[MelissaB2112]

My baby, Lila, was the perfect girl and we will always love her with all our hearts. We got her from a family where Lila's primary caretaker was going off to college and he needed to rehome her. From the beginning, we noticed things were a bit odd with her. After taking her to get spayed we were told she had erlichia and started her on an antibiotic treatment. Also, Lila's sternum stuck way out.. the vet said she probably had it broken as a baby! She was always very frightened and would run away whenever we would get near her. She never did get over that, but she was finally making progress and starting to trust us. We only had the honor of her in our family for four months. I'm not sure what happened and the vet couldn't say. We are still quite perplexed. I think that makes it harder, because we still have so many unanswered questions. It was a normal day. The dogs were lying around, playing, eating as normal. After I fed Lila, I sat on the bed and started browsing the net. She was normally a hearty eater and after about 5 minutes, I wondered why she wasn't going to her bowl to eat. My other two dogs came up in the bed with a very grim look on their face. I knew immediately something was wrong. I looked over the side of the bed to check on Lila, who had just been taking a nap on her dog bed with her sister, and there she was.... On the floor, on her side, mouth foaming profusely, Bowels released, her body shaking viciously as though she was running, her teeth clattering, so tightly clenched. She was having a massive grand mal seizure- staus epilectus... By the time it was all over, it had lasted over 30 minutes. Now, Lila had never had a seizure before. I started screaming... I panicked, I didn't know what to do! It was about 9 pm at night. I have never experienced something so intense. My husband and I grabbed her and rushed her to the emergency animal hospital. I made him (safely) pass a couple red lights - they were not going to be the cause of my Lila's death. We got her to the hospital. About 30 minutes later, the doctor called us in. Said we're sorry but Lila didnt make it. They had given her Valium upon her arrival, and an anti seizure medication and started her on oxygen therapy. She was blue when we arrived at the vet. They shot her heart with atropine several times and were able to bring her back a couple of times, until they lost the fight. We still don't know what happened. They tried to draw blood to test it and give us answers but they said her blood was already too thick to test. I still go through it in my mind. If only.... If only I had done this... Or that... Lila passed away on May 17th, 2013 at about 10:15 pm. We had a granite memorial made for her with her picture. And i had all the photos we ever took of my beautiful little girl printed so I can make a photo album or something. And we are going to plant a Lilac bush in her honor. I thought that was an appropriate choice. We got her cremated and I bought a little urn. I'm considering if I'm going to spread or bury the rest of her ashes. We haven't held her memorial service yet. I think we dread bringing up those feelings again, but she deserves a proper ceremony. I love that little girl, and at only 2 years old, her time was cut much too short.