by Melanie Cookson
One Dog's Life
This is the story of one dog's life and a thank you to all those who have given care to our dog Max. There are so many of you.
Max was diagnosed with a heart condition from a leaky mitral valve in 1999. Since that time, he had been on a medical regime consisting of 4 prescriptions medications, quarterly echocardiograms with a cardiologist in Annapolis, and quarterly lab tests to monitor effect of the medications on his kidney and liver.
Max has a regular vet, Rick Lewis and a cardiologist Tom Saunders. Both Drs. and their staff have overseen Max's care with the highest levels of technical expertise and treated us as his owners, with the perfect combination of information, compassion and optimism.
These are some of the reasons Max ran up & down the stairs of our 3-story townhouse with toys in his mouth, nearly until his final days.
In addition to Max's top-notch medical teams, he had an elite cadre of babysitters. Primary among Max's caregivers was his Daddy & my darling husband Bill.
Bill is an attorney who works from a home-based office. Lucky Max. Despite Max's "demanding" daily routine of sleeping 22 out of 24 hours, when he would awaken and need to go out or play, Max sought out Bill as his primary playmate.
As a younger dog, Max was kennel boarded on occasion. Prior to being married in 1997, when I lived alone & had to air travel, living alone meant boarding Max a couple times per year. He tolerated boarding well and became a favorite guest at both Falls Road Animal Hospital and Preston Country Club for Pets.
Once diagnosed with the heart condition, I became reluctant to board Max. Perhaps unnecessarily, I worried that the normal stress of a kennel could be detrimental to his heart.
Serendipity brought my brother Eric to live in Baltimore around this time. Max's Uncle Eric has long been the President of the Max Fan Club. As a physician, Eric cheerfully undertook the added duties of medical advisor and babysitter when Bill & I had to travel.
After moving to Baltimore, Eric & his wife Suzette paid Max the highest possible complement. They bought a Boston Terrier of their own and named him Baxter. Now Max had a kissing cousin. In 2001, our niece and goddaughter Meredith was born and to this day loves to talk about Baxter and Maxie.
Max's fan club was headquartered on our cul de sac. In 1995 when we moved into Bill's house, several neighbors' dogs became Max's playmates. Their owners offered to babysit when we were away for vacation, enabling Max to be watched in his own home.
This evolved into a round robin of communal caregivers for Max. I hated to be away without Max. Especially during his "golden years" when every minute of every hour of every day felt acutely precious and fleeting.
However, the Max fan club provided a great measure of comfort to him and peace of mind to us when we had to be away.
The Max Neighborhood Round-Robin went like this:
Michelle across the street has a large mixed breed female named TeeTee, and a variety of human roommates in her townhouse.
TeeTee and Max were great friends from the start and played together often.
Near in age to each other, they ate the same exact brand of dog food. Somehow, both seemed to think the kibble tasted better at the others house !
Michelle is a nurse and both she and her single roommates kept irregular hours. Max often had sleepovers and Michelle's house while we were away and was known to go from bed to bed looking for cuddle partners.
Karin & Eric live nest door to Michelle. They have a basset hound named Cowboy and a german shorthaired pointer named Emerson. Both dogs were Max's pals. Karin led the charge to ensure that Max was fed and administered his medications twice daily.
Bill and Susan moved in a few years later and a couple of doors down from us with their female mixed breed named Kenai. Bill adopted Kenai as a puppy while on a camping trip in Alaska. I love to hear the story of how as a puppy she slept with him in his sleeping bag during that fateful camping trip.
Max took a shine to Kenai as soon as they met. Kenai was very "talkative" which both Max and I found endlessly amusing. We frequently goaded her into a group howl, much to the dismay of other neighbors !
Susan diligently fed and medicated Max while we were away on several trips.
This circle of friends enabled us to take vacations and be away with minimal worry to us and little disruption to Max's daily routines.
Max was friendly to all people and all animals of all kinds his entire life. This endeared him to many and made it easy for us to know with confidence that he would be obedient and well behaved when we were away.
However, in his later years, with the complex medication protocol, it was not really a simple matter for others to step in. Nonetheless, these friends continued to offer, never complained, provided care and TLC to Max and glowing reports of praise upon our returns.
In March 2002, an echocardiogram picked up a small tumor at the base of Max's heart. Diagnosed as a chemodectoma, our cardiologist explained that it was slow growing but in an inoperable location. We would watch it closely. Four echocardiograms later in Sept. 2003, the ECG showed it slightly more obvious and a bit larger. November and December 2003 began a string of symptoms, which led to consults with other vet specialists and a final sad determination. Thetumor has grown significantly from Sept. 2003 to Dec. 2003, disturbed circulation and blood flow by moving his esophagus and causing one lung to collapse. Max was clearly uncomfortable and in pain.
On December 23, after the results of the medical workup were reviewed, together with our trusted vet and friend Rick Lewis, Bill & I felt it was the time to put Max at peace and cease his suffering. He was 12 years old, would have been 13 on Jan.18, 2004. We gathered around him, murmured words of love to him, held his small paws and kissed his little head until the very last second.
To our dear friends, family and veterinarians, and for all these reasons and more, our gratitude is endless.
Thank you.
There will never be another Max. All those whose path he crossed should know they contributed to what was surely a very happy life.
There is never enough time on earth for dogs whose share our love - especially when that dog, is one dog, like our Max.
Melanie