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I think my dog is dying. She's 15 (king charles spaniel), had a great loving life but for the last year or so its been pretty downhill. She has heart failure which we have treated with a few cardiovascular drugs to good success. She's been particularly bad for the last 2 days though. Barely able to hold her own weight up while going to the bathroom (we carry her out of the house to do her business). Tonight she's been hyperventilating and twitching a lot in her sleep. She wakes up and is totally out of breath and its not just her normal heat issues, icewater drinks and cool tiles do little to alleviate the problem. We're pretty sure she has renal deficiency brought on by the prolonged heart issues. I think she's uremic or acidotic. I don't know what I'm really after by this post, its 4:00 am and i don't know what to do for a family member of 15 years on her last legs. We'll get a hold of the vet as soon as possible so they can make a proper clinical decision/diagnosis. If any one has any advice or stories to share it would be great to hear them. dying pets sucks. I half want to pet her and comfort her but i also don't want to disturb the sleep she's getting, as restless as it may be.
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| # ? Mar 15, 2013 18:44 |
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| # ? May 23, 2013 23:37 |
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That sucks. Really really sorry to hear it. Basically if she is that bad my advice is talk to your vet but be ready to think about putting her to sleep. My 9 year-old lab/greyhound mix (greatest dog ever why is that not a breed???) had what we think was a stroke a couple of years ago. We took her into the emergency medvet and after an overnight stay the vet said blah blah we can keep her alive $$$$$, and in between sobs I asked if it was just time and they said, yes, so we had her put to sleep. It was sad but I didn't want to her to be in pain and quality of life issues, etc. I guess I'm saying it's okay if it's just time. Sorry.
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| # ? Mar 15, 2013 20:33 |
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You have my sympathy, having been there. Talk to the vet - if there is a chance of a reasonable existence, then it's your call, but 15 years is a good time to have together, and that's the deal we have with pets. They share your life, but it's never long enough. When it was time for Bill (MY dog, awesome little shithead) to stop, it was like a kick to the heart but I could and would not let him suffer. I told them to do what they needed, held him in my arms and then took him home to be in his favourite place in the garden. It hurt like a bastard and I still miss him, but it's your job to look after your pets. This includes making that most horrible of decisions, but take some comfort in that you are helping to stop your friend from hurting. It isn't a nice time, but remember all the good times and know that if you have to choose to put her to sleep, it really is better than letting her suffer. As to comforting, just be with her - they know you're there and it's good for them and you. I really do sympathise - it's always too soon, but do the best you can. Good luck.
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| # ? Mar 15, 2013 21:21 |
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Echoing the sentiments above, it may be time to make the tough decision. It's not easy and it will be a very tough time, but you have to think about your dog. I was in the same place 3 months ago and it hurts like hell. My girl was 15 years old and she made me smile and laugh every day. I couldn't bare to see her suffer or struggle, but in the end our vet took the decision. He cried when he told us what we had to do... You have my deepest sympathy. Best wishes
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| # ? Mar 15, 2013 23:20 |
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Love the gently caress out of that puppy while she is still here.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 10:12 |
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Aaargh, this thread. Never getting another dog.
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| # ? Mar 16, 2013 16:59 |
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You made the hardest choice you've ever had to make and you deal with the consequences. I just put down one of my cats yesterday, he's had been ill for awhile but it got horrendously bad that final week, I spent the entire day saying goodbye to him and just bawled for hours. I miss him terribly but I know I did a good job with him, I never denied him a thing, loved him dearly, played with him everyday, gave him his favorite foods, I have 0 regrets on how I treated him, that's comforting to me, a small comfort but its something, I won't lie to you, its pretty hard, the moment you do it, the burial, the days, weeks, sometimes months that follow, the pain can be almost insurmountable, there's always something that reminds you off them, a toy, you spot their favorite food at the supermarket, an animal that looks similar. The pain gets easier with time but it never goes away.
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| # ? Mar 17, 2013 02:26 |
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I had to let my sweet girl go almost a year ago. It was her time but I still miss her. Just know that we all have a limited run on this planet and to honor that we need to make the most of it. 15 years is a fantastic run but nothing lasts forever and therefore you need to appreciate the time spent and not the time lost. Here's a picture of Kodi in her better days. 
