This Saturday my wife and I took our dog Sarah to the vet to be put to sleep.
She was 15 and a half years old, and had been going downhill for some time, but such a decision is never easy, and I've been a bit of a wreck.
For a while now she has been eating poorly, becoming progressively more reluctant to attempt the stairs to go out and in due to her arthritis, lying around most of the day, and having accidents, mostly at night. But I've been convincing myself that she didn't seem to be in real pain, and that she was still enjoying life enough to keep going, since she never actually whimpered or yelped or anything, and she still was always excited to go for "walkies", jumping up when she saw the leash (or what passes for jumping up when you are a 15 and a half year old, arthritic Labrador mix). And though she wasn't eating very well, and was losing quite a bit of weight, she was still very interested in table scraps (hanging around the table at dinner, usually) and always up for chowing on doggie treats.
Friday evening, though, I came home to my wife's report that Sarah had eaten pretty much nothing that day, despite her adding cheese and other scraps to her food, and that for several hours she hadn't been able to get her out of bed to go outside. I tried, too, tempting her with treats, which she ignored, mentioning "walkies", which got no reaction, then trying to physically lift her on to her feet, which caused to he make unhappy noises, partway between a whimper and a growl.
I gave up and started to break down, and so did my wife, and we stood there hugging and crying, and THAT got Sarah out of bed to come over and see what was going on. Which made me laugh, and cry more at the same time. I took her out for a walk, and I decided to see how she was in the morning. I also got her to eat the food in her bowl by mixing some ham lunchmeat into it.
She was 15 and a half years old, and had been going downhill for some time, but such a decision is never easy, and I've been a bit of a wreck.
For a while now she has been eating poorly, becoming progressively more reluctant to attempt the stairs to go out and in due to her arthritis, lying around most of the day, and having accidents, mostly at night. But I've been convincing myself that she didn't seem to be in real pain, and that she was still enjoying life enough to keep going, since she never actually whimpered or yelped or anything, and she still was always excited to go for "walkies", jumping up when she saw the leash (or what passes for jumping up when you are a 15 and a half year old, arthritic Labrador mix). And though she wasn't eating very well, and was losing quite a bit of weight, she was still very interested in table scraps (hanging around the table at dinner, usually) and always up for chowing on doggie treats.
Friday evening, though, I came home to my wife's report that Sarah had eaten pretty much nothing that day, despite her adding cheese and other scraps to her food, and that for several hours she hadn't been able to get her out of bed to go outside. I tried, too, tempting her with treats, which she ignored, mentioning "walkies", which got no reaction, then trying to physically lift her on to her feet, which caused to he make unhappy noises, partway between a whimper and a growl.
I gave up and started to break down, and so did my wife, and we stood there hugging and crying, and THAT got Sarah out of bed to come over and see what was going on. Which made me laugh, and cry more at the same time. I took her out for a walk, and I decided to see how she was in the morning. I also got her to eat the food in her bowl by mixing some ham lunchmeat into it.
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