As the outer bands of Tropical Storm Hanna hit Baltimore today, our family had make a sad trek to the Light Street Animal Hospital with our dog Layla. Our beloved coonhound that Marie and I adopted in Ithaca NY had a heart condition that had reached its breaking point in the past several weeks, with a leaky valve wreaking havoc in her abdomen and lungs, preventing her from being able to breathe properly or keep food down. We got the bad news from the vet a few days ago, and were left with the options of either doing nothing, spending thousands on heart surgery for uncertain results, or putting her down. Layla's condition worsened rapidly in the past several days and we were ultimately left with the last choice.
We did not think that it would be right for Mila to be present, since she has to get shots at the doctor's office and this could be confusing and frightening. So after saying goodbye, Marie went down the hall with Layla while I stayed out in the lobby with Mila (who was her normal self, trying to have fun on the scale-- she weighs 27 pounds).
Layla was definitely a tough and soulful dog, living life to the fullest when we were out in the woods. I'm going to miss our hikes. She was adopted in 2003, when she was about 8 months old. She has been in one film (a documentary about my multimedia collaboration "Charm City Remix") and in a song ("HGP Anthem" by Hybrid Groove Project).
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