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| # ? Mar 18, 2013 21:39 |
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I had to put my dog down today and I'm just devastated. He was a 15 year old yorkie named Biggie. He had the most spoiled, kick-rear end life. He was my little dude. I really don't know what to do right now. It's the first time I've ever had to deal with something like this. I came home hours after it was over and made sure my dad put all his stuff away before I got there. It didn't really help. Point being, I know this is tough, but he was sick and didn't deserve to be in pain. I'm so glad I just got tons of time with him.
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| # ? Mar 19, 2013 00:49 |
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I'm going to echo the recommendations to take her to that vet, and I also offer my biggest hugs to you and your family (dog included). Putting my 12 year old bunny Opal down when I was 19 was the hardest thing I've ever done, but watching her suffer was just..awful. It's awful to watch someone you love in pain. Give her a Best Last Day if you can, I always found that a happy memory, for both of you, is a really good thing.
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| # ? Mar 26, 2013 19:55 |
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Few years back I had to put down my cat Pieter Willem down. What I did was let the lil bastard eat to his hearts content, go outside, roam the neighborhood and do his thing for about a week before he had to go. Just let him have a good time, you know. P.W. wasn't spayed or anything so I hope he fathered some boys while he was out there. R.I.P.
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| # ? Mar 26, 2013 20:05 |
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I had to put down my 20.5-year-old Siamese-Himalayan Baby after a series of seizures over a span of two months, the last of which took his sight. Just remember to love the hell out of your dog, give all of the snuggles you can, and remember there's nothing you can do. I'm still sad about Baby - it's been almost a month - but knowing I did all I could numbs the pain a bit. Trying to forget that his 22-year-old mother is getting up there in age, and has health problems too.. Baby at his second-last vet visit, February 6, three weeks before we put him down. 
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| # ? Mar 29, 2013 17:42 |
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fuuuck im sorry. i just got my first pup back in december and hes the best thing to ever happen to me, ever. lately, hes been been barfing every weekend and he trembles and bobs his head around for a couple of hours before he feels better. i always have freak outs when it happens, and thats just from throw up. i dont know how people can deal with poo poo like heart and stroke issues. breaks my heart
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| # ? Mar 29, 2013 20:20 |
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69 the sex number posted:fuuuck im sorry. Please take your dog to a vet, this isn't normal. /derail
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| # ? Mar 29, 2013 22:23 |
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Serella posted:Please take your dog to a vet, this isn't normal. /derail i have. did a fecal test and bloodwork, nothing showed up.
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| # ? Mar 29, 2013 23:19 |
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69 the sex number posted:i have. did a fecal test and bloodwork, nothing showed up. Oh, I'm glad you took him.  Sorry to seem like a sperg, too many people on the internet are just all LOL MY DOG HAS BEEN BARFING UNCONTROLLABLY FOR THREE DAYS, I PUT HIS GROSS rear end OUTSIDE.
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| # ? Mar 30, 2013 19:57 |
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OP, any update on your pooch? I'm so sorry you and your dog are going through this.
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| # ? Mar 30, 2013 20:51 |
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AvianPundit posted:OP, any update on your pooch? I'm so sorry you and your dog are going through this. This thread made me spend a catladyesque amount of time hugging my dog and cats last night. The dog liked it but the cats weren't amused.
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| # ? Apr 2, 2013 17:37 |
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There's not much to say. I'm in the same situation with my cat Fluffy who is 20+. He's in renal failure, has arthritis and is deaf and senile. The only reason why we haven't yet taken him in for his last trip to the vet is because he still has joy in his life but honestly I'll be surprised if he lasts the next couple of weeks. He lives with my parents, so it's hard for me to monitor his situation. He has up and down days. If he gets too bad we will do the needful. He's been a lot better lately now the weather is a bit warmer. He gets lots of loves and anything he wants to eat or drink at this point.
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| # ? Apr 4, 2013 08:20 |
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If it's alright for me to post in here, I just lost my best friend yesterday. It was absolutely his time, he was senile and had finally lost control over his bowels and so it would've been wrong to keep him here any longer. Didn't make it any easier, but he went beautifully, just staring deep into my eyes the way he always loved to. It sucks, because I've got some deep family issues and he was the only really supportive thing in the house towards me. But hey, I don't think any cat was as loved as he was, and I couldn't've asked for a better or more loyal friend for the years we were together. It's absolutely true, sometimes you choose each other, and that bond runs so, so deep that even death can't sever the love I feel for my big dumb guy. Neko was the most gentle and sweet cat I've ever known, even if he was a completely dim bulb. Still, he knew how to cheer you up and when I was suffering the horrible mental anguish of PTSD, he was always there for me, never judging, never leaving my side. I'm'a miss the hell out of that guy, but oh, what a life he led...I'm reminded of the line from Watership Down, "My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today." 
