As a kid a puppy was a the top of every birthday and Christmas wish list. Every time I saw a cute puppy up for grabs I always begged my parents to let me take it home. Needless to say they never got me a puppy, but my father’s reasoning for denying me a dog was not the usual speech about responsibility and cleaning up after them. My dad always told me dogs were wonderful to have, but loosing a dog was too hard.
After I graduated from high school in 2002, I started working at the local PetSmart. The first thing my parents told me was “don’t bring any animals home!” Well I ended up bringing home, a hamster, two parakeets, two turtles, a sun Conure, a kitten, and a puppy. Since then the only ones that still remain are the kitten and the puppy. I remember when I first saw Eli. One of my co-workers had rescued this adorable liter of puppies. We were never sure of their breed. Perhaps, catahoula, perhaps German Shepard, maybe a little Australian Cattle Dog. I was immediately struck by his beautiful eyes, one sky blue like a husky the other a deep warm brown like a lab. I knew when I saw that puppy that my dad would not be able to say no to him. My dad fell in love with him almost as quickly and completely as I did.
Oh my Elijah! What a rambunctious rolly polly baby he was. He quickly became an overgrown puppy with way too much energy. He was this thin and tall jumping bean. We were always a little nervous when people came over cause his had a habit of plowing people down when they walked through the door. Eli was always such a friendly dog. He has always loved other dogs, cats, and people. I think in the entire 10 year that I have had Eli I have only ever heard him growl in anger once, and that was when a rather aggressive dog approached the two of us. Eli eventually became a well trained dog, who to this day has never really grown out of the puppy stage.
Last year a lump started growing on Eli’s left front leg. I took him to the vet, and they told me it was a fatty tumor. They said it was common in older dogs, who were overweight. They said it wasn’t hurting him and he just needed to loose some weight and he would be fine. Well with the help of my sister’s new puppy, and a some diet dog food Eli lost about 10lbs.
The lump on his leg did not stop growing though. Right before Thanksgiving I decided to take Eli back to the vet. The size worried my vet to she decided to run some tests. Eli ended up spending last Thanksgiving in the hospital. I knew when my vet called and asked me to come into to talk that the news was not going to be good. She told me the lump was cancer. She gave me three options, to allow the cancer to run it’s course, try some experimental medicine that was going to cost me about a hundred dollars a month, or amputate his leg. Broke and scared I chose to do nothing.
Eleven months later the lump had grown back bigger and uglier then ever. Still broke I was at a complete lose. I really didn’t know what to do. One night the lump started bleeding heavily. I took Eli to the emergency vet and once again I was told that amputation was the best option. This time I had to make a decision quick. The lump was bleeding and getting worse every day.
The day I dropped him off for surgery was the worst. I didn’t know if I had done the right thing. I had blindly listened to the doctor without doing my own research. I thought of all these questions afterwards that I wished I would have asked. I was a wreck that night. The next day wasn’t much better. I went to visit Eli. I had tried my hardest to prepare for it, but I didn’t think about the fact that half his body would be shaved. He laid there panting, and whining attached to an IV, only a big stitch remained where his left arm had been. I couldn’t hold back the tears.
After visiting Eli that day I felt crazy selfish. What had I done to my baby? Had I made the right decision. I started googling three legged dogs, and I found tripawds.com. Seeing other happy healthy three legged dogs made me feel better. Today I’m bringing my Eli home. I’m both really happy and really nervous to start this new journey with my dog. I guess only time will tell if I have made the right decision.
