We’ve had Winston in the family for about 10 years. Adopted from the RSPCA, apparently with the name of ‘Josh’, he was always a happy and playful pup. Like many dogs, he had a crazy obsession with chasing any kind of throw toy and would often fall asleep still holding a frisbee or ball in his mouth.
Last Thursday, I noticed he wasn’t being himself. Choosing a cuddle over catching his frisbee was extremely uncharacteristic of him and I was starting to wonder if all this rain was depressing him. Later that night, his condition worsened with him just staring and sitting right in front his food in a zombie-like state. I drove him to the emergency animal hospital where they called in a medical specialist to conduct further tests. He was suffering from pericardial effusion, a condition of fluid gathering in a sac around the heart, preventing it from pumping properly. Luckily he was treated in time, fluids drained, and he was sent home the next day for rest. He spent the next week with me at home where his condition improved to a point where I noticed he was even more active and happy than I remember him being in quite a while.
On Monday night, without any sign of struggle, we found him motionless on his beanbag. It was such a shock to find him like this, when only a few hours earlier, he had seemed so happy and healthy. I desperately tried to wake him up shaking him and shouting his name, but it was too late. The vet’s conclusion was that there was another sudden release of fluid around his heart, but unable to detect it this time, it proved to be fatal. He seemed to have passed away peacefully on his beanbag.
Winston was my best friend and I’ll miss him dearly.
