My dog is dying

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JAG2955
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:21 pm

My dog is dying

Post by JAG2955 »

Sorrow shared is sorrow divided.

We knew she was getting old. She took more encouragement to get up, took more time to do everything, and cut her ball and walks short. She is about nine and a half.

I had a vet appointment scheduled for this morning to get her hips checked, because she was starting to slide around on our tile. Last night, my wife was going to take our other dog (the dumber one) for a short walk. Kaylee, our GSD, decided that she wanted to go as well. I tried to hold her collar, and she had some strange facial/neck twitching, but she got up and I took her just past the neighbor's house and back. She had a small seizure soon after my wife got back. We put her on the couch, and she was uncharacteristically tolerant of our affection. I don't know how much of her was left at that point in time. I elected to sleep on the couch in case she had another seizure.

She did. A big one. Legs locked up, tongue out, foaming at the mouth. I held her, and she stared right past me. Eventually, she normalized, but paced the house. I wonder if she was looking for a place to die. We took her in this morning. The vet suspects a brain tumor or stroke.

I don't know if we should have let her go right then or not. We elected to give her a shot on some anti-seizure meds, but it's just a matter of time, I feel. We knew that she was getting up there in years, but we really hoped that she could have made it to 12 or 13. Nine and a half is too early.

We'll pick her up in about an hour. She was calm and lucid when we left. I hope that she is when we pick her up. If we have to let her go, I hope that she knows we're there. I've been crying since last night, and I know that there's more to come.

Maybe the anti-seizure meds will work, but I feel that it would be a miracle. I'll cook her some steaks and chicken from here out, and make her last days good ones.
Cobar
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 6:23 pm

Re: My dog is dying

Post by Cobar »

I'm sorry, JAG. Been there, done that too many times, seizures and all. It never seems to get any easier.
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First Shirt
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Re: My dog is dying

Post by First Shirt »

Sorry you have to go through this. I've done it too many times, and it never gets easier, but at least she's got someone to be with her, that's worth a lot!
But there ain't many troubles that a man caint fix, with seven hundred dollars and a thirty ought six."
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Rich
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Re: My dog is dying

Post by Rich »

Give her a nice dark corner to lay in for the times you can't be with her. It will be a kindness.
A weak government usually remains a servant of citizens, while a strong government usually becomes the master of its subjects.
- paraphrased from several sources

A choice, not an echo. - Goldwater campaign, 1964
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MiddleAgedKen
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Location: Flyover Country

Re: My dog is dying

Post by MiddleAgedKen »

I'm sorry for your trouble.
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JAG2955
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Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2008 9:21 pm

Re: My dog is dying

Post by JAG2955 »

Here's a few years ago.
Kaylee.jpg
The drugs seem to be working okay so far. No more seizures as of yet, and she's at home being spoiled. But she can barely walk.

I think the best that I can hope for is that she goes peacefully in her sleep at home.
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McClarkus
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Re: My dog is dying

Post by McClarkus »

Darn, so sorry to hear. My sympathies.
One secret to life. Step #1 - Find something you enjoy doing. Step #2 - Find someone foolish enough to pay you to do it.
Old Grafton
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Re: My dog is dying

Post by Old Grafton »

The cruelest irony is that their candles burn so BRIGHT but short compared to ours. May the Lord hold you both close for the times to come.
I'm not old--It's too early to be this late.
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Dinochrome One
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Re: My dog is dying

Post by Dinochrome One »

"You say that dogs don't go to Heaven? I tell you, they will be there before any of us."
Robert Lewis Stevenson

"If dogs don't go to Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went."
Will Rogers

It is one of our great tragedies that our beloved dogs can't live as long as we do; however, if you love dogs it means that there will be a pack of them waiting for you in Heaven.
Maxim 34: If you're only leaving scorch-marks, you need a bigger gun.
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Cybrludite
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Re: My dog is dying

Post by Cybrludite »

Sorry to hear it. I know how it feels. We had to put my mom's Golden Retriever, Abby, down a few weeks back due to cancer. She was eleven. Only time I ever heard her bark was when she wanted to be on the other side of a door.
"If it ain't the Devil's Music, you ain't doin' it right." - Chris Thomas King

"When liberal democracies collapse, someone comes along who promises to make the trains run on time if we load the right people into them." - Tam K.
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