www.atlantabeaglerescue.org

The call came when we were very full. A little female senior beagle was left at the shelter to be euthanized because she had thyroid disease. Our advice was to put her to sleep as soon as possible so she did not have to suffer the stress of being in a shelter.

Pity and hope stayed the needle and an open spot and a love of senior dogs broke us down and we took in Bailey.

The first thing we did was get an appointment at the vet for Bailey. We knew she had thyroid disease, but bloodwork showed she also had advanced kidney disease and her teeth were awful. We didn't know what to start with first. We had to get her kidneys in better shape before we could do a dental, but her teeth prevented her from eating much.

When looking at a dog like this, many rescuers go one way or the other. They make the decision to euthanize or they spend large sums of money on rehabilitating a dog that doesn't have long to live and has almost no chance of being adopted. We chose the middle route, knowing that this was going to be a hospice case and that since it was in our power to at least make her last bit of life here as comfortable and as loving as possible, it was what we could do for her.

Bailey gets subcutaneous fluids once a day. She is still drinking on her own but we want to make sure she stays hydrated and that her kidneys are as supported as they can be. She has almost completely stopped eating, although she will have some cornflakes from time to time. She is still crate-trained - waiting until she is let outside to go to the bathroom. She likes to be in the same room we're in and we still get a tail wag every now and then out of her.

We crush her thyroid medication and mix it with her antibiotics and give it to her in some cranberry juice. She doesn't like it but we hope that a bit more time that will turn her appetite around.

The sad fact is that at 13, Bailey could still have had a couple of healthy and active years left if her owner had done two simple things - gotten her teeth cleaned at some point, and had her vet do a senior blood panel to catch the thyroid disease early. We don't know for sure what started the kidney disease - it could be diet compounded by infections in her mouth and the thyroid disease and her age. But she would be in a lot better shape with some relatively minor preventative care.

All of our mature adult beagles (and our own dogs) get full senior blood workups. We make sure dentals are done if they are needed too. The reason we do these things is so that we can (as much as possible) guarantee a healthy dog with no surprise medical conditions.

Odds are Bailey's kidney values are never going to be good enough to get her teeth cleaned. We cannot justify the cost of hospitalizing her for IV fluid therapy to open a small window of opportunity to get the teeth done. We have had some big vet bills lately with parvo and heartworm, and if we didn't have those what we would spend on Bailey would spay or neuter 4 dogs. These are tough calls, but they have to be made with the long-term outlook for the dog and the organization in mind.

We picture Bailey as a young pup and she must have been a real cutie pie - she's so tiny! She actually kind of looks like a little white Lab puppy now - with her fuzzy head and big dark eyes and her floppy little ears. We wonder what her life story is and hope that at least up until the shelter drop off she was a beloved pet. She will be beloved as long as she stays with us and she will be loved as she passes into the next life.

That, in the end, is the best gift we can give any dog.