Friday, January 6, 2012

R.I.P. Gaya

I came home from vacation excited to see my dog. When I got to my counterparts house to get her she was kind of lethargic and they told me that she didn't eat her breakfast that morning..probably because of her skin disease...what skin disease? I took her home and she started to vomit and have LBM so I took her to the vet the next day. The vet said she had hook worms again (despite being de-wormed at the beginning of December) and a bacterial infection. So I got antibiotics and anti diarrhea medications for her.

Next Day: Still not better, okay. Sometimes it takes meds a little while to work.

Two Days Ago: Still not better. So I took her back to the vet. She got an I.V. for dehydration and I.V. antibiotics.

Yesterday I went back to the vet to get a refill for her I.V. Fluids and went to work. I came back two hours later to give her her medication and sad to say she was dead.

It was a very heart breaking experience because I had to go to my school in tears and ask one of the few teachers who I consider to be my friend to help me get rid of her. He asked me what I wanted to do and, being in tears, I said I had no idea. What did they do with dead animals in this country?

He told me I could bury her in the school and I said that would be great.
So he took two students to my house and got her and then they buried her in the math garden at my school while a little ceremony from my other friend teachers. One of the students is painting a sign now that says "Gaya's Garden".

All in all it was a surreal experience. The teachers at my school went like this - (Friend teachers)- Oh Megan I'm so sorry, I'll get you another dog, one of my neighbors have them.

Non- Friend Teachers- Oh she died because you (insert excuse here). For example, you left her in your room so she suffocated.

One of my FT also "sponsored" me for five beers last night :) Leanna also came down to spend the day with me and help me house shop.

SO all in all of course I still feel horrible, I had the dog for a little over a month and she's dead, how do you expect me to feel? But this experience really solidified what I've observed about the Filipino culture and how they treat animals in this country. I'm going to try to get over it in the next few months by throwing myself into moving, the Sinulog festival, my library, and my mom's visit.

Thank you all though for your well wishes.

Meg

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