Kala Krause

Kala was a very special Black Labrador. She knew what her purpose in life was, and it was to be a service dog. My daughter and son in law moved to Kansas in 1993 and she was a long way away from home and very lonesome. They bought a yellow lab puppy and thought it needed a playmate. Six weeks later they bought a black lab. The dogs were inseparable and were the ‘grand’ dogs before the kids came along. These dogs went everywhere my daughter and son-in-law went. Sometime when then came to San Antonio, the dogs would stay with me for a month to six weeks before they came back again. I got very attached to them. They were a hoot. The yellow lab, Brittany, was actually white. She was from a Championship bloodline and held her head very high when she sat down. Kala, on the other hand, was just a big loveable dog. She would sit with her tounge hanging out. The dogs were supposed to be the hunters….but Brittany had other plans. She NEVER wanted to get the stickers in her paws, much less that bloody bird in her mouth. She would run back to the air conditioned car or stay in the house and watch Kala practice her hunting skills outside. These dogs loved to get in trouble and they loved to swim. When they went to the lake, they were in the water most of the time. As I said, they traveled back and forth from Kansas to San Antonio all the time and they were well groomed travelers. My son in law really wanted a hunting dog, so they go another dog, a Vishla. Then a baby came, and they moved to Houston. The neighborhood where they lived only allowed two dogs, so since I was so attached to Kala, Kala came to live with me. Kala and I went for walks and was the neighborhood friend to all. Her tail was always going and everyone wanted to stop us to pet her. She was very protective of me and would never let me out of her sight. My elderly Mother lived with me and her hearing was not good. Kala proved to be my Mother’s ears and alerted her when someone was at the door. She was company for my Mother also. Kala would go from room to room and stay right by my Mother when I was at work. For a long time before Kala got sick, she was ‘waking me up’ at night many times to go outside. I had her checked and there was nothing wrong. I was getting a little upset and wondered why she had to go out so much. I now remember that I heard her whining and sitting by my bed. She never barked. She would whine in a low tone so if I wasn’t ready to get up, I wouldn’t hear her. It was not until I found out I had sleep apnea that I realized that she was not waking ME up. I was keeping HER up. She was saving my life!. I had a sleep test and the test showed that I stopped breathing 80 times within a 5 hour period. I never really slept. She probably stayed up most of the night . I also had another 80 times of periodioc limb movements and she really must have been concerned about me. When I got my CPAP machine to help me breathe at night, she stopped getting up in the middle of the night. She stayed by my side all the time. Not long after I got the CPAP machine and was sleeping all night, she had a seizure and her glucose level dropped to 25. She was at the emergency pet clinic all night and the next day after tests, I found out she had pancreatic cancer. There was little that could be done. I made her special food and she was treated like a queen. She got anything she wanted. This was April 2005. I did everything I could to help her, but she was slowly getting worse. The seizures were coming more frequently. By now, her eyesight was bad as well as her hearing. She had a difficult time getting up and laying down. But, when I came home from work, she would get up for 5 minutes, with the tail really going. That was all she could muster and then she was down again. I made two appointments with my vet to have her put down, and cancelled both. I could not bring myself to do theinevitible. The last appointment was Tuesday, September 20, 2005. When we got out of the car, it was like Kala knew where she was going. We got in the Vet’s office and I took the collar off of her. She sniffed all around the office and put her head on my lap. I cried and cried. Then she laid down on the floor and never got up. The Vet and his nurse picked her up to put her on the table and she knew what was going to happen. Sleep came very peacefully. . Kala was the best dog I ever had and I will never forget her sweet, loving disposition. She was the best companion I had. I will never forget her. Good by, my Kala. I love you baby.

Funeral Home:
All Paws Great and Small Crematory
5611 E. Houston St.
San Antonio, TX
US 78220