Sheba-A Marvelous Gift RIP 2-18-26

Baymule

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January 12, 2026. The girls were visiting, Buford and Sheba made the most of it, soaking up all the attention they could get.

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January 27, 2026, a couple days after the ice storm that swept across Texas, the South and up the east coast. Sheba chose so snuggle down in hay. Cozy warm under her belly, frost on her fur. My Sheba.

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Weldman

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It was the best thing for this cat to pass away, it was closing a dark chapter in her life that was holding her back emotionally from moving forward. Was wife's cat, then she moved out from home with me so the cat went to her mom, her mom passed so the cat went to her dads, welp year and some change later her dad died, so the cat went to her dads mistress son who he gave all of his stuff away to (millions of dollars worth) instead of his own kids. He said he would take care of the cat and then one day couple of months later he called up saying come get the cat or he is going to kill it.
We got the cat and it had developed diabetes with loss of back legs and ability to control it's bowel movements through their negligence.
Through diet change, vet care and time the cat gained 95% of control back, became one of the best mousers and had character. Summer rolled around and and somewhere between what I think was heat stroke though no bloody diarrhea as with Baymule's Sheba, but he was convulsing as such with seizures. Got him around and went a few months before another one hit and we tried different vet care for him. Come winter around Christmas he had a seizure that wouldn't stop, got him and I knew he was gone and wanted to do the right thing, but seemed a bit harsh for the wife to see. So I stayed up all night with him comforting him the best I could, then when vet opened up brought him in and they got him around. Though I knew his brain was fried, but I didn't want her to know that. Next day she got the call he passed away at the vet. So we brought him home in his cat bed in a bag I got the excavator out and busted the frozen ground up to give him a proper burial cat bed and all. He was a cat that brought us closer together and showed us more than we knew of each other.
 

frustratedearthmother

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I am devastated for you and for Sheba. My heart hurts for you both and I'm crying with you. I've followed her story forever and have always been impressed with how you brought out the best in a stubborn puppy. She always reminded me of my Cowboy. I wish she had been able to stay with you for many more years.
 

drstratton

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Oh Sheba, :hit

I went to church yesterday at 6. It was just getting started when Layne came in, told me he had Sheba in the truck and she was sick. I told people my dog was sick and rushed out the door. Layne was feeding when I left for church, when he called the Anatolians to put them up for the night, they didn't come. They were laying out in the field. He walked out there and found Sheba laying in a pool of bloody diarrhea. Buford was laying next to her. Layne picked her up, but she was so heavy that he couldn't carry her. He drove the truck in the field and got her in the back seat. The seat id always folded up, with a blanket on the metal tray, that is where Carson rides. Always ready.

After hours, vet office closed, I called, left a message begging for a call back. I gave Layne the keys to my car, so he could go get his truck and go home. I headed for Crockett, figuring to sit in the parking lot until I got a call back. In the meantime. Layne was calling vets all over the place, but if you are not a client, they won't take you. He found an emergency clinic in Willis, so I turned around, picked him up and he drove to Willis. I kept a hand on Sheba, talking to her, she had more bloody diarrhea. We got to the emergency clinic, that's all they do, emergencys. I went in, a tech asked what were the symptoms and I replied nonresponsive. He ran out to the truck, Sheba couldn't even get up, much less walk in. He ran for a gurney and together he and Layne lifted the blanket and got her on the gurney and inside. I filled out paperwork while the vet gave her a quick exam. $600 went on my credit card and they got to work. The tech came out and asked me if I wanted them to do CPR, another $400. I got up and went to the exam room. They VAINLY tried to tell me that I couldn't go back there, yeah just try and stop me. They were taking blood, hardly any left. She was convulsing. Sheba was on oxygen, she was dying. I told them no. They continued working on her, blood pressure was extremely low, she still had a heart beat, stopped breathing, they jiggled the oxygen mask and she started breathing again. The tech put blood in several vials with different colored tops, then tried processing it but it wouldn't coagulate. This and the bloody diarrhea suggested heat stroke, toxin, poison, snake bite and several others that I can't remember.

I went back to the waiting room and talked to Layne. I went back to the exam room and told them to put her down. She still had a very faint heartbeat but it was clear that there was no saving her. I stroked her fur while they administered the fluids that would set her free. Layne came back there too. The vet tried his best but there just was no saving Sheba.

We went back up front, another $300+++ went on my credit card. They asked us to pull around back and they brought her out on the gurney in a body bag. Layne picked her up and put her in the back of the truck. We came home.

We will bury Sheba this morning.

I googled bloody diarrhea and found it is called Hemoragic bloody diarrhea. Dogs can be saved, but action must be immediate and a vet in the neighborhood of RIGHT NOW. After hours, a vet on call somewhere out in the middle of nowhere and a drive to an emergency clinic over an hour away just doesn't qualify for right now. There is a list of causes but pretty much I don't know. I fed the dogs at 4:00 PM and they were fine. Somewhere between 4 and 6, Sheba went down, who knows how long she laid there. IF I had been standing right there and IF I the vet's office was open and IF I had got her there ASAP (40 minutes minimum) then possibly she might have been saved. It was not to be.

I'm gonna read her thread start to end and cry. :hit:hit:hit
Waiting on morning.
I'm so sorry Dana! So very sorry! :hugs
 

Baymule

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We buried Sheba this morning. My son dug the hole with his big tractor. He had put her in the trunk of my car overnight because he was worried about varmits getting in the back of the truck to chew on her and that just wasn't gonna happen. He used my little tractor to carry her. He took her out of the bag and put her in the little tractor bucket and lowered it so Carson could sniff her. When Carson walked away, Layne drove the tractor in the middle field. He lowered the bucket and turned the tractor off. Buford sniffed all over Sheba, again and again. I talked to him and petted him. My neighbors from Switzerland came over and Catherine had to turn her back and not watch, she was crying. It was so sad. I cried, my friends cried and Buford kept coming back to sniff on Sheba and finally he walked away and laid down. Layne put Sheba in the grave and used his big tractor to cover her up.

It's been a hard day. Buford misses Sheba so much.
 
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