NFT: Losing a good friend tomorrow

Greg.

In comment 13833162 Greg from LI said:

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We adopted her from the Yuma County shelter when she was 3 months old. She was literally one day from the needle because no one wanted her for whatever reasons. Instead of 3 months, she got 13 happy years.

That's exactly how you should look at it.

You saved her and gave her the best life - carry that with you and remember that any time you feel bummed.

Doesn't make you miss her any less, but it definitely helps to remember that if it weren't for you, she'd never have been able to enjoy the life she did.

Hang in there, man.

We needed to take our boy to the vet this morning. They kep him for monitoring. Pretty unresponsive for the most part. Hoping for a minor miracle, but after 3 years of seizures, 4 meds, an 11-ish year life with us from Humane Society adoption when he was maybe 1-2, when we go back to check on him this evening, that may be when we say goodbye.

My wife and I took the day off. Our son missed a morning class. Our daughter is in high school and stayed home. We went out to breakfast after leaving our boy at the vet. Talked about the reality.

Not a fun day.

Hang in there, man.

It's never easy. Just try and focus on the good times.

Losing a member of the family is very tough. That is who pets are, family. Sending you and yours good thoughts.

In comment 13833407 Beezer said:

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We needed to take our boy to the vet this morning. They kep him for monitoring. Pretty unresponsive for the most part. Hoping for a minor miracle, but after 3 years of seizures, 4 meds, an 11-ish year life with us from Humane Society adoption when he was maybe 1-2, when we go back to check on him this evening, that may be when we say goodbye. My wife and I took the day off. Our son missed a morning class. Our daughter is in high school and stayed home. We went out to breakfast after leaving our boy at the vet. Talked about the reality. Not a fun day. Hang in there, man.

Sorry to hear you're dealing with this too, Beez.

It sucks. So hard. And nothing just "makes it better"

Best of luck.

I just don’t know what the right thing is.

He’s been down before. And as our son has said, he’s a tank. He’s made great comebacks.

I feel like I will need to be the voice that actually says the words. And while I don’t want him to suffer anymore,or for us to prolong what is very likely coming soon anyway, I also don’t want to give up on Archie’s behalf.

I keep thinking about the feeling I’ll have after he’s gone, and wondering if I did the right thing.

In comment 13833676 Beezer said:

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I just don’t know what the right thing is. He’s been down before. And as our son has said, he’s a tank. He’s made great comebacks. I feel like I will need to be the voice that actually says the words. And while I don’t want him to suffer anymore,or for us to prolong what is very likely coming soon anyway, I also don’t want to give up on Archie’s behalf. I keep thinking about the feeling I’ll have after he’s gone, and wondering if I did the right thing.

I worried about this endlessly, too.

The advice I commonly received was "you'll know"

And it was right.

I knew my boy had an irreversible condition. So, it was a matter of "managing" - when it got to a point where I could see in his eyes that he was no longer the same vibrant, happy dog he was for the vast majority of his 12+ years, I had a pretty good idea it was time.

I still wrestled with it a bit. I drove myself crazy thinking "what if there's something I am missing here?"

But there wasn't. He was struggling. His kidneys were failing him, he wouldn't eat. He wasn't well and I couldn't let him keep suffering. I made the call to have the vet come and do it here where he would be comfortable and not afraid.

We went for one last walk together around the lake nearby. He gave me everything he had left. It was so heartbreaking but it gave me an enormous sense of closure. When you spend so much time with a pet, I truly believe that you become connected in a way that transcends words.

He gave me a look when we got back home like "I'm ready.. it's okay" and he just laid down and I pet him. The vet got here and we took some time to really say goodbye and that was that.

It shattered me - saying goodbye to him was the hardest thing I've probably truthfully ever had to do - and I don't say that lightly.

But I never doubt that the timing was right.

He's not suffering anymore and I still have my memories of him.

Don't stress over it - you will know.

Outwardly, Lucy doesn't seem that bad, really. I mean, she's old, but after seeing the dogs of some friends and family who have passed on recently, man, THOSE dogs looked decrepit. Lucy still looks roughly the same as she always has, just a little gray around the head. She's not terrible mobile with the arthritis and the Cushing's disease, but she gets around OK. She looks older but not one foot in the grave, and I think that's part of why I had a lot of trouble coming to grips with this.

