking.
I really miss having her greet me when I come home. Her enthusiasm at seeing me occasionally left bruises (ridiculous tail!) but she could bring joy to a crappy day. I loved it when she sat on my lap or the couch keeping at least three paws on the floor thereby following the letter if not the heart of the stay-off-the-furniture rule.
I loved watching her run at the off-leash park. Her pure joy at the freedom to explore and the gentleness at which she approached other dogs always made me proud. She had the most beautiful markings and she literally stopped traffic as people watched her. She was always so very patient with people and tolerant of their attentions. My sister dog-sat for a few days this past summer and when she returned Destiny she complained to me that I should have warned her what this would actually involve. "Everything took forever when you had her with you because everyone who sees her needs to come and meet her and talk to you!"
Destiny loved her stuffed animals. It was the strangest thing. This giant, regal looking dog saw all stuffed animals as hers and would play with them every day. She would seek them out, sleep with them, toss them around, play tug-of-war with them, dump them in my lap so I would play too. If I bought a new stuffy home for her, she would find it before I even took it out of the bag and it would rapidly become her new favourite. She never chased a ball or wrestled but she did love her little animals.
Some of my favourite times with Destiny were on our lazy days. She was not a morning dog and would often stay in bed while I got ready for work. Sometimes I would have to stand at the bottom of the stairs and call for her to come down to go outside before I left. On the days where I got to sleep in, she would cuddle up to me and we would spend time just being happy lying there together. Then when I started to look like I was getting ready to get up she would throw herself over me and lay on top of me to keep me in bed. I'd start laughing as I was pinned to the bed by my 125 pound dog and she'd lick my chin and push at my hands to keep petting her. I'd have to wrestle her off me while she grinned at me and tried to keep me in place.
I had dreamed of getting a Great Dane from the time I'd seen my first one at the age of ten. I am so grateful that the first one I got lived up to my dreams and I will miss her terribly.
