Dear List, I must first apologize because this is not Berner related but it does effect me, Stevie and my family. And it is lengthy. My son Danny's beautiful Great Dane Mika has made a very sudden and heartwrenching trip to the Bridge. We rescued Mika a few years ago from a home that was not fit for garbage, let alone animals. She was kept locked up in a 10 X 10 shed along with another dog. They would sometimes go for days without food or water. They were never allowed out where they could be free. There was a run attached to the shed, but it was so filled with excrement and garbage that there was hardly room to turn around let alone "run". Often they would not see the light of day for extended periods of time. We rescued Mika and her side kick (whom a friend of mine took in) just in time. She was so malnourished and dehydrated that she was just a couple of days away from certain death. She had mange, total parasite infestation. She was covered in filth and excrement. She was missing teeth and had so many open wounds and ulcers on her skin. She had ear mites so badly that her head was at a constant tilt and the skin behind those beautiful long ears was raw and oozing from constant scratching. She was fearful and nervous. She had obviously been beaten, as she cringed and shook everytime you moved toward her or raised your hand even to try and pet her. After months and months of constant care and attention, Mika turned the corner, and became a beautiful butterfly born out of a deep, dark, evil crysallis of despair and desperation. Mika took a real shine to my oldest son and started to sleep with him in his bed, once she became confident with him and trusted him. He would feed her by hand and talk to her for hours, just petting her and reassuring her. Finally she could love and trust again. This past weekend Mika started showing signs of discomfort. She was restless, not eating and kept trying to vomit. Her stomach was distended and tender. Danny rushed her into the vet, traveling on treacherous roads due to freezing rain. Bloat and gastric torsion was suspected, and she was already experiencing some cardiac problems. Mika went to surgery immediately, after several attempts to decompress were attempted, but her stomach was already starting to necrose and her spleen had been involved. There was also necrotic bowel. The vet called me at home as Danny was having a hard time to make that final decision. With Mika still laying on the OR table we made the decision to let her go to the bridge, she had already suffered immense discomfort and pain and we did not want her to suffer any more. She quietly made the journery. My son was beside himself, he is only 22 years of age and has been such a tremendous support for Stevie and I. Danny sometimes comes across as a tough young man, but I want to tell you that this "tough" young man has a heart as big as all outdoors and is a caring and sensitive human being, who cares deeply for the welfare of all animals. When I was home after my recent finger surgery a couple of weeks ago, Danny took care of Stevie and I so well. He insisted that I actually sleep upstairs in my bed so I could rest properly ( I had not slept up there since Stevie's accident, just so I could sleep beside Stevie), he set up my room with all the necessary comforts, TV, laptop, phone, flowers and clean bedding. So I would not worry about Stevie, Danny carefully and tenderly carried Stevie up to my room so that we could still be together and Danny proceeded to set a cot up in the hall outside of my room so that he would hear us quickly if either of us needed him. Anyway, Danny knows about all of my Berner friends around the world and often reads the posts here when he visits. If you could send your love and prayers for him and his beloved Mika I would so appreciate it. Mika was also Stevie's best friend and we had just started reintroducing them in order to stimulate Stevie and motivate him to push himself forward. I don't know what this recent turn of events will do to Stevie. He looks for Mika whenever Danny comes in. I really need to think about getting Stevie a play friend sometimes in the future. Anyway, I am sorry this is so long, but I knew if any group of people were going to understand and actually care it would be here and I know that we are among friends. Thank you so much for listening. If this was not appropriate, I apologize again.
Karen and Stevie NB, Canada
