We all make decisions from time to time that the pup we have been running on for show is not turning out quite as we would have hoped, but what about the other side when the pup that we had no intention of really showing comes out and shows his socks off and then through no fault of his own is career is over.  There is only one word for it …………………. Devastating.

Anthony at the Manchu Shih Tzu Society Championship Show 2004 where he won junior dog

In a way it was kind of ironic because we had had a mini celebration at home that evening because 1 year had passed since India’s tumour had been removed, it felt as though we had hit a mini milestone so to have Anthony become ill on the same day was ironic.  It started with nothing more than an upset stomache, in the early hours of Monday morning and by the next day he was back to normal, but was fed a light diet anyway, by 7pm the diarrhoea had returned along with sickness, I will also never forget that it was raining outside and all he wanted to do was lay in the rain, so off to the vets we went, antibiotics, an injection to stop the sickness, and something to replace the lost fluids home we came.

By midnight the sickness was still severe and I felt the only choice was to take him back, at this point he was admitted straight away.  During the course of the week many tests were run to see if we could pin point what had trigged off the sickness to no avail, every time the drip was removed Anthony would start once again to be sick.

After what was a very long week he was finally allowed home after a bath and lots of cuddles that’s when I noticed what looked like hotspots on his tail, 2 of them 1 larger than the other, so I treated them and everything seemed to be going back to normal.  After a few days the spots had formed scabs and a few more days later the hair came off, I was not unduly worried, I had him home.

Over the next few days the tail continued to look more peculiar and started to stick up in the air so back to the vets we went it was at this point I was told that the tail had died, and would be lost, either by surgery or it would fall off own its own accord.  The reason I was given for this was due to the severity of the virus that he had, the body needed to rid itself of the virus and chooses an extremity, in Anthony’s case his tail, but may have been a foot or ear.

In September Anthony had half of his tail removed, and in himself is a very happy contented and much loved dog, whether the loss of blood supply to his tail was caused by the virus or whether his tail was caught in something during his stay at the vets I will never know all I know is that in his short show career he did me proud, always a showman, always happy to be in the ring and please me, what more can you ask for ?  It also makes you realise that there is more to life with your dogs than just showing them.

Zoe Ashman.
Copyright © 2004. All rights reserved.
Revised: 01-Nov-2005.

Anthony , November 2004