~ Although you could not hear spoken words, you heard and felt every beat of the hearts that loved you .... ~

                                                                       Cody’s Story
 
It was definitely love at first sight when I saw Cody.  He was just a tiny, white fluff of fur, but the way he looked at me straight in the eye told me that he needed me.  After I took him home I noticed that he didn’t respond to noise the way he should and he often seemed to be in his own world.  After doing some sound tests with him I discovered he was deaf.  I was scared this would cause a lack of communication between us and weaken our bond, but I believe it created an even stronger bond between us.  As I worked with him teaching him hand signs it was amazing to watch him gain strength in his other senses.  He learned to rely on vibrations, scent and sight for the clues to the world around him.  He would look to my sister’s dog, Jasmine, to let him know if something was going on in the house.  I miss the joy and fun of watching the two of them racing around the house, tumbling around together.  Even though he was 2 ½ lbs. and Jasmine is 11 lbs. he would stand up to her and loved to play with her the way any dog would.  His deafness didn’t hinder him at all. 
He had behaviors that baffled me though, such as staring into space, chasing shadows, barking at things that were not there and unexplained aggression.  Movement really bothered him, especially fast moving objects such as cars and bikes.  I was unsure whether it was part of his being deaf that he needed help on learning to deal with these things or whether something else might be wrong.  I spoke with a veterinary behaviorist and she wanted a complete blood work up done to rule out any physical causes.  The blood tests showed high liver values which, along with Cody’s strange behavior, caused my vet to believe Cody had a liver shunt.  When they did a Bile Acid Test his numbers were so high that it was probable I was dealing with a liver shunt.  I was absolutely devastated!  I only had two options:  take him in for surgery to close the shunt and give him a chance at a full and normal life or keep him on a special diet and medication while his symptoms worsened and he eventually died.  Even though he was only 2 ½ lbs. and he may not survive the surgery I had to give him a chance at life.  I found the best surgeon I could after much research and help from the liver shunt group on Yahoo.  (They really were a Godsend during this time)  This surgeon had done many successful liver shunt surgeries on very small dogs and had a high survival rate.  So I traveled down from Portland, OR to Los Angeles, CA for the surgery.  He survived the surgery and was doing well but the next day he stopped eating.  Neither I nor the hospital staff could get him to eat and three days later his poor little heart just stopped. 

I will never know why his earlier blood tests didn’t show the possibility of a liver shunt or if it would have made a difference if it had been caught earlier.  There are so many what ifs after something like this happens.  What if I had caught it earlier, what if I had picked a different surgeon or hospital or what if I never had the surgery done at all?  But I know that I did the best I could for him and made the best choices I could based on what I had learned. 

I am left with the wonderful memories I have of him.  He loved to play fetch more than any other dog I have had.  Your arm would get tired before he would tire of playing.  He would even play fetch by himself, tossing the toy up in the air and chasing after it.  He had such pure joy doing this.  There were the little things that were just pure Cody.  He would jump back and forth playing with you and gently grabbing your nose, all the while wagging his tail so fast, you just knew how much fun he was having.  I miss his hugs and how he just loved to cuddle and be close to me.  When he was in the mood he would often lie in my arms and gaze into my eyes with so much love, just like a baby.  I feel cheated that he lived such a short life, less than 2 years.  I do feel like I gave him a good life while he was here which is all we can really do for any dog.  In spite of everything against him he truly enjoyed life.  We had a very special bond and there will probably always be a piece of my heart missing him.  I will always be glad for the joy and special insight into life he brought to me.

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