Maple — my grand-dog.
Here she is with Starry.
Yes, Maple was at my house. Why? Because my son knows that if you have a sick dog, I am the one to contact for help navigating things.
And so he called me and the very next day we each drove eight hours to meet halfway between where he was in Montana and my house in Boise. That was a Saturday.
Maple’s symptoms? Vomiting after meals and weight loss — nothing else.
I brought her home, fed her dinner, and she threw up. Off we went to the Specialty hospital that very night.
X-rays showed something in Maple’s esophagus and so we made a plan to return on Monday for a full work-up.
I took Maple home and she had a grand day on Sunday playing with Starry and licking all the frozen meals I made for her with the goat’s milk kefir Cindy brought over for Maple. She didn’t throw up even once that day.
And on Monday, after a CT scan, the internal medicine veterinarian scoped her esophagus and called me while Maple was still under anesthesia. I was driving as I talked her, listening in stunned disbelief as she told me that Maple had a horrible, invasive, inoperable mass in her esophagus that was almost certainly cancer.
Maple was 21 months old. Not a Berner. Tragedy is not breed-specific.
I asked the veterinarian to kiss Maple for me and tell her she was loved, and I gave consent for Maple to be euthanized.
But Maple’s story doesn’t end there.
I asked that a biopsy be obtained and sent to Vidium, a lab I like to use when answers matter.
Maple had T-cell Lymphoma.
The veterinarian told me she had never seen the disease present as it did with Maple. Again, it was just vomiting after meals and the resulting weight loss. She was active and happy until the end.
Establishing a diagnosis — and letting us all learn from that diagnosis — is part of Maple’s legacy.
Knowledge matters — we cannot make informed decisions without information. In dog breeding, so much is unknowable — but that makes the knowable parts all the more important.
That is why my puppy contract includes these terms:
Breeder is to be contacted before any significant procedure (including and especially euthanasia).
Buyer agrees to keep Breeder apprised of the on-going health of the dog, including receiving copies of veterinary records if requested.
Buyer agrees that cause of death of this dog will be firmly established, which may include necropsy and histopathology review if requested by Breeder (at her expense).
Because every dog matters enough to leave a legacy.
Rest in Love, Maple Mae.