by Angela Schafer
May 22, 2003, we got the call from our local APL that a dog we had looked at was going to have to be put down if she wasn't adopted out. She was a 3 1/2 yr old rott/golden ret. mix. I went and picked her up, my daughter called her Ceili (Kaylie). The first week we had her was hard. If you tried to sweep, she'd pee and cry. If you tried to pet her, she'd flinch like you were going to beat her. As time went by, she realized we were never going to hurt her. She came looking for love. When someone tried to get into the house late one July night, I didn't recognize her, she went through the screen, all teeth and growling. Our Ceili baby was protecting us. By last August '03, we realized that our baby wasn't well. A trip to the vet told us that she had kidney disease, whether it was from a past poison or genetic we didn't know. From then until July '04, she was on antibiotics 5 seperate times. Last Friday, I took her to the vet, expecting to be told she needed antibiotics again, and learned that her kidneys were at 10-15%, and that there was nothing they could do. If I took her home, we could expect her to last 2 or 3 days. I had to make the most difficult decision of my life. I went and got my daughter out of school, so she could say goodbye. The most painful thing I have ever seen, is my little girl, loving up her baby one last time. My daughter waited untill Ceili was gone, took her collar off, kissed her one last time, and said "Goodbye Ceili, I love you." Sometimes I think Ceili is still here. Last night, while I was cutting up a block of cheddar, I flipped a peice for the dog, only to realize that she would never catch it in mid-air again. This was my first experience with the loss of a pet as an adult, and it is actually harder now than when I was a child. Thank you for letting me share my story.

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