An Ode To Miss Bonnie

Clyde the brown one on the left and Bonnie the black one on the right

I remember when we first brought our dogs home, it was only 2 years ago for crying out loud. I remember my mom wanted one but needed to stop "to get more money" on our way out to look at the remaining puppies. I knew at that exact moment we'd be getting two. She hemmed and hawed over these two puppies, who would later be graced with their new names, Bonnie and Clyde. We all knew it was a show, that she had already chosen them both, but we had to leave her to her process. Obviously we brought them both home. We were delighted and horrified as their personalities developed, Clyde turning into a fat, lazy, super calm dog who enjoys clothing, getting his picture taken, and joining in whatever game my daughter is playing. While Bonnie was hyperactive, exceptionally noisy barking at everything including cars on the road we can barely see from the house, and super anxious about everything. She avoided the camera and took to hiding the second I brought it out and she was always a warm body often preferring to lay on the cold kitchen tile, even in the winter. Considering the fact that they were brother and sister, the pair got along fantastically, sharing their mutual obsessive love for my mom.  Both often crammed onto her lap as she attempted to do anything while sitting down.


 

We brought them on vacation with us. We didn't take them into the woods, or let them run around off the leash, we thought they would be safe with us. We were wrong. Bonnie ended up with a fungal infection, we suspect blastomycosis because several dogs in that area ended up with it and her symptoms fit. However, our veterinarian couldn't pin it down to anything more specific then "a fungal infection of unknown origin". After much trial and error, and horror as our cherished family pet lost so much weight she became skeletal, we got her on an antifungal medication. Our vet assured us it was the best possible one out there. She improved! She gained the weight she had lost back, she was happy and running about with her brother, her swollen lymph nodes shrunk, we were hopeful that she would make a full recovery.

 

Then she had a bad day, she would cry if you touched her, she wouldn't move from her dog bed, she wouldn't eat at all, but the next day she was fine. We wrote it off as a sick day and moved on. Then she had another bad day, and another. Pretty soon her bad days turned into several bad days in a row. We got her on more medication to combat a possible secondary infection. She got better! We were hopeful again! Then she had a bad day that turned into a bad two weeks. We quickly realized that this was the end of Bonnie's fight. She had taken up residence in a corner of my daughter's room and wouldn't come out unless you forced her. We had to carry her down the stairs and she would cry the second you reached down towards her. It was heartbreaking to watch. To know that she had fought so hard to beat this stupid infection ravaging her body and she was losing. That a perfectly healthy 2 year old dog could be taken from us in 5 months from an infection. That she could battle this for 5 months and still die. You expect to make these decisions much later in their lives, you don't even think about having to deal with this so early. I want to be angry but there's no one to be angry with. Everything went right for Bonnie until the end, she got on her medication early, our vet told us she had an 80% chance of survival, she took her pills every day twice a day, we made sure she ate enough calories and protein to continue her weight gain. Everyone did everything right. Except the infection, it refused to let go.

Bonnie was barely 2 years old. She was young, she was strong, she was a beautiful dog, and a great companion. She gave us more love then we could have ever hoped for with her tiny kisses, 2 pawed hugs, and full body snuggles. I'm happy that she's no longer in pain, but my heart aches to lose her.
She is loved and she will be missed.