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| # ? Apr 15, 2013 05:25 |
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My mum put my 8-9 year old dog down when I was 15 and at school one day. He'd had a bout of pancreatitis a few months earlier that cost us a tonne of money, and he almost didn't make it, so I guess when she rushed him off to the vet with the threat of him dying in pain she decided the best thing to do would be to have him put down. This was a bad time in our lives, my dad having just died only a few months earlier, so I was shocked and angry for days. I miss my black (grey) labradoodle (the sellers lied, he was totally a terrier-poodle), tennis-ball-retarded (he goddamn loved that thing), scared of laundry baskets dog 11 years on. I only just gave in to my girlfriend December before last to get my first pet since.
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| # ? Apr 15, 2013 07:04 |
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Worst decision you'll ever have to make, even if it's the best or wisest one. Whether to or whether not to. My heart goes out to you and those who are losing their soul's companion. Whatever your choice, however right it may be, you'll still second guess yourself. That's our nature: searching, praying for a better solution, when all options just downright suck. I've come to draw the line at signs of extreme suffering or loss of sentient response. And I'll never know if that's the right call. You do the best you can for those you love. Get second opinions from other vets. Do the best you can with the data provided by them, your gut, and your heart. Hardest thing you'll ever do. That you took the time to ask attests to how lucky your dog is to have you. How to let go of an animal that knows you better than yourself and forgives you for it anyway. Ever been beating yourself senseless over some boneheaded decision you made and have your dog or cat come over trying to remind you "Forget about that. You're awesome to me an always will be." There's something very Mister Rogers in our dearest animals. They see the best in you and have faith in it, even when you don't. How amazing it is that an animal can come to see how special you are! How equally amazing it is that you've formed a bond with them to see how special they are! It takes a great soul to know one. That might be the lone hook of consolation we can hold onto. Our pets are gatekeepers to our better selves. You can't replace somebody that had your back so dutifully for so long. "Nobody's perfect!" some say. Bullshit. I've known several awesome dogs and cats that were perfect. Even a parakeet or two. I bet some of you have too. The only negative to pets is that we outlive them. Those prime animals are like Dalai Lamas. You can't replace 'em. There is no substitute for the void left behind. A call comes, whether of your own volition or circumstance, and the next will appear when you're ready. Some sooner, some later. And they're never a replacement. In those crushing dark hours, I try like hell just to honor whatever the hell it was these beautiful souls saw in me. Maybe, I'm wrong, flawed, this or that, but my dog or my cat never were. They loved. And were never happier than when they saw me, something to wear as a badge of honor. You may be crushed, but they would want you to carry on. Keep loving. Keep that love flowing. That's who you were with them. They would never want you to stop being you. You don't get over the loss. You just eventually get used to carrying on, their memory never far. Through your new animals, you may even occasionally get a fleeting glimpse or shadow of one of your dear old souls. I take those bittersweet moments as signs of affirmation. That's the thing about love. It ain't for the weak. It's solely for the brave. The hearts of anybody who has been in your shoes go out to you. You're not alone, as so many in this thread have attested. When we lost our 18 year old black cat to pancreatic cancer, we took a few months. Difficult months obviously. But the young black cat we eventually adopted -- he was 2 days away from euthanization at the shelter. Nobody had even looked at him and his awesome copper eyes -- just reminded us how fortunate we are that there are still unique animal souls out there waiting to dazzle you with their own creativity and unique blend of warmth. We may have saved him. But he no less saved us. Little fucker actually got me laughing like I hadn't laughed in a long, long time, if ever, a soul-purging guffaw that nearly suffocated me. He was on my chest and saw fit to bathe every inch of my neck with insane intensity, and wouldn't stop as I was cackling like a hen. I wish that on anyone who has lost a beloved animal. Death by catlick. Now that I could live and die with.
