[Crazy4Carlee]

Hi everyone. I never thought I'd be writing this, but here is a copy of the email I sent to the lady that we got Carlee and Cooper from. I sincerely hope that if anyone takes their pet to the vet with any digestive problems you will insist they be checked for Liver Shunt first, I did, but our "know it all ex vet" said there was no way Carlee could have had one.

Hi Tami,

I'm afraid I have some sad news to pass along to you. On Monday, Carlee's 2nd Birthday, we had to have her put to sleep.

I told our vet from day one that I was concerned about liver shunt, but she assured me that Carlee could not have one because she would have been born with it and die shortly after. Well, we now know she was born with it, but was able to live with it for a longer period of time.

She might have had a chance for surgery, but it was not caught in time. This justs makes us all sick and heartbroken around here.

I had mentioned to you just before we got Cooper that Carlee had been ill, but was on the mend. Well, she was being treated for a "viral infection" and the antibiotics and rice and hamburger seemed to agree with her until she started having blood in her urine.

I took her right in and the vet said that the antibiotic might be too strong for her and to try another. That afternoon, she had these tiny stones in her urine that resembled sand, I called her back up to tell her and she said they were bladder stones and that she would need to take x-rays on Monday and see if there were any more. Well, on Saturday night, she had passed another one and this one was about the size of a beebe. I saved all these and took them in with me on Monday.

She takes Carlee from me, say's she needs to be sedated for x-rays and that she'll call when she's done. Well, not only does she call to say she's taken the x-rays, but she's also surgically removed the remaining stones. I did not o.k. a surgery in advance, but didn't say anything to her since I was hoping that now that they were all gone, that must have been Carlee's problem all along and that she will now get better.

Rock and I left the next day for Vegas. The kids not only had to continue potty training with Cooper, but now had to look after Carlee post-op. The vet knew this and told the kids to call her with any concerns.

The next night, the kids can't get Carlee to eat, take her meds or drink. They take her in to the vets and she keeps her over night to replenish her fluids and meds and sends her home the next day.

The next night, the kids are up with her most of the night. She is shaking, barking and drooling. They call our vet and have to leave a message. She does not return their call till late the next day, which by then, the kids have found out about a 24 hour vet hospital, which they have taken Carlee too.

I had either been getting calls in Vegas by the kids or the new vet for the next two days. She seemed to be getting better and the last I heard, Jenna was to take her home the next morning, on her birthday.

At 1:00 the next morning, Jenna calls our room to say that the vet had called and Carlee has had a seizure. I called her up and spoke with her and she went into detail of how severe it was. After talking it over with Rock, I called her back and told her that our poor little Carlee had been through enough and we wished to have her put to sleep.

Cooper is doing very well. He has a new vet that knows all about liver shunt and it's symptoms and will give him the acid bile test when he's ready. We've lost one pet to this terrible disease and will take all the precautions to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Hope all is well with you and your family, including your precious Yorkies,

Kim