mike&jo

Hi all

I have just had a telephone call from the vet in London. She has done the PM, and sadly Alfie had a defect in his heart which has never been detected before and this has caused him to die
They still can't release him until all the blood tests come back clear, (which will take about another week) although their initial tests have shown that he didn't have rabies (which we already knew).

My other 2 dogs came through the flight ok, and apparantly their were plenty of other animals on the same flight who were fine as well.
However, I have ongoing issues with my other 2 dogs that I am unable to discuss on here for the moment - I can say though, that this is nothing at all to do with the flights home.


Thanks once again to all of you for all your kind messages.

Jo & Mike

lil_ol_wine_drinker_me

Sorry to hear about Alfie & hope your other 2 recover from their relocation soon. Thoughts with you all as you get through the days to come without your beloved pet.

melaniee

So sorry to hear about your news Jo and Mike-sending thoughts your way. One of our dogs has done 3 international flights and it is always a worry. Big big hugs.....

Jerseygirl

At least you know what happened to poor little Alfie now. My first black and tan Cav. had a heart valve defect. One Saturday morning she seemed to be very tired...she was still the same at lunchtime so I took her to the vet and he confirmed it was her heart. We had known she had valve problems for a couple of years...she was 6 years old. I took her home and she sat on my knee for the rest of the day...she passed away in her sleep at 6.20 that evening.

I also had a Ruby Cav. who died in her sleep of a heart attack...we were on holiday so she died in kennels.

I suppose what I am trying to say is Alfie wouldn't have suffered he would just have become very, very sleepy.

I really feel for you and your family...it is absolutely devastating to lose a beloved pet.

birdynumnum

Ahh so so sorry to hear that - thats too sad
xxx

jumping doris

My dog has a heart problem, a narrowing of the aorta and a slightly damaged valve. He must be the most examined dog in the world but no-one spotted the problem with his heart until last year.
He was a rescue puppy and would have been vet checked when he went to the rescue, then he was adopted and checked again. Brought back to the rescue as unmanagable and checked again, hospitalised and constantly checked. Given to us and checked first.
We took him to our vet...checked again.
Operation on his paws...checked again.
Annual check up with vaccinations.
Came over here...checked again.
Signed up with a vet here...full physical.
And then last year they noticed the murmur and he went to an animal hospital for a cardiac ultra sound.
The problem he has is one he would have been born with and no-one understands how so many different vets didn't pick it up.

I know none of that helps but I suppose I'm trying to say that sometimes these things must be very hard to spot.

wafc

Hi Jo,

Thats terrible news. I know what it feels like to lose a dog or two and its heart breaking and I cant even imagine what its like in those circumstances.

I hope that they get to the bottom of it anyway and I hope that you'll all be feeling better in time.

What a sad story.

My regards to you all.

Stu

onepearlyb

I was thinking about this most of yesterday. It scares me that I too could fly back to the Uk in a few years with my beloved cocker spaniel and he not make it.
I feel so sad for you. It must have been devastating and I don't even want to think about it all too much.
I'm very,very sorry for your loss. Please let us all know how this pans out as there are so many of us on here with pets.
* Just checked your previous update. Poor Alfie. Darling, if it was a heart problem then it's just been waiting to go wrong - could've happened any time. Just such a shame that it was on the flight home. It's heartbreaking.

Thinking of you.
*pearly* x

chance to be

I am so sorry to hear this sad news.
My heartfelt sympathy to you.
When my dog died, I had these words on his coffin,

"He was part of my dreams, of course. But, then again, I was part of his too"

To remember that gives me some comfort.
God bless

Chrissy

MOONLIGHT

I'm so sorry to hear your sad news.

mike&jo

Hi

Thanks again to each and every one of you for all your kind messages. It's comforting to know that there are so many people out there who understand what we have been going through, and how much animals are part of your family.

We have heard today that Alfie should be released next week sometime, and the lovely people in the quarantine kennels here are trying to arrange for his collection from London on our behalf, and then he is to be cremated.
We are moving into our new house in a couple of weeks, and we are going to bury him in the garden there. Our son Ben has asked for his little red collar, and they have said that won't be a problem (thankfully).

Thanks again

Jo & Mike

Jerseygirl

At least you will have some sort of closure. I always buried my dogs at the bottom of the garden...under the old ash tree by the river along with their dish, collar and lead. I had a wooden bench seat there and I would sit and talk to them. :

I hope Ben is feeling a little better now.

mike&jo

Aww, thats a lovely way to remember them.
Yes, Ben is much better now thanks - hes still has his sad moments of course, but that's only to be expected.
The house we are moving into has a lovely garden, so we have decided to bury Alfie at the bottom, under the weeping willow tree.

I thought I would post a little picture of our new addition - I knew we would end up getting one, although I said I never would! But hes only 5 weeks old, so we have to wait a few more weeks yet for him

TruBrit

congrats to the new addition, he looks gorgeous

Jerseygirl

OMG he's lovely...just look at those tiny ears. Thank you for posting the photo.

Whenever I've lost one of my 'girls' I've always got another one straight away...it does help and I'm sure it will be a great help to your son. I love the black and tans...both mine have had exactly the same nature/personality even though one was British and the other America ...very different to the other Cavs. I've had.

He's a lucky pup.