My Precious Baby Bella 5-10-2015 to 5-10-2020

by Rachel
(Niskayuna, NY)

I wanted to share the story of my perfect little "puppy" Bella. I brought Bella home on July 1, 2015. She was 7 1/2 weeks old and weighed 11 ounces. She was so tiny and adorable! I love her instantly!

That same week I signed up for pet insurance and brought her in for her well puppy appointment. All seemed well. In the few weeks, we dealt with parasites and possibly hypoglycemia. Her condition seemed to improve only to get bad again. Her vet told me about a genetic abnormality some dogs get called a liver shunt.

Eventually, she was tested and it was confirmed, Bella had a liver shunt. (All puppies have a liver shunt invitro, but when they are born, the shunt closes off and they start using their own liver to filter their blood). Unfortunately, Bella's shunt did not close before she was born. At 6 months old, just under 5 lbs, she had major surgery to try and close the shunt. The vet could only close it by 1/3. They called the surgery "successful", but it was not. She had internal liver issues apparently...her veins in the liver were too small and narrow to accommodate the blood flow so it could not be closed off. She was on meds for life. Her life expectancy was 8 years.

Despite her medical issues, Bella grew to be a normal size Morkie (half Yorkie & half Maltese). She seemed healthy, happy and active and really had very little problems. In April 2018 at 3 it was discovered she had developed bladder stones (which are common with liver shunt dogs). They have to be surgically removed. She had her 2nd major surgery. Again, all seemed well enough.

In April of 2019 Bella developed more bladder stones, but they were not causing her any issues, so we held off on surgery as she could not get her bladder opened up every year. I would make sure to get CBC every year or less and her urine checked every 3-4 months just to keep an eye. Results were typical for liver shunt dogs and she seemed happy and healthy.

September 2019 it appeared Bella had a seizure. I wasn't home to see it, but the after effects pointed in that direction as the vet indicated after an ER visit.

Nothing since then.

On May 7, 2020 Bella woke up and was twitching. I thought, I will bring her in to see the vet since it was about time for her urinalysis anyway. Did CBC and urinalysis. Friday, May 8th upon wakening, Bella was shaking and twitching and the night before she was having some difficulty walking up stairs. I called the vet, they said to bring in her in an ultra sound and x-ray. Said her CBC was normal for her and her urinalysis did show some white and red blood cells, but not a lot.

The scan and x-ray showed an enlarged kidney, a stone blocking her kidney and it was full of urine. She of course, still had the bladder stones. Surgery to remove the kidney and stones were required. I whisked her away to the vet who did both of her other surgeries that afternoon. She had the surgery about 5 pm that night, over just after 7 pm. The vet called and said everything went well and Bella was just waking up from surgery. She said she was a "real trooper". We made arrangements to pick her up the next morning.

We picked her up at 8:30 the next morning. She looked horrible, the poor thing. She had staples all the way up and down her underside from upper chest to lower abdomen. She was so out of it. Came home with a load of medicine.

She cried so much, she was in so much pain. I tried to manage as best as possible. That Saturday evening she had seizures...which I wasn't really sure that's what was going on. The surgery center was closed, but they had someone on call until 5 pm on Saturday. I called her several times, texted her videos and pictures. She told me, she probably just has to go to the bathroom. Here I am trying to make her stand and she is having a seizure. How stupid and I not to mention how stupid is the girl who was to answer the phone and help.

I think it was all the medication on top of the anesthesia. She cried so much and could not get comfortable. I didn't notice any other possible seizures. I just thought OK, her midnight dose will help. It didn't help it made it worse. I just couldn't take her being in such pain so about 4:30 AM I brought her to the ER vet as I just couldn't risk giving her more meds at the 6 am dose as it seemed to make her worse.

Without going into everything, we got a call that she was having Grand Mal Seizures and the 2 anti seizure medication and the medication to reduce brain inflammation was not helping. We asked if she wasn't going to make it, for them to please let us know and please let us visit with her. The vet said right then, you better start heading this way then.

When we got there, Bella was really out of it. It was hard to say if she recognized us or knew we were there. The neurologist on duty said if she survived she would more than likely have brain damage from the brain inflammation and seizures, which they could not control. We made the decision to help her pass.

It was so hard. Sunday, May 10, 2020 at about 9:30 pm. It was Bella's 5th birthday. She died on her birthday. She was in the hospital suffering on her birthday. I can't help but have doubts that maybe if I just let her get through Sunday/Monday...maybe without all the medication going through her system that she couldn't process...just maybe she would be OK.

I miss her so bad. She was my perfect baby girl and gave me so much love and joy during her short life. I love her so much, I will never be the same without her. She was my BFF, my soul dog, my daughter, my sweet little puppy, my shadow. I work from home so we spent a lot of time together.

Now I am left a huge void and such pain without her. Tonight it will be one month without her. I can not bear it. It seems like forever since I held her in my arms and yet, wasn't she just here? I miss everything about her, everything.

Bella, you will always be in my heart and mind. I want to go to "The Rainbow Bridge" to be with you forever. That is what I want when I pass (sorry family).