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| # ? Apr 15, 2013 08:47 |
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Reading all the stories here is really helping me out. My very best friend in the world died from cancer yesterday; I had to make that decision. One week she seemed fine, and the next week she had cancer and was past the point of recovery. She was 15 and we knew every day past 12 or 13 was a gift, and we joked around some mornings saying 'Hooray, Bridget's still alive!' but the end is still rough. The hole in my life is still unbearable right now. She was awesome. 
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| # ? Apr 17, 2013 15:52 |
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Oh goons, sorry to bump this thread after like a month but we had to put our dog down last night, I didn't want to make a new thread since its so e/n but I just...  The last time I saw him was in February when my parents visited. He was a bit wobbly and stiff as always, since he had both his cruciate ligaments replaced years ago and had arthritis in all four legs, but he was still cheerful and could enjoy a slow walk round the park and would give you a big Sheltie smile with all his teeth when he saw you. I knew he'd been having seizures and heart problems since I last saw him, but I didn't realise how bad he was. When I arrived at my parents house on Friday night he was just lying outside and didn't even seem to recognise me, no reaction at all. The next day he gave me a bit of a wag when he saw me but all he could do was lie on the floor wheezing and coughing, he couldn't stand up on his own and could barely walk more than a few paces, he had to be carried to his food or out for his toilet, and all day and night he just barked inconsolably when you weren't right there stroking him. My mum had been keeping him going with masses of medicine but the seizures weren't stopping and even if they did there was no way that dog was walking again. Sometimes he would look at me and I thought he was still there, that it would be the wrong choice, but then he would nip at my fingers when he always used to take food so gently and delicately, or try to struggle up to stand or not react to his name being called, and I knew he was gone even if he kept living. We decided it had to be the end when he tried, confused, to stagger off the edge of the cliff our house is on. He had a seizure and we laid him on the grass to calm down. He just looked exhausted and sad. That night we drove him to the vet. He had to be carried to the table. It was very quick and peaceful, I'm glad he went that way rather than thrashing and asphyxiating in a seizure. I could write an essay about all the things I'll miss about him. I've been crying all night. I know it was the right decision but gently caress. To make it worse, all our chickens were killed by a fox last week, and the garden feels very empty now. I'm supposed to be having riding lessons today but every time I stand up I shake. gently caress me, this wasn't how I wanted anything to be. Sorry for rambling.  
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| # ? May 6, 2013 07:23 |
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Prism Mirror Lens posted:Oh goons, sorry to bump this thread after like a month but we had to put our dog down last night, I didn't want to make a new thread since its so e/n but I just... Sorry to hear about your doggy and chickens, man.  It always sucks to lose a pet, even if it was their time. I had a hard time putting down my ferret, even though he was old and had already been through meds and surgery before his cancer came back, but it was the right thing to do, just like with your puppy.Maybe out will cheer you up to look at the backyard chicken thread here or the chickam in gbs. It always makes me feel better looking at silly chickies.
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| # ? May 6, 2013 12:26 |
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Prism Mirror Lens posted:Oh goons, sorry to bump this thread after like a month but we had to put our dog down last night, I didn't want to make a new thread since its so e/n but I just... Me too. I didn't want to start a new thread either but I am going to say goodbye to my kitty Seymour at 2 today and I am so sad. Oh god this hurts.
