Dexter was my first Labrador, before him we had Dalmatians, a Belgian Shepherd and other dogs I have never known.
Dexter was born in August 1993 in Ripley, near Harrogate. He came from working parents, and was in fact one quarter curly coat, which explained that whippy tail!
He was never a calm dog, he was mad as they come, loved everyone and usually everyone loved him. When he was five years old he swallowed a pair of tights and spent five days in the vets after being operated on. Shortly after this he damaged his tail, but the excitable hound could not stop wagging his bleeding tail and spattered everyone in the vets that morning, including a snooty guy who had gone in his best clothes and wanted to sue the vet because he had been spattered with blood. Dexter was kept in at the vets to sedate him so he wouldn't wag his tail so much!
In 2004 he was joined in the flat by a kitten called Brussels, and they got along like a house on fire. Brussels loved to ambush him as he walked past, and she would jump over him from the arm of a chair.
In August 2005 Dexter had a seizure. The vet said it was a heart murmur, we didn't agree and had a second opinion. The vet confirmed that Dexter had no heart problem, but he would not prescribe any treatment for the fit.
Dexter was on Selgian for toileting indoors, which, we discovered, was a symptom of a brain tumour like the seizures would have been. The vet passed him off as "a bit gaga" but I was convinced that there was more to this problem, but when the vets don't listen to you, what do you do?
On 30th January, Dexter had a strange turn. He had been OK all morning, then on his afternoon walk he became very slow and lethargic. When we put his food down he did not rush to eat it like he usually would, he stood and stared with his head hung down. He went to the vet, who said he had no temperature, did not know what was wrong but gave him antibiotics and pain killers.
Dexter was lively again on 2nd February and we thought he was OK. Then 3rd February came. Dexter enjoyed his morning walk, and his dinner. Then, at 11am, he had a major seizure. For 45 minutes he did not move, and so we gave him peace and quiet to recover. When he got up, he staggered into the lounge, collapsed and had another seizure. Then he lay still and quiet. Squeezing his toes did not have the desired response, indicating some paralysis. We tried to tempt him with his favourite treat, a Drummer, but he turned away from it, which he would never normally do.
At 2.45 the vet arrived. She examined Dexter throroughly and said that seizures in a dog Dexter's age were most likely the result of a brain tumour (at last someone confirmed what I had been sure of for months!) and that even though a steroid injection would have given him short term relief, the only kind thing to do was have him put to sleep there and then.
We were heartbroken, I could not stay to watch because I remembered what it was like when my old Dally was put to sleep, I can't stand to see my animals die. The vet gave us his collar, and it is now in the cupboard where his leads hung. The only consolation was that Dexter would have had no knowledge of the fit, nor would he have felt any pain. But we are not pleased that the vet never looked further into what was causing Dex's problems instead of passing him off as senile.
But knowing Dexter he will now be up there chasing the squirrels, like he used to do in the parks around where we live. We will never forget him. RIP Moonlight Fling.
