My beautiful, smart, funny, sweet best friend is gone. I miss her so.

by Miss Maggie's mom
(GA)

I lost me best friend this week on January 4, 2012. Miss Maggie came into my life just under 12 years ago. I found her on the side of a very busy highway, she was about 6 weeks old. She was covered in mange, skin burned from the strong Florida sun. I saw her when I was going into the restaurant, just a shack of a place. She came around the corner obviously hungry and looking for food. I got up from my seat and picked her up. The waitress, this was an outdoor area,said "no dogs allowed". I asked if she belonged to anybody, they said no she was out on the highway all day and was going to be killed by a truck. I said " well she belongs to someone now".

I took her to the condo I was staying at, I was on vacation, and the next day found a vet. She was in need of fluids, worming, treatment for the severe mange and most importantly to be loved.

I kept her at the vet for a couple of days for treatment and then took her home with me, I held her the entire car ride home. When I got back to Atlanta I took her to the vet and continued to treat the mange, get her her shots, and fixed.

That was almost 12 years ago, I told her I loved her everyday, she slept in my bed with me and became friends with my cats and a couple of years down the road I found another puppy, again on the side of the road, and then she had a doggie best friend. Miss Maggie was diagnosed with hemangiosarcoma last July, stage one. The cancer was confined to the top layer of skine, no heart, lungs or spleen invloved.

The vet advised us to take her to an Oncologist, the biggest mistake of my life. They told me they thought she was much more advanced even though the pathology from UGA said stage one. They told me she would be dead in weeks, I had a chance if I did chemo. The chemo was awful, the Oncologist was horrible. Sent her home with no antinausea meds. I begged for some, they said no, I told them she would get car sick if I came back in, to please let me pick up antinausea meds without bringing her in again I was told no. I took her in, she was exhausted from being sick, from the chemo, the lack of sleep and I am sure the pain in her heart why did momma do this to me. As a "precaution" they gave her antibiotics. Well they almost killed her, 7 days in ICU she had a horrible allergic reaction to the antibiotics. I went and picked her up after 7 days and $5000, she was no longer the Miss. Maggie I loved so much, she was a shell of herself, thin exhausted confused. This is a dog who was never once boarded. I thought the end was near then.

I brought her home, cooked for her, fed her by hand.She gained some of her weight back and would go out on the grass and snooze. She started to have tumors spreading all over , the vet I found told me the chemo so weaknd her immune system and the reaction to the antibiotics her body had no defenses left and it ravaged her. He saw the pathology from UGA and the first report after having the one tumor removed and he said there was no need to do chemo.

I feel such guilt, why did I put her through that. I normally took her to the beach in August, I did not because of the one horrible chemo.

Miss. Maggie made it 5 months, when they told me she would die in weeks without chemo, why did I do it, she suffered because I didn't stand up for her. I feel such guilt.


She was put to sleep at home on her sofa, with her friends near by, with her blankie and mommy and daddy touching her telling her we loved her. She stopped eating 4 days before and finally would not drink. I knew it was time but, I kept hoping she would eat, she would drink.

Thanks for letting me write this, I am just so mad and hurt and I miss my baby girl so much, the pain is so deep.