Dog of the Month - Fiona
In Memory of Fiona…..
Last November I had the pleasure of photographing Fiona with her loving mom and dad. Fiona made me laugh out loud repeatedly over her excitement to meet me. She wanted nothing other than to say hello and get some pets. This was great to see except it made it hard to photograph her as she was constantly barking and moving. Thank goodness for high speed shutters and squeaky toys! Fiona had Degenerative Myelopathy (DM) and made good use of her wheelchair.
Soon after these photos were taken, Fiona passed away and her parents miss her every day. Her mom sent me the following words to tell us a bit about Fiona’s story:
“Fiona was born September 12, 2013, during the time of the 2013 Colorado flood and joined our family six short weeks later. At barely 5 lbs, she was a bundle of energy and the vet called her a "tank" at her first appointment.
The first couple of weeks that we had her, she accompanied me to work in Boulder and was the rave of all my coworkers. Fiona quickly grew (she was a good little eater) and we found that she loved to play fetch with both balls and frisbees and could do so for hours on end. We would wear out from all the playing before she did. We also learned that she loved the water and was a strong swimmer--fetching sticks (or logs, rather) that were as long as she was.
Late last summer, at the age of nine, Fiona started showing signs of hind leg weakness. Come April of this year, the weakness had progressed to knuckling and dragging of her back feet which prompted a visit to see a neurology team at CSU Vet Hospital. Their assessment, along with a DNA test, led to a probable diagnosis of Degenerative Myelopathy (DM), a neurological disorder that causes progressive paralysis starting at the hind quarters and working its way up the spine to the front legs and finally the diaphragm, thus affecting the breathing.
We were devastated, but determined to provide Fiona with the best quality of life we could. In August, we got her a set of wheels which gave her freedom to roam the yard again without us having to assist her with a sling/harness. We are still saddened that this disease will shorten our time with our precious girl, but thankful that there is no pain involved with DM and that we have the opportunity for a "long goodbye" so we can spoil her until the very end. Until then, every day with her is a blessing.”