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| # ? May 10, 2013 16:35 |
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I got Seymour when he was about 10 weeks old. We stopped by the shelter and he just wanted us to take him home, sticking his paw out to get our attention when we tried to walk away. After living with us for a week, it turns out he had distemper and spent a week at the vet. I spent the next three weeks nursing him back to health with so many meds I needed a spreadsheet to keep track and giving him twice daily coupage to clear his lungs.  After being sick, Seymour had some neurological damage, but his personality was still there 100%. For the rest of his life, he walked loosey-goosey and loved to just go limp when you picked him up. His tail, which was a normal cat's tail, fluffed out like crazy. Just before he turned 3, Seymour started having seizures. We're extremely fortunate to have had pet insurance and an awesome animal hospital here. We did blood tests, titers, an MRI and a bile test. After going through so much with him I was pretty much desperate to fix him. The blood tests and MRI found nothing abnormal, no fluid on his brain, no structural abnormalities and no tumors or growths, so he was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy. We've controlled his seizures with medication for the past 7 years and he's been healthy. He actually went years without a seizure, but in the last few months he began having breakthrough seizures. At his most recent check-up, his bloodwork came back fine, and the seizures were happening so infrequently that we didn't make any changes to his meds.  Fast forward to this past Tuesday, and Seymour had a cluster of grand mal seizures on and off for 2 hours. By the time he got to the ER he had 107 fever. They were able to stabilize him and thankfully his bloodwork indicated that the hyperthermia didn't cause any organ damage. They had him on Valium to give his brain a rest and started him on Keppra, which seemed to help stop the seizures. Unfortunately, Seymour woke up yesterday morning and although he had been stable and not had any seizures in over 24 hours, neurologically he was not there - still laying like a pancake (couldn't support his weight) and wouldn't eat. His neurologist suspected that there was an underlying cause other than the epilepsy causing the seizures, because he's literally had no changes in the last few years - same weight, same meds, same food, same bedding, everything. He believed that he had brain damage from the seizures and would be unable to take care of himself or have much of a quality life. His neurologist is usually pretty aggressive when recommending treatment, but he said if it was his family he would make the decision to stop. After much thought the last few days, my husband and I decided to go in to say goodbye. When me and Mr. lamb went there he wasn’t really conscious and didn’t even seem to recognize us, he was so out of it. We shook his medicine bottle and he perked up for a second, but he was just so out of it. We spent a few minutes with him, giving him cuddles.  We held him while he went to sleep, thankfully it was extremely quick. I told him goodbye, gave him one last cuddle and we went home. It was the right thing to do but it really really sucks. I miss him so much already. I miss him trying to bite my calves when I go to get in the shower, and I miss him trying to bite me through the shower curtain. I miss having to watch where I step because he's just splayed out in the middle of the floor.  I miss him sleeping on my head.  It sucks to realize I don't need to leave the door to the bathroom closed any more.  It sucks that as a force of habit I called him to give him his meds this morning and realized why I didn't hear him flopping off of the bed upstairs and thumping down the stairs. I know it will get easier, but right now ... lamb fucked around with this message at May 11, 2013 around 16:41 |
| # ? May 11, 2013 16:07 |
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Losing a pet is awful. When I moved to California from Mexico I brought my dog, Morena, with me. She was already an old lady, 10 years old, but she was my emotional support. due to a messed up childhood and teenage years, plus having a mother with... issues, I became a very emotional person. I have a hard time controlling my reaction when I get angry or upset, I tend to go to extremes. I've never been able to make good friends irl either, as I can be friendly with everybody, but it's very hard for me to completely trust a person, so I tend to stay somewhat apart from people. Thus, Morena was pretty much the only thing that would give me affection without me feeling threatened. Three years later Morena gets sick. I didn't know how expensive vets are here, and at the end I had to put her to sleep. That broke me. I cried for days. A year later my boyfriend (he was the reason I came to the US) dumps my sorry rear end, and not being able to hug Morena or keep her by my side while I was all heartbroken was awful. My sister tried to console me, but it's just not the same, as in my family we tend to judge each other and pretty much tell each other we're dumb for being so upset about things. It's just the way we were brought up. A few years later we get chickens, and I ended up being the one taking care of them. I love them, but I have to admit that I love some of them more than others because, well, it's kinda hard to get attached to an animal that tried to eat your eye (Dust  ). When Spaghetti died last year, I was sad, but I knew she wouldn't last long as she was never healthy ever since we got her from the feed store. Baba's death a month ago hit me hard because I tried so hard to get her better, but still, at one point I knew she wouldn't make it, so that prepared me. With Roostroyer, however, I never thought he wouldn't make it, so it's been a week and I still cry in my room now and then because I miss that giant fluff ball. He didn't like being held much, but man, he was almost like a puppy, and he really liked being around people. He had so much personality and now my backyard is too quiet without him and his Barry White boks. I'm really not looking forward to my mother coming in July and start to make awful jokes about the chickens dying, or tell me they are just chickens and I should get over it.
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| # ? May 11, 2013 17:14 |
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Hey, thanks for this. It got the waterworks going again, but I think it was helpful to read. I lost my best friend last night. It wasn't even a week from him being happy and looking healthy to him being gone. I just took him in for a checkup because he was acting weird and less than 48 hours later, boof. Everything reminds me of him and I'm barely keeping myself together today. I can't believe how bad it hurts. He was with me through so much. I don't really know what I'm looking for here. God drat he was the best loving cat. Every night he'd hop up on my lap and just sleep there. I can't believe he's gone. Today was my girlfriend's and my anniversary and our presents to each other contained at least three separate references to Lucas, just because he was such a fixture here. 
