sickness

Question
My family is grieving the death of our Shephard, Niki,
Saw Niki friday morning wouldn't eat a treat or her food, drank some water and gazed at me somberly.
My daughter said she came to her and she pet her, she seemed subdued, lethargic but aware of her surroundings. My husband took her for a walk thursday nite and Niki was quite energetic. Tho an hour later he said she wouldn't greet him or move when he pulled in the driveway(Niki was his dog, she loved him and always greeted him).  He said Niki seemed confused.
We came home friday afternoon at 430 and found Niki dead under the deck, her eyes open and tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.  This shocked us all seeing she was just fine the day before..Niki would've been 11 on january 1st, 2006.  I feel saddened that i wasn't there for her in her last moments...do u think she wanted us there in final hours?  She was warm wheni got home, which makes me believe she had just passed away. We got home 30 minutes later than usual..
Niki did have a cyst removed around 3 weeks earlier and was on antibiotics.  We truly miss her and our hearts our so heavy.  Thank you for your response.
Sincerly,
The Wilckens

Answer
Hi, I am sorry for your loss.  Most of the time animals tend to want to be alone when they know they are sick.  They will go "away" to heal.  That is probably why she was under the deck.  It sounds like something might have gone wrong with the healing process, whether she got an infection and the antibiotics didn't catch or something else, at this point you'll probably never know.  I wouldn't feel bad that you weren't there.  If she was already acting confused, she may not have known you were there if you had been.  Again, I am sorry for your loss and do realize she has now gone on to the rainbow bridge.


Dawn