Daphney

 

We hadn't really planned on getting another dog but look at that baby face. We bought Daphney about four months before we got married. She weighed eight ounces when we bought her. She now weighs 5 pounds.

Daphney is a female, pure-bred Maltese. She's a delight. She never went through that destructive puppy phase and it only took her a month or so to get house broken.

She's even better now. On the rare occasion that she does something bad, she gives herself a time out. She'll go sit in a corner by herself for about two hours (much longer than we would punish her). When she thinks she's done enough time, she'll come and apologize to us.

It works both ways though. If we do something that makes her mad she'll hold it against us for hours.

She gets along really well with Elmo. They don't really play, mostly he just looks after her. Occasionally she will jump on his and pull the hair out of his tail or ears. Elmo just sits there and takes it like a good brother until she gets tired.

Daphney never has really like to play with toys. She likes the idea that we're giving one to her but once she has it, she drops it and goes back to laying down. Laying down is her favorite thing to do. If there's a blanket around, she's under it.

She does do two tricks well. She gives high five or she'll wave hello so you'll pet her.

In 2004 we took Daphney in to get her teeth cleaned. They discovered she has a faulty heart valve. We're controlling it with medication and she's doing great! She hasn't lost a step!

 
On Sunday, May 27, 2007 we noticed Daphney was out of it with kind of a glazed look. She could see but it didn't seem like she was looking at anything. We noticed she wasn't blinking much, if at all, either. She would only get up when we made her get up. She'd get water and then lay down again.

She didn't eat all day Sunday which isn't too unusual. She's always been kind of a finicky eater. Monday she didn't eat either. We knew it was bad.

Monday night Bill took her to the emergency vet to see if they could give her an IV or something to make her feel better. We've been treating Daphney for heart failure for the last 3 years. Even though she wasn't coughing, we thought maybe that was part of her lethargy.

The vet checked her out and said that she was dying. Her temperature was a  little more than 10 degrees below normal and he suspected her internal organs were beginning to shut down. He said she probably felt like she had the flu. He recommended putting her to sleep. We asked what the alternatives were and he said they could run tests and see if they could prolong her life. Bill and I talked and decided, at 14 years old, we didn't want her to go through any more tests and we didn't want to wait for anything to be painful.

Bill was with her when she passed. He said she was very peaceful. We miss her terribly.

To send us an e-mail about Daphney, write us at  kasuko@sager.org