Tippy, my heart dog, the dog that changed my life, half the reason that I’m obsessed with dogs today. Tippy was a scruffy little 7 month old havanese when I met her and brought her home. I was told that they wanted to breed and show her but she “tipped her head too much” and would sometimes get clumsy and “fall down the stairs”. She was my very first dog; I begged for YEARS to get a puppy, when I was 13 I finally got my baby girl! I walked neighborhood dogs for free every day for over a year before my parents finally agreed to let me have a dog of my own. This little 10 lbs ball of fluff was my dream come true.
We very quickly found out that she had seizures , and it was clear that she was not the healthiest puppy. She mostly had her seizures when she was excited and the vet didn’t feel it was necessary to medicate. She lived a normal, happy life despite her seizures. This girl was so spoiled; any treat she wanted she got, any place I went, she also went. Tippy was my heart dog.
October 2013, Tippy was 4 years old and she fell ill, very quickly. She was lethargic, not eating, she was not herself. We brought her to the vet, they couldn’t find anything wrong with her. The next day we brought her back and she was much worse, she was barely moving. We did so many tests, they originally thought it may be meningitis. She stayed overnight at the vet for a while. Medication worked… until it didn’t. For a few days I really did have my girl back. She was eating, she was able to walk around the block again, I was so happy!
Things went downhill, quickly. Next thing we knew she was back at the vet, more tests, different medications, nothing was working. In November 2013 she was losing her fight, she wasn’t getting better. We took her away from the vet and brought her to UPEI to try and save her. She was too unstable, we waited for her to get more stable so they could do more tests, but it was too late. On November 11th 2013, after being there for a couple days, my best friend died. They suspect that it was a liver shunt and they were surprised she lived passed puppy hood.
I had Tippy for a few short years, but she had the biggest impact on my life. I will forever miss my perfect little girl. Rest in peace my sweet Tippy girl.