Saikonate fucked around with this message at May 11, 2013 around 17:53 |
| # ? May 11, 2013 17:42 |
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Chido posted:I'm really not looking forward to my mother coming in July and start to make awful jokes about the chickens dying, or tell me they are just chickens and I should get over it. Just letting you know ahead of time, your mom is obviously wrong and there's no thing as "just a pet" when you love them, whether they are chickens or dogs or scorpions or even filthy tarantulas. Hell, I got all verklempt when Roo died, and I'm just a weirdo on the internet who liked reading stories about him and seeing pictures of him in a dress. So if your mom says anything unkind about your chickens, please tell her the internet says shut up mom. 
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| # ? May 11, 2013 17:43 |
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Serella posted:Just letting you know ahead of time, your mom is obviously wrong and there's no thing as "just a pet" when you love them, whether they are chickens or dogs or scorpions or even filthy tarantulas. Hell, I got all verklempt when Roo died, and I'm just a weirdo on the internet who liked reading stories about him and seeing pictures of him in a dress. So if your mom says anything unkind about your chickens, please tell her the internet says shut up mom. I know you are right, but my mother has this way of wording her comments in such a subtle way that she knows will hurt. I've got much better at not listening to her, but once in a while I still fall for her comments. Things are way too complicated with my family, and this is not the forum to vent about them, but there's a reason why I prefer to spend time with the chickens than with my mother. Anyways, I've been sorting out my chicken album in photobucket and uploading the videos I have there on youtube. Surprisingly it has helped me feel better about Roo. I got so many cute videos of him being a dork, and it makes me happy to watch them. Iknow it hurts so much to lose a pet, but in time it does get better. Just allow yourself to cry your eyes out if you want, letting all that pain go lets you focus eventually on the happy moments you spent with your pet.
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| # ? May 11, 2013 18:40 |
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Saikonate posted:Hey, thanks for this. It got the waterworks going again, but I think it was helpful to read. Very sorry for your loss. You're looking for Lucas. Empty Nest syndrome. Some kind of reflex in humans and animals when an offspring is lost. I did the same thing. Commonly pacing in circles, whether in the house or out in the yard, or garage, not knowing why. Looking for the one lost. Previously unfamiliar with the concept, learning there was such a thing to explain my behavior helped console me that I wasn't just tailspinning. Best thing to do is do whatever you can to physically exhaust yourself. And keep moving. Have a pile of leaves needing raking or turning for composting? Or a garden that needs tilling or weeding? Wood that needs chopping? Get to it. With a little luck you'll exhaust yourself such that you'll muster a few badly needed hours of sleep to help tackle the rough days ahead. Nighttimes suck after a devastating loss. Your daily task right now is to exhaust yourself before sundown. My current advice (what helped get me through our loss) pick up a copy of Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road. It's by Neil Peart, drummer & lyricist of Rush. I'm not a big Rush fan, but I knew what he had to say about healing is probably worth hearing. It was. He lost his only child (a 19 year old daughter) and wife in less than a year. So he retired, hopped on his motorcycle and rode the North American continent for a year or so. Hope you and your wife hang in there. And when you're back on the bike, adopt another soon-to-be very lucky animal.
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| # ? May 11, 2013 20:43 |
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Sorry to hear about your loss!  When I was in college, my roommate accidentally poisoned my dog. She had diluted some water with bleach to clean the bathroom. When she got called in to go to work unexpectedly, she forgot to dump it out. Somehow, he managed to get out of his crate and got into the water (I have a lingering suspicion that she didn't crate him but that's a whole another story). To make things worse, I was out of town at the time and she didn't bother calling me until the next day. Apparently, she figured he'd be ok if he just slept it off. I yelled at her to take her to the emergency vet but she said she didn't have the money. I had to drive 6 hours back and it was one of the most harrowing experiences I've ever been through. By the time I got home, he was dead. I still wonder if he would have been alive had she taken him to the emergency vet. I had a really hard time coping because I felt responsible. In retrospect, I feel like there were a million things I could have done, from calling the emergency vets to let them know I would pay later, or calling my other friends to get them to pay, but I was in such a state of shock it didn't even register to me. When I was in that hazy state, I stumbled across a Japanese short film, which helped me get through the grieving process. It unleashed a big torrent of tears, which was weird because I had been too busy being angry and upset to get emotional. Once I finished crying, I felt a sense of relief I hadn't felt until that point. All pets die eventually, but I feel like if you've given them the best love/care then you don't have to feel as bad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGQVX8iGbgk It's a very touching video and be warned that it will most likely make you cry  (so don't watch at work), but grieving was really an important part of my healing process. It still sucks when I think about how he must have been in complete agony- I just keep wondering what would have happened if I had been home to take him to the emergency vet. It'll always be a lingering what if. Also, this thread needs more puppies and fish eye lens.