My wife has been suggesting for a few months that the end was much sooner than I thought it would be - Lucy has been losing quite a bit of weight in recent months. She has been eating less and less, now barely eating anything at all. Despite the weight loss, her abdomen is swollen. We've been managing it, but she still has Cushing's disease. My wife added all that up along with her age and started hinting that the time would be coming soon. I rejected that notion. Even when I had to admit that she's not doing well, I insisted we take her to the vet to be sure that there isn't something that can be successfully treated causing her woes.

At this point, though, I can't ignore reality. Her liver has failed, likely due to a tumor. There really isn't anything they can do to treat it - the vet said that her 6 month prognosis would be extremely poor regardless of treatments. She won't eat. Soon, her liver failure will cause jaundice, and along with that she will no longer be able to control her bodily functions. She's slipping and falling more and more. We did decide to give her a few more days, and rescheduled our appointment with the home euthanasia outfit for Monday. She doesn't appear to be in pain at this point, so we are giving her the weekend to see if the medication they gave her improves her condition enough that she starts eating again. I have no illusions - this will be a brief respite of only a few weeks at best, because her liver ain't coming back to life no matter what. We just can't bring ourselves to give up on her until we no longer have any choice.

You know, it's funny - people often say that the dog knows, too, and damned if she hasn't wanted to be held more than usual lately. I picked her up and held her on the couch when I got home last night, and she started licking my face like crazy. She almost NEVER does that. She likes to snuggle up to you and be petted but she's not a licker, yet she was doing it last night, like she's saying her last goodbyes too.

My son always did like Lucy the best. Also, DAMN I was think back then...haha

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You're 100% right that they know, Greg..

Mine did. It was almost surreal how in-tune he seemed to be with what was going on despite his condition.

Like I said in my last post, we went for a long walk right beforehand and went to his favorite spots. He was laboring - we had to go really slow. But every time I said to him "hey bud, do you want to go back in?" he would look at me like "I want to keep going" and I just let him keep leading the way.

When we got back inside, I sat on the couch waiting for the vet to come and he just huddled up with me and let me pet him and he was basically just like... "I'm done, I'm ready"

When she got here, he laid right down and didn't even finch or anything. It was his time and as much as it devastated me, I know in my heart he was ready to move onto his next life.

I'm not really a religious person at all. But it helps me to believe that we all will get to see our pets again somehow when our times come.

I am sorry to hear of this. And as many have gone though this journey too.

Will be praying for you.

Hope the memories you shared can somehow, someway sustain you all during this times.

Heartbroken.

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to hear Greg. Never easy.

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In comment 13834003 Beezer said:

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Heartbroken.

Ugh, sorry man. All my best. Hang in there.

In comment 13832957 A-Train said:

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I just went through this 3 weeks ago with my cat of 18 years. Gave him a last meal of fried chicken and cream cheese. I will never forget being with each of my feline friends for the last time. I cried every time. Enjoy every last moment and know that it is a brave, final act of love for your friend. You were lucky to have each other.

That's for sure

and me, doing what he loved, a few summers back.

Just a few months ago, before he was getting a nice treat.

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I've gone through this about five times in my life now, but the last one was probably the sweetest.

My 9 year old English Bulldog Roxie gave my family the greatest gift she could have given us... She came in from using the bathroom, got a drink of water, came out and licked me a few times on the leg while I was sitting on the couch having a cup of coffee, then laid down with her butt against my foot and snuggled up to my then 5 year old son who was sitting on the floor. About fifteen minutes later, we all got up to start our morning and she never did.

She left on her terms, and we didn't have to make the choice. We were stunned and saddened, but it was a beautiful death, and I hadn't experienced that before.

R.I.P. to all of your friends, until you meet again.

In comment 13832704 Italianju said:

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just had to put a cat down two sundays ago. He was with us for 13 years and was very dog like in his companionship. Its def a very tough time. But take some solace in knowing that he wont be suffering, it has helped me. All the cliche stuff has held true in that it gets a bit easier each day. Still has been a trying time. Thoughts are with you.

We lost our 22 year old friend exactly a month ago today