Family: Lily's vet goes beyond duty

We lost our 15-year-old Husky this past spring and agreed that we would not rush into a new pet adoption.

That agreement lasted about four months and the silence and absence of a dog became overwhelming. We visited the different shelters, sometimes just for the therapy of petting a dog. We missed our Kodi's spirit and presence.

On July 3, we were in North Charleston at the SPCA when we saw Lily, a beautiful shepherd-Rhodesian ridgeback mix.

She had soul. You could look in her sweet eyes and see that she had been through something. We spent time with her in a big room, we let our two daughters (4 and 1) get assaulted with her saliva and we simply could not wait to bring her home.

We had Lily at home for exactly one week when everything went wrong. Up until then she was a playful, obnoxious, biting-chewing everything-typical puppy. We were all four in love.

She slept in the bed with our 4-year-old daughter and was constantly by my side during the day.

Suddenly, she was lame, dragging her paws, weak, yelping in pain, refusing to eat and drink and retreating to her crate. I immediately took her to our vet's office. We've taken various animals to this practice since my husband was in college 15 years ago.

I was terrified that the rib bones I had fed her (shame on me, I know) had gotten horribly stuck in her body.

The vet examined her, took X-rays, and said besides gas in her intestines and an inconsistency in her back femur, there was no explanation for her behavior.

The vet ran blood work and checked for tick-born diseases. I took Lily home. She was worse the next day and back to the vet we went.

The vet was concerned that it might be HOD (hypertrophic osteodystrophy), a terribly painful condition in large breed dogs. I Googled it and it sounded exactly like what she had.

Long story short: Lily stayed that entire week in the vet's office during the day. I would drop her off when they opened and pick her up when they closed. The vet could not figure out what was wrong.

We were in mourning, certain that any day now we would hear the news that we had no other choice than to put this precious 4-month-old puppy down.

Our vet was so understanding, not only of the fact that we had a very real budget to stick to but of the specific nuances of our family. She was concerned that because our Lily was in pain, she might react aggressively toward our children and bite.

She took all of our concerns into consideration. After three consecutive weeks at the vet's office (boarding day and night for the last two) our vet expressed dire concerns.

Lily was not going to get better anytime soon and she wasn't going to get better without diagnosis and treatment by a specialist, which we simply could not afford.

Our vet offered to adopt our girl, find out what was wrong by any means and take care of her treatment. We agreed immediately, so shocked to have an alternative to Lily's imminent situation.

I have never in my life been so overwhelmed by generosity and compassion.

Our vet saw what we saw in Lily and simply could not put her down.

We cannot thank her enough for her determination and love. This was a miracle, a blessing. Vet of the Year doesn't come close to doing her justice.

Kelly Tick

Charleston

Compiled by Brenda Rindge. Got a pet? Tell us about it. We want to tell your stories and run your pictures of Rover, Boots and even Ziggy on our Pet Plus page. If it's furry, feathered or slithery, and you love it, tell us why. If it's a hero, tell us. If it's a "character," share the antics. Send pictures (in .jpg format via e-mail) or a hard copy by snail mail that you don't need returned). We'll publish the most interesting, the cutest and the weirdest, but please no poetry and no letters from your dog or cat! Submit by e-mail to pets@postandcourier.com or mail to Pets, The Post and Courier, 134 Columbus St., Charleston, SC 29403-4800. Always include your name, address and a daytime phone number.

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