Confession: When I originally posted, it was never my intent to adopt Annie.  I only wanted to help in some way.  I’d only had two greyhounds before and one had just passed, so I was hardly an expert on how to deal with all of the issues I would be inheriting.  But when the post was interpreted as an offer to adopt, how could I say no?  The Divine had stepped in and given me time and place.  I had long since learned not to ignore those moments.  So I met Gil and picked up Annie.  To say that my world was about to change would be the understatement of a lifetime.

When I picked Annie up she was in pretty bad shape.  Her teeth were rotting, a toenail had been ripped out of her right hind paw, and the rest of her nails were the longest I’d ever seen on a greyhound.  After a weekend of relaxing in her new home I whisked her off to the vet to discuss the realities of a dental surgery.  He looked at her teeth and agreed that she needed a dental, but first he’d need to do bloodwork.  The results brought bad news: Annie was a risky surgery candidate because her kidneys were failing.  (Now I knew why she was peeing.  Her previous family never bothered to investigate.)  The bacteria living in Annie’s teeth was being swallowed and was slowly poisoning her kidneys, causing intermittant failure.  So for two weeks I brushed her teeth twice a day and gave her antibiotics in preparation for surgery.  Without surgery she would surely die and she deserved better than that.  So I prayed and took her in.

When the phone rang at 3pm my heart sank – it had been way too long.  The voice on the other end confirmed that indeed it had been a long time, and that Annie was still fighting to come out of anesthesia.  She said that she was showing good signs and would probably be up within the hour.  She was right.  When I brought Annie back home I truly understood the meaning of the word frail.  So I took care of her, sometimes to the pain of my boss screaming about missed deadlines.  And every day she got better.  And within a few weeks there was real hope.  After 60 days she went back for follow-up bloodwork.  The results were staggering: everything was normal.  Her kidneys had made an almost-miraculous recovery.  And by this point she had a new brother named Prajna, a special-needs challenge from GPA Richmond.

Well, because Greytalk members were so supportive while I nursed Annie back to health, I decided to hang around more than I originally intended.  I even ended-up posting in the singles thread – and Annie was about to get a new family.  Heather and I met, fell in love, got married, and Annie got two new sisters.  I also got to see what a young Annie must have looked like in her youth – Heather’s girl Hanna.

Annie’s recovery was officially celebrated a few months later when she became the oldest pack member to lure course – at age 13!

Annie developed into a proud and authoritative pack-elder as new hounds joined the family.  With each new pack member she seemed to get younger and stronger.  For two years she welcomed change, handling two moves without issue and welcoming in 9 new pack members after the marriage.  And while Annie was light-years older than the other pack members she acted like any other greyhound.

But late last year Annie’s blood values starting showing cause for concern and it seemed that her liver and kidneys were beginning to show signs of distress.  We adjusted her diet and she recovered nicely, as always.  But as the months progressed this year we noticed Annie start slowing down.  It was a strange thought to think – my almost-15-year-old-greyhound was “slowing down”?  But it was true.

On Monday morning, June 12, Annie picked at her breakfast.  In our pack that’s allowed every now and then, especially for the seniors.  But then she skipped dinner.  And Tuesday she didn’t eat again.  Wednesday we started feeding her Ensure to make sure she stayed healthy and hydrated.  While she wasn’t fond of the syringe feeding method, she seemed to love the vanilla flavor.  But by Wednesday evening she had stopped going out for some of the pack turnouts despite having the energy to do so.  A quick examination of her teeth revealed the sad reality.

When I had Annie’s dental surgery done two years ago I had to make a decision as to how many teeth she would lose.  After a medical consult I decided she would lose only 3 teeth.  Well, 3 more teeth.  She was missing 13 when I got her.  I thought it would be best to leave the teeth that weren’t completely overrun with plaque and bacteria – those that seemed most savable.  As a result, Annie was able to enjoy crunchy biscuit treats and bones for two years instead of being relegated to a life of soft foods.  And to know Annie was to know that this was important.  But now those teeth were doing their final damage, rotting from the inside out, and the pain in her mouth had finally become too intense to allow her to eat.  Thursday we continued to feed her Ensure and she was still going outside on her own, but she was walking much slower.  Of course, when she would get to the porch steps to come back inside she would smile and hop right up.

After two days of having discussions that no one ever wants to have, Heather and I agreed on Friday to let Annie run to the bridge with dignity.  It had been five days since she had eaten on her own, though Ensure was keeping her at weight and alert.  With her liver and kidney problems she had almost no chance of living thru a dental surgery, and to try it anyway would have been selfish on our part.  So every minute of Friday was spent worshipping at the altar of Annie.  Per her norm, Annie was eating up the attention.

On Saturday morning, June 17, Annie kissed us goodbye and crossed the bridge.

Andrea Gayle
July 11, 1991 – June 17, 2006

Annie was a 12 year old in need of a new home and I had a home in need of an old Annie.  I suffered my first greyhound loss about a month earlier – Kali had developed osteosarcoma in her neck and I had no time to prepare for her loss.  I hadn’t immediately thought about adopting another greyhound; Caesar seemed like he should be okay as a lone greyhound, but he went into mourning almost immediately and never really seemed to recover.  So an old lady might be just what he needed.

I first saw Annie in the back of an SUV in the middle of a parking lot somewhere in northern Virginia.  I knew immediately that the pain I had felt for Kali would be healed by the love I felt instantly for this girl. The light in her eyes told me that she felt the same way. When we got home I wondered how Caesar would react. He sniffed her for a few minutes, peed right in the middle of the living room, and jumped up on the couch. As far as he was concerned, she was okay. (He’s a bit touched in the head.)

The life she brought to Caesar was inspiring enough, but the life she still had in her was just plain remarkable. Approaching 13 years old, and a scant 51 pounds, Annie still had the attitude of a 6 year old. It seems that this little ball of fluff had a successful career in West Virginia, and that winning attitude wasn’t going anywhere!  But a quick trip to the vet to check on her less-than-acceptable dental health revealed a more serious issue: her kidneys were showing signs of failure.  My vet consulted a vet friend and they decided that we should pull some of Annie’s rotting teeth, that the bacteria she was swallowing on a daily basis could be contributing to her kidney problems.  So my brand new 12 year old girl underwent an extraction surgery and lost 6 teeth .  60 days later a new kidney test revealed that it had worked!  During that time she had solidified her presence in my pack (Prajna had joined in the meantime) and in my heart.

Never count the old ones out.