The Munchkin

by Chris
(Pennsylvania)

We never actually went looking to get a dog. We inherited Munchkin when my father-in-law took ill and ended up in a skilled nursing facility. Munchy came to us the day after Christmas, which she had spent at the vet's after being found by my brother-in-law in her apartment, in pain. I couldn't bear the thought of Munchy being alone in the apartment so I had my husband bring her to us even, though my allergy to dogs would not appreciate it.

It didn't take long for her to beome part of the family. She of course wanted to be with me - somehow they always know who's allergic. She was over 13 years when we took her in, and she couldn't climb stairs. We had to lift her onto the couch and bought her doggie stairs to get down. We knew that at 13 years we wouldn't have her for long but we didn't expect it to be such a short time- only 14 months.

She started having trouble breathing. We took her to the vet and tried lasix and antibiotics but she got worse. When she started having problems staying on her feet and lost her appetite we made the decision to have her euthanized.

The vet we took her to checked her out first but said there was nothing that they could do and that at her age our decision was a good one. I will miss her greatly and hope that the sadness I feel now will make way for the good memories of the short time we had her.