SNUGGYPUSS…His Story and a Tribute

It is a fact that regardless of whether there is something beyond our Earthly consciousness or not, nothing can change the experiences and history of what has made up our existence here. And so it is important to record and to honor the memory of significant friends who have shared their lives, trust, and loyalty, those who have truly enriched us. Some dogs are unique in this way and they are nature’s magnificent gift to human beings. It is said that people who have never enjoyed the companionship only a dog can grant, will pass on with a soul that is incomplete. I believe that.

This then, is:

SNUGGYPUSS…His Story and a Tribute

Snuggy has been gone five weeks now (April 25th, 2009). He is terribly missed but remains here in so many ways. I suspect he always will. Snuggy was, by varying estimates, between nine and eleven years old and spent the last five years, one hundred and seventy three days here at Sagamore Drive, Andover Ma. in, what he made, HIS home.

What little we know of Slugger’s (aka Snuggypuss’s) early years is that he was “turned” into the Bridgeport Connecticut Animal Shelter on March 18th, 2003 by his owner for undisclosed reasons. At the time he was named Slugger and identified as a Rotti/Shepard mix which was a reflection of how little our public employees know about their jobs. He was clearly a Doberman.

His fortunes began to change after a lady, Elona from Stamford who volunteered at the shelter, became friendly with Snuggy and would take him home on occasional weekends. It was her intervention and interest which led the shelter to keep him unclaimed for as long as it did. Elona took pictures and posted him on the internet as a Rotti whose time was getting short. Caryn, of course, accepted this in-danger, unloved, “Rotti” as a personal crusade. My position was that our current two guys fulfilled the required allotment of strays and that I would be involved only after finding a decent foster home which would take him in. And so, signs on trees throughout the local state forest and to everyone we knew. It was at this point that Slugger became Snuggypuss, a less threatening persona was required despite the fact that he was reported to be as laid back and pleasant as anyone could ever hope for. After a week or so I got a call from a man in Reading Ma. who insisted that Snuggypuss was destined to join his family and after driving by his house, which was very nice and had a huge fenced in yard, I agreed to pick up Snuggy from Elona on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in Hartford Ct. and deliver him to the Reading gentleman that evening.

All went well until I arrived at the Reading home and discovered that this guy had neglected to mention the matter of an additional dog with his wife who dragged him into their house and went ballistic. He came back sheepishly and assured me it would all work out by the following Sunday as she had fifteen people coming for Thanksgiving Dinner and was feeling “stressed” at the moment. I agreed, took Snuggy home, and never heard from either of them again. Back went the signs and we even took him to a local road race wearing a sign that said “I need a home for the Holidays”. A couple of nibbles resulted but after visiting the potential homes or families, none were deemed Snuggy-acceptable.

A few weeks passed and finally a woman with whom I had worked expressed an interest and I delivered Snuggy to her home in Topsfield. As we drove away I regretted leaving him and felt like I had broken an unspoken trust with him. Next morning the phone rang. They had let him loose in their yard shortly after we left and found him a couple of miles away a few hour later. This apparently discouraged them from allowing him ample time to do his thing before going to sleep that night and the result was a mess on their rug. The husband decided to “rub his nose” in it and was immediately rewarded with a bite to the hand. (Good for you Snuggy--so much for that home)..He was returned post haste and I realized we had dog # 3 and was, by this point, very happy to see him back. .

A moment to describe Snuggy as he was at that time. . Dull coat, underweight with ribs showing, worn and broken front teeth from hours of chewing on his metal cage and generally not a particularly healthy or handsome guy. Admittedly, Snuggy may not have seemed the brightest bulb on the tree (by our human measuring criteria) but he was an unassuming, non-confrontational, peaceful guy who fit right in with the other two and accepted Madam as the acknowledged “ leader of the pack”. ( as we all must) Major initial problems were a tendency to roam away during walks, usually in response to real or imagined deer scents or sightings, thereby causing untold hours of wandering through neigborhoods and woodlands yelling “Snuggy come here”. There was also an occasional in-house wetting issue that eventually led to the installation of a hard wood floor to replace the badly abused wall to wall rug. It was time anyway.

Snuggy proved to be a terrible watchdog. He barked only while in the car at joggers, bicycle riders, motorcycles, cops, and many times at nothing we could dicern. This aside, he adapted quickly to his new environment. He was not a demonstrable, run up, wag his stub of a tail, cover you with hugs and kisses sort but he had his ways of showing his affection and, loyalty with a need to be near (except, of course, on his now and then forays). The Snugg became “one of us” in short order.

Early-on visits to the vet for tooth work and such, (Elona had been very generous and had all his shots etc done before delivery) some good nutritious feeding and very soon Snuggy became a 62 pound, shiny-coated, good looking, happy, healthy devil. He immediately took to a collection of stuffed animals, particularly a Buffalo, and would stretch out on the sofa with “Buffalo” in his mouth and sleep. I think it was his first very own toy and it became his “Linus” blanket.

