Astrid died.

More as I process this. It happened Friday September 5th. She declined really quickly last week and by the time we arrived at her “end of life” appointment at her usual vet’s animal hospital, she was basically non-responsive. Her vet thought brain tumor, the head of the animal rehab clinic where she’d been going for physical therapy thought she’d had a stroke, but after reading this letter from the FDA, I’m now wondering if maybe Librela was involved in her decline?

Some of the side effects, like ataxia (“a neurological condition characterized by a loss of coordination and balance [which] manifests as uncoordinated movements, such as stumbling, swaying, or knuckling over”), and paresis (“a partial loss of muscle function, resulting in weakness or inability to move certain body parts”), she was definitely experiencing towards the end.

Now, I’m not jumping on the “Liberal is satan!” bandwagon I’ve seen online. Astrid first started on the drug in November of 2023 and her last injection was almost a month before her very sudden and rapid decline. Her vet doesn’t think it was responsible (but might have exacerbated?). I still think Librela gave her back a good quality of life; by November 2023 she was struggling and in pain, and the pain was gone, even towards the end (I could help her up by her hips as of Thursday; prior to the Librela she would respond violently if you tried that.)

Ultimately I don’t think it matters. She was around 15 years old (she was already an adult when I rescued her in November 2011). The breeds in her DNA results generally don’t live that long (Husky, 12-14 years; American Pit Bull Terrier, 10-14; Chow Chow, German Shepherd Dog, 10-13; Doberman Pinscher, 10-12). The breeds I think she was, Chinese Shar-Pei (9-11 years), Australian Cattle Dog (12-15 years?), well, we’d be at the upper end of the best outcomes there, too. She had a long life.

I hope I gave her a good one.

I’m writing up my thoughts, my memories, of her life, as I can. More later.

One of my favorite pictures of her, one of the ones that’s going to go into her memorial frame; I took this with an old Nikon D40 in April 2015, when Astrid was about 5 years old. I was just playing around with bokeh, trying to learn the basics of how to use a DSLR...

A portrait of Astrid

Another favorite photo, from April 2014, also going in the frame, the unbridled joy of a ~4 year old pup at the beach, running free:

Astrid at Hendry’s Beach