Jesse Waters

OUR BEAUTIFUL, GENTLE GIRL HAS CROSSED OVER RAINBOW BRIDGE (25. 4. 2017)

Sharon wrote and told us “I have to share some very sad news. It has been the worst weekend ever. On Tuesday morning, Jesse crossed Rainbow Bridge. She was only 5yrs. We adopted her from IRR just over 3 years ago, aged just over 2yrs, knowing that she had idiopathic epilepsy. Our beautiful, gentle, sensitive and lovely Miss Jesse’s epilepsy became more unstable than usual so we decided to make an appointment at the vets for Monday but, unfortunately, I couldn’t get to see the vet I wanted to so we waited and went on Tuesday. Jesse wasn’t too bad, a bit sleepy and not interested in anything, but it was nothing that couldn’t last another day. It was a very complex epilepsy that wasn’t controlled very well by meds even though we tried loads of different combinations. PR Diazepam didn’t work when she had a seizure either and she had already had 2 emergency admissions since Feb of this year.

Yesterday morning, she had the worst fit I’ve ever seen her have. It was harrowing to watch and I felt sick to my stomach for her so we made the decision with the vet that she had gone through enough trauma in her short life and each fit affected her long term in small but noticeable ways. So, on Tuesday morning, Jesse was put to sleep.

I can’t stop crying. I love her so much. It has all been very subdued in our house this morning.

Ella, Kaya and Ruby miss her loads.

Thank you so much to IRR for what you do and for allowing us to adopt our beautiful Jesse”.

RUBY GOES TO JOIN JESSE

Sharon and Chris fostered 14yr old Ruby, who was not an IRR rescue, as her owners were ill.

Apparently, she was a really cheeky girl and was definitely the pack leader!!

Sharon told us “As her owners were not well enough to care for her, they asked if we would adopt her and, of course, we said yes. We had her until she was 15 and a half.

She died just 6 weeks after Jesse”

REMEMBERING JESSE

On 18th July, Sharon was remembering “Lovely, beautiful, calm, gentle Jesse. These are the words I think of when talking about her. Gone but never forgotten.

Miss Jesse joined our family in February 2014, aged just 2 years. She was handed over to us from her fantastic foster mum, Alison.

Jesse had been diagnosed with Idiopathic Epilepsy at the age of only 1 year. Not something we were familiar with so this was going to be a huge learning curve. We weren’t really prepared for how emotional it was going to be!

Thank goodness for the Internet. A great source of information on Canine Epilepsy.

Jesse was a real character with a fabulous and cheeky personality and she changed her lives completely from day 1. She was the perfect companion for Ella and Bobby Bear and later on for Ruby. They made a great team, all with different needs and capabilities.

Jesse’s epilepsy was fairly stable at first and was controlled by her medication. That meant she could enjoy playing, she particularly loved tug of war but never won!! She loved her walks and holidays up to Scotland, all the nice things in life.

After a couple of years things began to change. Jesse had many visits to the vet and lots of medication increases and changes. She went up to 12 tablets per day! We were careful too to avoid and eliminate potential triggers as best we could but nothing seemed to work. Her epilepsy was worsening and was not responding to any medication!

Our family life was beginning to take on further changes. Jesse was our number one priority and we did everything we could to keep her happy and safe. She was never left alone, just in case!! It was heartbreaking. Between December 2016 and April 2017 she had emergency visits to the vet and went into Status Epilepticus 3 times. All of us were exhausted physically and emotionally.

Jesse was always drugged up or trying to rest between fits. Her tail didn’t wag much and she wasn’t really interested in anything anymore. Ella was close by her side most of the time. Bobby Bear had known when she was going to have a fit and would alert us, it took us a while to realise he was able to do this. Life was on hold for our Jesse.

We were prepared to do anything to make her better but it was unfair to let her continue like this and it was a battle we knew we couldn’t win. After a particularly bad few weeks we had to make the decision to let her go.

She couldn’t take any more. It was killing her slowly! It was so so hard. Even on the way to the vets we were thinking and saying ‘ that may have been her last fit, let’s wait a bit longer’ but we had been here so many times before. We felt as if we were letting her down.

Our vet, Mark, was really supportive and told us we had done so much more than a lot of people would have done and we were doing absolutely the right thing. Kind words but they didn’t help our broken hearts much!

Her short life had lots of ups and downs. The ups were the best and that’s what we try and hold on to. Life seems so unfair sometimes but Jesse was meant to come into our lives and they are now richer because of her. Thank you Jesse. You were simply the best.

RIP beautiful girl, we miss you and love you loads.

We lost Bobby Bear too and then Ruby. Now, they are all together at Rainbow Bridge looking after one another”.

HISTORY

In 2013, Jesse, a spayed female Golden Retriever, was approximately 2.5yrs old when IRR rescued her.

Joyful Jesse was surrendered because she had started to have some epileptic fits and her family couldn’t cope.

FOSTER ASSESSMENT

Jesse was fostered in Dorset

Personality: This darling girl is absolutely gorgeous and a genuine joy to have around. She initially lacked confidence but has come out of her shell in her foster home. She is slightly anxious when being left on her own, though this is improving. She is great with other dogs and with cats. She loves to play tug of war, and is very affectionate to everyone she meets. She’s not territorial about food, and is a delicate eater, though she has “borrowed” some food that was left on the kitchen worktop!!

Behaviour with other animals: Excellent with dogs and cats.

Jesse’s Dream Home
Jesse will bring lots of joy, love and fun into her forever home. In return she needs a calm and stable environment where there will be someone with her most of the time. She is taking medication for her epileptic fits and since commencing the medication 2 weeks ago she hasn’t had a single episode. She takes great comfort from other animals in her foster home and we believe she’d benefit from being rehomed with other animals who are calm and accepting of a lovely young lady.

February 2014

Jesse has gone to her Forever Home with Bobby and Ella.

Update from Jesse’s Forever Home April 2014

Jesse is settled and happy. She is a calm, gentle girl. She loves being with Bobby and Ella my other Goldie and likes to share one of their beds when asleep. Her epilepsy is not under control just yet but we are working on it. Every morning we go to our local park and meet up with all her Goldie friends. She has a special pal there, a big male Goldie called Paddy. She is also learning how to play and will give Ella a run for her money when they play fight together.

We own a holiday home in Scotland and we all go up there together as often as we can which they all enjoy.

Thank you for Bobby and Jesse from Sharon