Dakota
Zales RIP March 9th, 2001 - February 25th, 2011
Dakota went to the Rainbow
Bridge on February 25, 2011 after bravely battling hemangiosarcoma for two months. In honor of what would be his 10th
birthday, on March 9, 2011, his mom asked to post a special tribute to her sweet boy, and we were happy to oblige.
When you are sorrowful
look into your heart
and you shall see that
......you are weeping
for that which has been
your delight
~ Kahlil Gibran
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Grieve not,
nor speak of me with tears,
but
laugh and talk of me
as if I were beside you.....
I loved you so --
'twas Heaven here with you.'
~ Ilsa Paschal Richardson
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December 27th our world as we knew it came to an
end when our beloved lab Dakota was rushed to the vet hospital after he had labored breathing. We were told he was in
pericardial effusion and would need his heart tapped to release the blood from his pericardium sack resulting from his blood
vessels bleeding out.
He was diagnosed with visceral hemangiosarcoma and his echocardiogram showed a 3cm
(1.2 in) heart tumor. We took him home and overhauled everything, revamped his diet, supplements, and immune modulation
therapy. After a round of chemo we took him to 3 alternative vets, then a started him on natural cancer treatment called
Neoplasene, a blood root extract, for 8 weeks, yunnan paiyo to stop bleeding, fractionated
pectin powder to prevent mestastisis, cottage cheese mixed with flaxseed oil (budwig therapy), etc. etc. He seemed to
be thriving.
But during the second week in February, his rear leg and front paw kept giving way
while he was walking. I initially thought this was his arthritis acting up but now attribute it to probably him having another
bleedout. But, his body then adjusted and he seemed fine. I took off of work February 22nd - 25th to regroup and
spend some quality time with him since it has been such a difficult and cold winter. He chased the mail truck two days
in a row, and the evening before he went to the Bridge I had him outside and was chatting with the
neighbors about how great he was doing.
The next morning at 7am he walked into my daugther Nichole's
bedroom, breathing funny again. We rushed him to the animal hospital and within an hour his vitals plummeted, we were
told he was in cardiac tamponade and his tumor had grown from 3cm - 7cm (which is approximately 2 3/4 inches) and he seemed
uncomfortable and might not have the strength to survive another heart tap.
With heavy hearts we bid farewell,
kissed his wet nose, rubbed his ears and told him how much we loved him and what a good boy he was over and over again as
he crossed over to the Rainbow Bridge.
Today we wanted to acknowledge his 10th birthday
and how gratefull we are for all the years of unconditional love and great memories we were blessed with.
~Lorraine
