Cassie, a dachsund with attitude.

This morning I had to take the trip to the vet which all animal lovers dread - Cassie my ancient dachsund had deteriorated overnight and I knew this was her time.She was between 17 and 19 years of age and had been diabetic and blind for many years, this however did not stop her amazing ability to smell out even the tiniest morsel of food in a radius of several yards! never the sweetest natured dog, she was nevertheless the one with the greatest character.I first met Cssie at the Liverpool shelter where she was admitted at the age of 9 years(approximately).Her owner had died and there was nowhere else for Cassie to go, no relative wanted to take her on and the reason for that became apparent when a member of staff came to me saying that nobody could get near the new dog and would I come and try to calm her down.My first sight of Cassie was of a whirling , growling dervish type dog who was determined nobody was going to get within a mile of her without receiving a nasty bite from those gnashing teeth! I bent down to talk to her, the next minute she was cuddled up to me, she never changed her opinion of other people and was always bad tempered around strangers but tolerated my other dogs and never bothered the cats.
I had to learn how to administer her insulin which was no mean feat for me who has a needle phobia! I did it when I had to, when there was nobody else I could call upon
but would feel faint immediately during and after the injection(god I hate that word).Since living in Wales, Meirwen has taken over that dreaded job and cassie has developed a liking for her also- strange though it may seem as she is the one administering the insulin daily.Personally that would be enough to make me hate anyone.
Today will seem strange without her presence in the living room, for all her fesity ways, she has been a part of my life for many years and I will miss her very very much.