Late Friday afternoon, Macalester was helped to cross the Rainbow Bridge to a land free of pain and suffering. Macalester had just celebrated her 12th birthday on April 2nd — which was her last extended recovery period from pancreatitis. We found out Thursday that the pancreatitis was secondary to the real problem — liver cancer. The cancer was too far gone to treat without making her suffer more than she was.
One of the hardest things about this is that we were fighting the wrong enemy. Based on all the research the vets and I did, we never thought of liver cancer as a possible cause for the pancreatitis. We worked so hard to get Macalester’s pancreas settled — which it almost did twice. We thought about IBD, IBD, Cushings. But unknown to us, the cancer was sending out cells that were causing the pancreatitis. As I told my husband last night, it was like the Vikings doing all the game prep and research to play the Chicago Bears. But when they go to the stadium, the Green Bay Packers showed up instead. We were all blind-sided.
John and I first met Macalester when she was less than two weeks old. She came to our house when she was 6 weeks old. She rapidly became my next in command, and totally wrapped John around her paw. She helped me through the deaths of four close friends, infertility, and one adoption agency telling us we weren’t fit to be parents. When I was home alone, she let me know what was going on in the neighborhood.
It was clear that she loved John the best, but she respected me and tolerated me. She did love me, but not with overboard devotion she gave John. She would wait at a window on our second floor, watching for him to come home. And sometimes he’d run and hide, trying to make her bark and get all wound up.
Scotties are notoriously bad with kids. But not Macalester. From early on, she had much interaction with neighborhood kids and with the kids in my Sunday School classes. She was well known in the neighborhood, and sometimes kids would stop by, asking to play with her.
When we adopted Sarah, Macalester knew what to do — clean-up the food dropped on the floor. She was very tolerant of “Mama’s Puppies” and grew to have a deep affection for both Sarah and Rachel. And Sarah and Rachel returned that love, and delighted in scratching her, feeding her, and taking her outside to “do business”. She helped lay the groundwork that will make Sarah and Rachel future responsible pet owners.
Scotties do not cuddle. But the times when I really needed a cuddle, she was there. I loved petting her soft coat and rubbing her ears. As with most dogs, we had our share of household accidents and destruction of personal property at her paws. But all in all, she truly was “the best girl in the whole wide world”.
We all miss her and hope she is running happily in Heaven now. My life is emptier without her. I miss her so very much.
Carol Anne