Zicies Hensley

On Saturday Feb. 2nd I went to the pharmacy to get my birth control.  I had received my period the week before.  This was unusual because I had not had one for 3 months.  I asked the pharmacist if I had by chance refilled the wrong prescription.  I was told that I have been filling this prescription sense October.  I told about my period accordance and how I had not had one in 3 months.  I was told that I should get some pregnancy tests just to make sure I wan't pregnant.  I took the test Sunday morning.  I had not mentioned anything to josh because I didn't think I was actually pregnant.  Sunday morning came and I took a test. At first it was negative and I threw it away.  I later looked at it again and I had a very faint plus sign. I was shocked.  All through church I felt pregnant.  I double checked it again when I came home.  I let Josh see but he didn't believe me.  I told him that I would take another test in the morning just to be sure.   That night I came across a Yard sale add on two Golden Retrievers/ Lab puppies.  I prayed and asked if we should get a dog.  We set up an appointment to see the puppies on Monday.  My understanding was that if the test was positive on Monday that was my answer for not getting a dog.  If the test was negative then that was the answer to get a dog.  Monday morning I took another test. The test was negative so I thought that it was ok to get a dog.  We went and saw the puppies.  We didn't get the feeling that these puppies were the right fit for our family.  We then looked at the KSL adds.  Josh found a brindle pit bull/mastiff mix puppy.  We went and saw her.  We fell in love.  We were at my parents house and we didn't want to tell them what we were doing.  My thoughts where that they would disapprove and think we were crazy.  I went back and forth in my mind thinking if this what we were suppose to do.  I felt neither good nor bad about it so I took that as a what ever you want to do thing.  We decided to get her and got her on our way home from my parents.  We went to pets mart and got a few things that we needed.  The whole time we were there Gracie would't stop hugging her and she didn't mind that at all. We named her Zicies.  Tuesday was a little heck tack.  I had started teaching Ballet in my basement and Tuesday was the first day.  Luckily Josh was home during the day to take care of Zicies and Gracie.  Night got tough.  Being a puppy Zi had to go out every time she ate or after every nap(which he had a lot of).  She was so good at letting me know when she needed to go.  I was surprised at how fast she picked it up. We had bought a kennel for her and I would put her there when I was teaching.  After every class I would take her out.  After a very long day we all went to bed.  We put Zicies's kennel in our room.  We thought that she would feel safe there with us at night.  Before I went to bed I noticed that she was gagging and throwing up.  I called Josh at work and told him.  We didn't think anything was very wrong with her.  We have had dogs that do the same thing.  This morning I got on Facebook and started talking to my sister in law about her.  She boards and walks dogs for a living.  She suggested that I should set an appointment up with the Vet.  I did so.  Zicies, Gracie and I all took a trip to the vet while Josh was sleeping from working overnight.  We waited and were seen. The vet told us that Zi had a fever and was not looking good.  Zi had been laying around the house all day and she would touch her food or water.  The vet suggested that we check for Parvo.  Parvo is a flu like diseases in dogs.  She tested positive for Parvo.  I didn't think it was so bad until he told me the statistics of Parvo.  If Zi's white blood cells were low she had a 50 50% percent of surviving.  Then the vet told us about the treatment options.  Zi would have to stay at the Vet for five days in Isolation.  She would have to have an IV and pain meds.  The price just got larger and larger.  In the end everything would cost $1000 dollars.  We don't have that kind of money. I called my sister in law and told her the news. She told me that she was very very sick and that we should probably put her down.  The vet also said that Zi had probably caught it before we even got her.  She was from an accidental litter of 6.  The lady who owned the dad took in the mom not realizing that both were not fixed.  It is most likely too that the mother did not nurse the pups and she was not vaccinated.  I called and called Josh.  He was sleeping and had ear plugs in.  I finally called my sister at the next street over and asked her if she could go wake Josh up and tell him to call me.  I finally got a hold of Josh and told him to come to the Vet.  He did.  We both then decided that we should let her go.  Crying really hard I told the vet our decision.  We decided to leave the room while they put her down.  I could hear her screaming when they were doing it.  The vet had asked us what we wanted to do with her after.  It would be another $80 to have her taken and cremated with the rest of the dogs put down.  So Josh and I decided to take her and bury her in our back yard.  I am so sad about this. Even though we only had her 2 days I have been crying all day. This whole experiance has reminded me also of when I lost my girls. I know she is better off now, but she was so young.  I hope and pray that my girls take good care of her in Heaven until we meet again.  What is it with us and dogs.  Icarus died of cancer.  Ozwald got hit by a car and now Zi.  The worst part of all is that we cannot have a puppy or a dog the is not vaccinated in our home for 2 years do the the spreading of this decease.  So So So sad.  RIP Zicies.  We love you!