Originally Posted by yorkietalkjilly  My Jilly was a 3 lb. tiny and though I loved her fiercely and with every fiber of my heart, the stress & strain of caring for a very tiny dog with the attendant medical issues they usually have was 24/7/365. She was a tiny angel - so perfect and cute beyond belief with a personality to die for! She tilted her head just so to clutch your heart with cuteness! She was a teeny tornado, fearing nothing, ruling her world with black, snapping little eyes & tiny perfect, perked ears, wee feet that stamped to get her way. There was nothing more adorable or dearer on earth than she! And she was a joy to live with, a joy to just look at, to live with and love. I wouldn't trade her for the whole world.
But tiny, fragile little Jilly had a lifetime of medical problems and suffering, w/many, many vet, vet ER and hospital visits & urgent, fearful vet calls. I suffered right along with her, somehow almost felt her every discomfort as acutely as she, spent many, many long days and nights seeing her through scary bouts of illness at home or at the ER vet clinic. Out for a walk, blocks from our home, she was violently attacked by an off-leash Dalmatian dog who ran from out of no-where, suffered many bites, had to have surgical repair and 6 weeks of rehab. She was so tiny the Dalmatian just picked her whole body up in his mouth before I could fight him off. He followed us to the end of the block, trying to get at her again as she had seizures in my arms almost all the way home. Never know how I drove to the vet clinic while trying to calm my traumatized little baby.
She had congenital & acute GI issues which manifested throughout her life all too frequently, saw many specialists, took many, many tests and a lot of medicine over the years. Falling off things she managed to get onto was and breaking herself was a constant fear of mine so she was NEVER allowed out of my sight. She almost choked to death after swallowing a chewie end - throat so tiny it stuck and immediately swelled in her minuscule pharynx, cutting off all but a trickle of air. Gasping & fighting desperately for air, she went into a panicked frenzy, digging at her face with her claws. I had to gather her up w/my car keys and somehow breathe for her after she went limp as I was driving one-handed in wild panic to the vet in the night, fearing she had just died in my arms. I don't know how we made it or she didn't die that night. We spent most of yet another night at the vet's.
When 3 weeks before Christmas her tiny shoulder joint finally gave out from all the jumping dogs that tiny dogs must do, even on their own doggie steps, it fractured/dislocated and failed to heal after 3 weeks of horrible casting, the vets and I concluded she'd been through enough to last a lifetime and at the age of 13 w/arthritis and many other medical problems, she wasn't a candidate for amputation or its rehab. She had enough problems without trying to learn how to walk all over again at her age with only 3 legs. I couldn't bear the thought of that tiny angel struggling anymore. I told her goodbye late on Christmas Eve. I couldn't lose my precious little Jilly....but I did. It broke me. I didn't want another dog for years.
Anyone who deliberately breeds dogs too small to comfortably and safely live a normal dog's life should be run out of the human race. They do not care a whit about the life the little dog has to try to live or that of the people who love it more than life. Please either rescue or reward only breeders who breed responsibly for healthy dogs with your next dog purchase. |