After the initial twelve months or so the wandering off became much less frequent and the wetting (except for a couple of urinary infections) also stopped being a problem—as long as one didn’t get too careless with a “ let’s go out for a minute” suggestion regularly. He gave hints but sometimes a bit too subtle for the slow-witted humans with whom he co-habited.

And so went Snuggy’s life; daily multiple woods-walks with the other guys, car rides and occasional trips for skiing, hiking in NH, or stays at a cottage along the Connecticut Lakes. All this interspersed by plenty of sleep time with “Buffalo” on his sofa or upholstered chair.

Too good to last and in February of 2008 he was being bothered with tooth problems again and before they would repair the problem the local vets insisted on some blood work. This indicated something of much greater concern. Off to Angell Memorial in Boston and our worst fears were realized. Three large lung tumors, one in each of three lobes. Not centralized to allow surgery or radiation and that left just one alternative, Chemo. This being a fairly rare type of cancer in dogs we took him to Tufts in North Grafton Ma and they confirmed what Angell had initially diagnosed. Both advised the same chemo drugs and we settled on Tufts hoping they would offer the better chance for a clinical trial of some sort. Hell, it had worked for me!

And so was formed the core of Team Snuggypuss. The Snugg- himself, Holly Burr—his Tufts Vet, myself—his director of transportation and banking, Madam and Blakey—his companions and emotional support backed by his adviser, Auntie Caryn, Lizzy, his connection with God (assuming God is a Catholic) and the Tufts Oncology Department. We began our once every three-week treatments. The normal pattern was up there in the morning and back for a pick up in the afternoon with an x-ray every three visits to monitor tumor growth. Like most canines undergoing Chemo, Snuggy had just a couple of days of reduced appetite and a need for a bit more sleep immediately after treatments and then as normal as could be. The Tufts people welcomed him warmly on every visit and he sson became a favorite who always got the biggest and most comfortable “room”. He was an undemanding patient and in his understated way, just a pleasant guy to be around, no complaints or whining from him.

I cannot say enough about Holly. She came out with him after each visit and the three of us reviewed the day’s activities and test results. . Never any delay with return calls whenever I called with concerns.. The three of us developed a professional/ personal relationship during this difficult fourteen-month period and it helped immensely. She is a wonderful person.

For almost thirteen months not including an almost disastrous bout with a cancer-unrelated bloat attack with its ensuing surgery over Christmas and a short hospital stay during Easter for food poisoning , the schedule went on as described above. Despite serious concerns voiced by the Bulger Emergency vets Snuggy roared back from both of these incidents. There was little, if any, measurable tumor growth, one change of the Chemo chemical at the half- way mark and no outward manifestation of the cancer within.. His appetite stayed good throughout and his activity levels remained at pre-diagnosis levels. A tough little guy.

Until, and there is always an “until”, Tufts began having trouble injecting the Chemo as his veins had become “overused” . This caused a couple of next day second visits to try again. Following his last successful injection he, for the first time, reacted poorly. What had been a small reduction in appetite and just a few days of being very sleepy went on for eight or nine days. Tufts felt at this point that the build up of toxin from all the Chemo had caused this change and they were in doubt as to whether more chemo at this point was appropriate for Snuggy. There were no other candidate chemo-chemicals to try and worse, there were no realistic available alternative treatments of any kind and no appropriate clinical trials available. Tufts, Caryn, The Park Street Vets and I looked and looked. We searched the internet and contacted anyone we thought might be helpful: Nothing.

Three or four weeks went by and Snuggy showed no ill effect from missing his Tuft’s visits. He had developed a cough while still undergoing the chemo and that got a bit worse but nothing too serious. About a week preceding April 25th Snuggy began to exhibit some mild breathing difficulty which developed quickly to something more serious and we took him to our local doctor at Park St Veterinary Clinic who had been on board with us from the start for some homeopathic and local blood work when needed by Tufts between visits there.. An x-ray showed much moisture in the lungs. She removed some and told us that his time was very short. This was on a Thursday evening and after a quiet Friday and a long Friday night we went back on Saturday morning with a short stop at our forest. He walked into the clinic on his own with us and the end was not uncomfortable, frightening or at all apprehensive for him. We laid down together for a bit and said our farewells.

Immediately following the injection his breathing stopped, he gently lowered his head into my hands and was gone. He waits peacefully now with those of us who have already passed.

Snuggy was my constant companion and my best friend during the past five plus years. I could not have asked for better. His spirit does still reside here and in all of our favorite places. He will be with me for the rest of my days and with luck, beyond.

Au revoir, mon ami,

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