<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><DIV>I can't believe I am here writing this today as it has only been 3 weeks since we lost our Gus. This morning we had to put Dottie down. She was our first basset and was such a survivor. When she was 3 we thought we were going to have to put her down because she had no cartilage in her back hips. I searched the internet for help and we tried shark cartilage and ester-c and occasionally the vet would give us pain meds for when she'd have a flair up in her joints. She lived to be 13 1/2! Last night though we heard something fall and it turned out to be Dottie. Her back hips had given out and she fell down the 3 steps to the entryway. She seemed disoriented and would just pace around the house. Finally she would rest and then it started all over again. This morning she was walking, but you could tell
the hips weren't working as well as they should. She was also getting slower as the day wore on. We also noticed a personality change in her too. No longer the overly affectionate dog or the one that is right there when you are in the kitchen in hopes for a scrap. We now have one basset left, Shelby. The heart wrenching thing that happened while loading Dottie up to go was hearing Shelby with her little howls in the house. She NEVER howls! So she'll be getting a lot of extra attention now as we all grieve again.</DIV>
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<DIV>Janet</DIV></td></tr></table><br>