About 6 months ago I decided to get another dog both for myself and as a companion my existing 6 year old Harvey for his final months fighting Lymphoma on Chemo.
I didn't want to get Harv a young pup, I couldn't think of anything more annoying than being bugged by relentless kids for my last stint. lol.
Searching the rescue sites I found an awesome looking 1.5 year old girl (people sometimes asked if Harv & Chilli were related) in foster care up at Gladstone (I'm in Brisbane).
Shar-pei cross they listed her as, when I quized them on crossed with what (she'd been in before as a pup so they had info), a sheepish 'Dingo' was indicated (QLD barbaic Dingo laws/status keeps anything hush regarding such).
Not sure if it was true but she sure acted like on quite a bit, in lower pics there certainly is resemblance and I did get asked if she was quite a bit.
So Harv and I did the road tip to Gladstone, and the drive home cemented the great decision.
Got on fine straight away, this was the first few minutes in the car together
Chilli was an awesome dog, so full of energy and fun, yet at the same time could be the most relaxed dog around my house or others when required. She had the biggest food and prey drive I'd ever seen, maybe this was the dingo part if it existed. This and her awesome focus did make training her so much fun.
While it appeared she may have had a hard life, issues with male humans, huge fear of cords and sticks it took only weeks for her true self to emerge, which was awesome. She certainly got spoilt, getting the same cancer based diet as Harv, always going places and on trips etc.
She was such an awesome fun dog, and even with hindsight I'd have her again in a heart beat.
Sadly near 2 months ago the first indicators showed. Strangely her right third eyelid was showing. I figured she'd scratched her eye in one of her usual crazy bush rampages so just kept and eye on it. After a week or so with no improvement I took her to the vet. They thought similar, no big issue, and if there was a scratch it had healed, anti-inflammatory drops supplied.
Within a week things got worse, it came up more and I started to notice her eye bulging.
Off to the same specialist centre where Harv basically lives for his Chemo.
Nothing wrong with the eye but something behind the eye pushing it forward.
With no signs of pain or teeth issues it was unlikely to be an Absess. We tried various anti-botics and anti-inflammatory drugs to no avail, and it kept getting worse.
Already spending huge dollars on Harv, sadly an MRI being the only option I was struggling for funds given the $2000-$3000 MRI Biopsy cost then possible $4000 - $7000 surgery after.
I scraped enough together for the MRI & biopsy, the eye now pushing out sideways a fair bit and her energy dropping (still no signs of pain). It turned out she had a extensive and advanced extremely rare brain tumor that had grown off her frontal lobe, forward up into her snout and the pushed out through the eye
Sad (inoperable). They called it a esthesioneuroblastoma, so rare that they referenced human data, with their info stating only 70 something cases. They said it could possibly be from birth, or a little later but was there for quite a while, before I even got her. A few people have said perhaps it was ment to be, her last 6 months being pretty awesome.
Sadly on the 22nd of December with Chilli starting to struggle to breath at night I made the decision to put her to sleep. With her still relatively active for periods during the day it was hardest thing I've ever done, and still scares me I'll have to make the same choice for Harv in the not to distant future.
Run free Chilli dog, hopefully there's endless Kangaroos for you to chase
Smile
I did this video up Christmas morning as a tribute to her.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jej4tEdLB6w
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