Tybee has a very special story to tell. She was
born March 19, 1999. She was a wonderful companion, loyal pet, and good
friend to her family in Florida. She loved to play ball and would play
24-7, if were up to it. She was named after a lighthouse in
Savannah, GA called Tybee Island Lighthouse. I love anything to do
with lighthouses and name just seemed to fit her perfectly. She had a
wonderful merry attitude toward life and has never met a stranger.
Tybee's story took a dramatic turn at one year old when she
developed
allergies.
The allergies could have been an underlining problem and was triggered for
some reason.
Over the years of trail and error, a whole lot of money and a lot of
reading we found the things that made her body react. We tried many
brands of food and just seemed to never find the "perfect" one for
Tybee. I think we have the best possible right now though. Her biggest
ordeal was her ears. It is commonly known that those long beautiful
ears of a Cocker Spaniel cause them a lot of problems. Sometimes
diligent cleanings will prevent any further problems, but others like
in Tybee no matter we did she continued to have
chronic otitis.
I went to all kinds of different vets because I
would get so frustrated that it was costing me a fortune and Tybee
still suffered. Some of them had suggested to me she needed surgery on
those ears. When I first heard this in 2002 I was so upset,
because I knew this surgery would take her hearing. I had to try every
possible route and consider that a last resort, and I did. We fought this
infection another year and she never got better for any long
period of time. Tybee could breath the wrong way it seemed and those
ears would flare up.
When we meet Dr. E he had a different way
about him. Something in him made me trust what he had to say after
years of going back and forth with people so ready to just drug her up.
He too suggested Tybee was at the point where she desperately needed
relief through the means of surgery. It was a serious quality of life
issue, and that began to weigh heavier than her potential hearing loss
through the surgery. At this point she was walking around on 3 legs
because she was using one to try to scratch those ears. Hers ears bleed,
her skin was red, she cried all the time. No amount of cleaning would make
them better and they continued to drain a brown substance everywhere.
Dr. E showed serious concerned for Tybee and I was so impressed by his whole clinic.
When he and I discussed cost, I
was in price shock and had to go home and think about it. This was not
a cheap surgery all around and no matter who did it. Dr E gave me a
reasonable price and probably $1000 less than any
university could have done. I mentioned all this to some friends in
an internet cocker spaniel club, which I belong to. I could have never done
this without them. Both financially and emotionally this was one of
the hardest decisions I ever had to make for another life that totally
depended on my good judgment for her well being. I couldn't have done
it without them for sure. I saved money, got an offer from some
friends to help and soon we were able to come up with enough to
have the surgery for Tybee. It's something I will take with me
for the rest of my life. The kindness of people I had never even
met for the most part.
On January 14, 2003 Tybee had her much needed and
come to find out life saving ear surgery. She had a
Total Ear
Abaltion done. This is where they
remove the entire ear canal (on both sides for Tybee) and take out her
middle ear (ear drums included). The deafness was going to be the
price to pay for her to be more comfortable in life. When Dr. E (who is an excellent surgeon)
got into her middle ear he found it to be totally infected and a
partially destroyed eardrum and had to remove it also. We had the hope
he could save it but he couldn't. This infection very well could have
gone to her brain and ended her precious life. So at 3 years old my
baby had her entire ear canals taken out and closed shut. I cried so much
those 4 days she had to stay at the vet's office, but I will never forget
the kindness of my friends and the vet staff. I would go in there and just
sit beside her cage. She was so drugged
up and out of it I just sat there and cried. It was so hard to come
to realization of "Did I do the right thing?". I apologized to
her a 1000 times for this but, just had the hope it would pay
off in the end, as we all did. The deafness didn't bother me as
much anymore. Tybee knew lots of hand signals and seemed to
already be experiencing a hearing loss. If I had to choose
between that pain for her and a hearing loss and will take the
hearing loss any day. It's easier to look back on now of course
and I know from what people have told me in emails, that fact weighs very
heavy on their hearts too.
Well Tybee did recover from her extensive surgery. At the time it
was a hard thing to decide on and I wished I could have taken all the pain
for her, but now it was 200% worth it. In fact she didn't go
completely deaf. She still responded to whistles, my voice sometimes,
the doorbell and phone. She was such a little trooper and when those
drugs wore off she bounced back like her ball she loves so darn much.
Tybee
will always be an inspiration to me. She overcame her discomfort
and pain to begin a new chapter in her life. My only goal in all this was to
give her the best possible life I could, sparing no expense. I
cannot say whatever started
this, whether it goes all the way back to her breeder not caring
about genetics and maybe breeding just for money. I don't have
those answers, and never will. I found
Tybee in a newspaper ad when she was a puppy and didn't know enough to
ask the question to see if I was dealing with an ethical
breeder.
Thank you again to all my friends who were there
for us in all the different ways you were. I'm sure Tybee would
have thanked you if she could have. Her life improved drastically after
this surgery and gave her to us longer than she would have been.
Tybee's stitches
were removed January 27, 2003 and Dr. E was so happy with her progress.
She became a little celebrity at the vet
clinic. Her "new ears" gave her new life and she was able to live as
normal as she could the rest of her life. I don't want to make this sound
like it was a cure all, but it was a significant improvement in her
quality of life. Tybee's major illness was an
auto immune
deficiency disease, which weaken her ability to fight off
infections and made her susceptible to allergies. In turn her allergies
caused her great discomfort throughout her entire body and which we
battled from several angle. Her ears were only part of the story.
Mid-year in the 2005,
I had seen her restlessness and her body's downward spiral start
to go
faster and faster I knew she was never going to make it back up that hill
again. After a harsh and painful reality check deep within my soul and
through many many tears, I gave Tybee the ultimate release from her frail
body at 2:35pm on June 30, 2005. Dr E and several of his clinic staff were
with me. I watched as she feel asleep into the most peaceful state I'd
ever seen her in. She fought such a brave battle for life and in the
end she had the peace we couldn't give her on earth. Of course I update
this page through many tears and wondered hard if I was doing the
right thing at the right time again. Hindsight again is always 20/20 and I
now think I may have even waited too long. The ear ablation did give her
more time with us without the pain of those horrible ears, but there was
no cure all for my precious angel. She passed on at only six and half
years old. I worried in updating this page of Tybee's passing that
people might get the wrong idea. Her ear surgery was the best thing we
ever did for her during her life and had nothing to do with her leaving
this earth. If anything it gave us our Tybee back for another 2 years
before her body started to give up its fight.
We hope in all this that
"Tybee's Story" doesn't fade
away. That we can use this educate others in how important those
ears are and how it can even threaten their lives. Also how important
also good breeding practices are. I can't express enough how I wish
I could have shown Tybee's breeder what happened and how she wasn't
able to just be a normal dog. Maybe he'd stop breeding
but I can't get them to return my calls or letters. Tybee didn't
deserve to go through all this
and she deserved to
live a full life. Please don't let her story be forgotten. You can
read more by clicking page 2 below.
Tribute to Tybee's Life
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Tybee's Story Page 2
