Sad Day
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| Mon, 11-14-2005 - 9:30am |
We have an appt. today at 11:30 to put our very elderly dog to sleep. She's in alot of pain and although we don't know what, SOMETHING happened yesterday--her eye has been watery and cloudy for some time, but yesterday, it was profusely watering and when we tried to clean it for her she cried loudly and tried to bite--it was obviously quite painful. We are a big pet loving family, but in her case, being 16 1/2 we aren't going to treat her for any illness or injury--her health has declined so badly in the last couple years, we've always known if something major happened that we'd just put her to sleep and allow her to rest.........and today is the day---her eye is so sensitive, she isn't asking to go out and she just sleeps. IT's hard for me and DH--we had her before we had our boys----
Just a quick note----nothing anybody can do, but it lets me boo hoo for a minute!
Shels

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Hugs from me too - we're at that stage with our diabetic 14 year old cat who can't seem to get regulated (uses the boxes, but also uses the floor daily, multiple places, etc.). My ds13 was mortified that dh was considering bringing her in for 'the final visit' today; dh agreed to bringing her in to get her checked out and see if there's anything we can do. It's so hard...
Sue
I'm sorry Sue--yes it's very hard. My boys just sort of ducked and ran this morning. I caught myself getting onto them for not 'saying goodbye', but they don't know how to deal with this any better than we do--and they were headed to school--so I don't think they wanted to get too emotional.
This dog never was a 'kid' dog---to be honest, she was pretty snappy her whole life---and she devoted her life to my DH--so although my kids will miss he presence and some of the dog things she does, she didn't bond with them--and my oldest has always been a little wary of her and her snapping.
This doesn't diminish the sandness we feel---we learned to live with her quirks, and have since learned much more about training and having dogs----so we love her the way she is.
I hope you can get good news about your kitty---it's a hard decision to make. Pets are wonderful for families, but it's hard to let them go.
Shels
Hugs from me too, Shels. I will be in your position very soon, I'm afraid.
We adopted our now 13yo, 110 lb yellow lab when he was 7. He is very much MY dog. He has cataracts forming in his eyes that I can see, an eardrum that blew-up a few months ago, and a neurological issue in his hind end that has hindered his movement so much that he hasn't been able to go or down stairs for more than a year, he falls down on our tile floors and can't walk much of a distance any more. Bless his little canine heart, he still wants me to take him for daily walks and he just can't do it! He and I used to walk literal miles together and now we're doing little juaunts up the street about 4 houses and back down again and it takes 30-40 minutes because he has to stop and rest on somebody's front lawn. He follows me around as much as he can, but spends most of his days lying on his little bed watching me with his eyes and barking for me when I am upstairs and he is down. It will be terribly sad to say goodbye to him.
We are going away for Thanksgiving and I am considering taking him to the vet the morning we leave and then telling the kids he passed away while we were gone. But I just don't know if I can do it.
Anyway, this was supposed to be a message of condolence, not all about me and MY dog.
Hugs to you and to your DH too. I'm sure it will be a sad day for you all.
Oh, Jules----of course it is about you too---and Sue, and all of us that have sad decisions to make!
I am back from the vet, and to be honest, before and after were weepy but during, it wasn't bad at all. The vet stayed with us---they sedated her first--because her eye was so very painful, and she'd been snapping--they didn't want to add to it with needle sticks.....she even snapped at the tiny sedation needle. Poor baby. After she was sedated and after the second 'injection' was made, but before she passed, they looked into her eyes and determined what happened that hurt her so bad. As it turned out, the cloudiness we'd seen over the past couple of months (maybe 6 weeks) was an ulcer on her eye that finally ruptured. I felt terrible, but she looked into the other eye, and realized there was an ulcer there as well---so she felt that it was something systemic WITHIN Sunny that was causing they eye ulcers, and we wouldn't have been able to treat very well at her advanced age anyway---so it made it a tiny bit easier to know that we ended her suffering. It was pretty peaceful, and the fact the veterinarian staying with me and being so sweet helped.