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| # ? May 11, 2013 21:58 |
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Oh jesus, I looked around PI for a while where to ask this and just being here brings me to tears. Is my dog in pain? My family has a 14 year old field spaniel. I'll spare the sappy waterworks part of this story, but suffice it to say this is my dog and i'm going be a wreck. Medically speaking, he (like a lot of field spaniels) has bad hips, as well as a myriad of eye/ear infections that are being constantly taken care of with eye/eardrops. 6 months ago he started slowing down severely and wasn't moving well. He was put on rimadyl and tramadol. He made the biggest improvement when he had 6 (maybe 7) infected/impacted teeth removed a few months ago and made a real come back in terms of energy. In the past month however he's started to have a LOT of trouble standing up from laying down. Getting out of the crate(his favorite nap spot) takes him a good 20 seconds of pawing around and possibly falling a few times and its heartbreaking to watch. He still will jog around for a tennis ball and frankly when he see's me with one he can get up pretty quickly, but normally its a very arduous process. He's got a few fatty tumors/random bumps, but to my knowledge those are just there and aren't an issue. It gives me hope that he can run around for a bit just fine to play every day, but getting up is distressful to watch and his legs give out when bumped by our puppy or if he loses his footing on the tile floor. My parents are talking about taking him to the vet, and i'm protesting mostly out of the fact i can't deal with him dying, but also on the fact that if he's not in pain then he's still doing ok for his age. Are the rimadyl/tramadol taking care of his pain well enough to where this is just old age, or do i need to face the music and accept the fact my dog is in constant pain and do what needs to be done to take care of him?
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| # ? May 13, 2013 05:18 |
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| # ? May 23, 2013 23:37 |
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Crunkjuice posted:Oh jesus, I looked around PI for a while where to ask this and just being here brings me to tears. Hey man. I can't speak for everyone, obviously, but I think I can contribute here. My first pet, the dog my family got when I was 7, died at 16 years old just from old age. She wasn't looking great for a long time before that - my folks had started to need to feed her this awful Ol' Roy dog food mixed with rice just to stop her from losing weight and she was still skin and bones (to the point when a concerned neighbor called the authorities on us - we had to show them that she was just old, not being mistreated). They didn't put her down, even though it was taking her ages to get up in the morning, even though she almost fell down going down the step to get outside, even though she went to the bathroom when she was in her bed a lot, because they felt like, despite all that, she was still happy to get up in the morning, receive petting, and go for a teeny tiny short walk each day. That was their feeling all the way up to the end, when she died sleeping behind my dad in his office (he'd always been 'alpha dog' to her). It sounds like you're describing something similar. Be honest with yourself, of course, but I think if your dog is happy to get up in the morning, then his life is still probably worth living. I'd say the fact that you're even asking the question here means, it's probably not time yet. The last thing I did before I started filling out the paperwork for Lucas was to call my girlfriend and mom to make sure neither of them said I was insane for considering it when I told them I thought I was going to have to put my cat to sleep that night. My girlfriend said I should do what I thought was right, and my mom said that's what she was afraid of when I talked to her before taking him to the e-vet, but that I "couldn't let him suffer", and I agreed. I knew before I called either of them that I was making the right decision, but it was my final sanity check on myself. I think there's a big difference between living with pain, and outright suffering, and that's what he would've been left with if I hadn't made the decision I did. Again, this is all just my opinion. I'm sorry you're struggling with this. As Bobbaganoosh said above, it is the worst decision you'll ever have to make.
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| # ? May 13, 2013 14:00 |
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