The Sick Basset Hound

After volunteering at the humane association for a couple of months, I noticed that one dog, an 8 year old basset hound, was one of the only ones that had been there the whole time I worked there. I had taken to walking her every visit, as no one else ever walked her. I asked one of the employees why she hadn't been adopted, and they said she was twice and abandoned, but got sent back because she was too old, so she was depressed. She also told me that there wasn't enough room to keep her for much longer, so they would have to euthanize her. It was about my birthday time, and my mom knew how much I loved her, so my parents got her for me as my gift! My dad showed up when I was at a friends house and suprised me by taking me to get her. However, once we filed for adoption, we learned she had lyme's disease and had a bad heart. We got her anyway! A few days later, she was super excited and was running around with our other dog when she fell over. She started convulsing and slamming her head against the ground while crying; we had no idea what was wrong with her, or what to do. We took her to the vet, where they did an exam and took x-rays of her heart. It turns out her heart was not only "bad," but was enlarged to a point where it was pushing against her spine. She also had a heart murmur, which caused her lungs to fill with fluid-causing her to faint if she got too excited. My parents had to buy a few hundred dollars worth of pills, where at one point, she was taking 18 pills a day. Because of these problems, she was estimated to have to be euthanized within little time. I knew that it would be unbearable when that moment came, but I would give her a happy ending. It is now almost a year and a half later, and she is still fighting the odds by enjoying her life!