Having pets brings the responsibility of these kinds of decisions----and I'm not willing to give up my pets, so I'll have to learn to deal with this as well.
shels
Shels, I am so very sorry for your loss. We had to have our beloved dog put to sleep two years ago this coming Wednesday (11/16/03). She was only 7, but had severe hip dysplasia and a thyroid disorder. She was in great pain and we had run out of treatment options. Letting her go was the hardest thing we've ever done, and the kids were devastated.
Hang in there, time does help the healing process.
Jules, on the topic of your beloved doggie, I understand completely the thought of letting her go over Thanksgiving. I don't think ANY of us want to allow our daily pressures to be involved with making these types of decisions, BUT before the eye thing happened with Sunny, we discussed her overall quality of life, and the fact it was probably a matter of weeks at this point anyway----did we want to add the stress of BOARDING her over thanksgiving to the list of issues she already had. We had begun discussing if a few weeks was going to make a difference in her life.....and would a vet even board her in her poor condition.........the answer was given to us yesterday with her eye issues, but I'm not so sure your thoughts are so bad----it may be easier on your family (kids) and you too---euthanasia is such a controversial topic...............people feel very strongly about it, but I'd say do what is BEST for you and your family----and if that means droping her off to be boarded, and she 'passes' while you are gone, then so be it.........this is a horribly difficult decision to make, and by all means, I say do what you need to do.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
Shels
Thanks, Lia......I appreciate that shoulder. It's been a crappy day---I've been nervous and uptight all day---my DH couldn't come along---he's sick with some respiritory bug (we've all had it) and this was too hard for him---she was truly his dog......Sunny loved him and him only..........she only tolerated the rest of us.
After we found out WHY her eye had acted up (an ulceration on the eye actually ruptured--and she had another one on the other eye---leading the vet to believe it was something systemic within HER causing the problem....not an injury, but an illness) that made it a tiny bit easier to let go. They couldn't have treated the 'blown' eye, except to remove it, and at her age, she wouldn't have tolerated the surgery---and at her advanced age and poor health we wouldn't have put her through it.
They sedated her, and then put her to sleep. The vet stayed with me and Sunny and was very ,very kind...........that helped too.
This really sucks, but I love my animals, and I know it won't keep me from getting more. This is what you chance when owning animals.
Shels
Shels, thanks for your sweet thoughts. My Caleb is at this moment, laying on the front grass in the shade -- its' one of his favorite things to do now. He's not tied up and I have the front door open so I can keep an eye on him. The chances of him wandering off are quite slim anymore, but he has been known to get a sudden burst of energy, strength and adrenaline if someone happens to walk up or down the street. He's such a handsome old guy! The two of us walked so often around town that we are quite well known. Even if people don't know me personally, they have seen us walking and I get stopped regularly by near strangers asking about him! The last time I walked him out of the neighborhood though, he couldn't make it home. A very kindly older couple saw me sitting on the side of the street with him, stopped, lifted him into the back of their truck and drove us both home.
Just thinking about him being gone gets me all teary. He has reservations for his holiday stay at our local 'dog ranch' and he LOVES going there and the owners love him. Their property is quite hilly and I know it's going to be very tough for him to get around this time. The last time he visited, the owners carried him up and down the stairs so he could sleep in their house and not out with the other dogs. He weighs over 100 lbs! He has been 'sharing' for both of my kids during elementary school and always got lots of hugs and pets in the hallways when we'd walk them to school. On the one year anniversary of 9-11, our youth group paid tribute to all the people who lost their lives in the tragedy and dressed Caleb up like a Search and Rescue dog then paraded him up and down the sanctuary! He even got his picture in the newspaper for that one! Anyway, he has touched the hearts of lots of people in our town and I won't be the only one who misses him when he's gone.
Although he is so totally MY dog, DH gets very upset when I mention that it might be 'time' and insists it's not. Maybe not quite yet, but it's getting very close.
Thanks again for your sweet post.
Jules
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