My Baby Dog

Wow, CJane, that's great.

Yes it is littlek.
It makes a difficult time a little easier.

Are the memories of your cat's death tangled with memories of people who did did not understand you, or the cat, or the dignity of death?

Hmmm.... I didn't handle her illness well, I waited too long, she was mis-diagnosed and had treatment that was making her miserable, my employers were not letting me take time to make visits to her in the little kitty ICU. I was totally freaked out.

littlek--

All of the echoes are coming up now--and making decisions difficult?

Hold your dominion.

Of course. Well, not making things more difficult, maybe. I did learn from my mistakes, I think. What the memories are doing is making me feel a little more emotionally chaotic.

littlek--

That is what echoes do.

You'll be fine as long as wisdom is whispering in your best ear.

Ok, I'll keep wisdom on my right....

littlek, why don't you go to the Vet on Monday, and
he/she'll tell you what to do - they usually know best.

Tartarin wrote to me of the passing of her dog, not all so long ago, though a while. They went to the river (I think it was a river, perhaps a creek, which the dog loved, and the dog flambertied around, and then she took it back upshore, and to the vet's. Hope I am not disclosing untowardly here, don't think tart would mind.

Anyway, did the vet/visit thereafter. Cricket was the dog's name. She was an email pal of Pacco.


Nod/bow to Cricket, and to Tartarin.

Nods to cricket and Tartarin.

My vet and I have been watching this thing progress, I have talked with her. I have spent so much money on vet bills over the last 4 years that I really don't have it in me to go to my vet for a consultation. I still pay over 200 bucks in medicines for two animals every 1.5 to 2 months.

I had that decision to make with kitten not long before you lost Squirrel. Like Bootsie, he was happy. I don't think he even knew he was sick. This was kidney failure, and he was getting visibly weaker by the day. I made my decision based on my fear of him dying at home all alone. Anyway, that's how I decided when.

Did you know at the time that it was kidney failure? How old was he then?

He was about 13 or 14. I knew. The bloodwork is pretty conclusive, and I had a second opinion at a different vet's. At the time I got the confirmation, he gave him a shot of (I believe) cortesone. He was briefly his old self. He even ate and groomed himself afterwards. It was a wonderful sight after all we had been through in the previous month. I sang to him on the way back the next day.

And I thought I had gotten over it after all this time. It's been over about 4 years, I guess.

We lost a cat in kidney failure too late from my present point of view. We were remodelling, and I have a picture of her, Rascal, looking sick, that showed illness we didn't see that day. Gulp.
Now I am hyper attuned, especially re suffering.

Which is a problem re Bootsie's thing, I gather, as in nerve problems don't hurt that much? Is that true? Maybe it is substantially true, in given conditions.

I wonder. I have looked into the disintegration of the optical nerve (sorry to chill anyone) and read it is horribly painful. Erm... well, I guess if the nerve thing that your dog is dealing with was painful, veterinary medicine could tell, or you could, and you're not seeing it, and the pain would be clear.

I'm with Panz. Don't let her suffer. But before that point, attend to her.

Wouldn't matter, osso. They can't reverse it, and the only treatment is a low protein diet to slow down the inevitible. But cats don't like low protein diets, kidney causes a loss of appetite as I'm sure you know, and finally, you chose between a quicker end due to the kidneys or to starvation.

I didn't realize he was sick for a long time, either.

Roger, it's amazing how it can still get to you, isn't it. Why do we fall for them so hard?

Osso, I can tell, I think, that she's not in pain. She doesn't seem to notice her crazy-legs at all. When she's had pain before, she's licked at it. Also, the vet said this nerve thing isn't painful. The side effects can be painful - her legs do crazy things. I imagine that she has some sore muscles to deal with, from strain and from knocking into walls. One of the meds she's on deals with this potentiality.

Ai, chihuahua, affliction with sufferable pain. Hard.
I am listening, not least since Pacco is going into Way Older, from Older, but also cause I love Bootsie too.

Gnash.

Poor Bootzerella.

We haven't had to deal with a euthanasia but Jake did die at home. We barely knew he was sick, he was just hot for a few days, but it was July and, well, it's hot then. And he was sluggish and often didn't want to come inside. I'll never forget how we found him, and I don't like to talk about it. It does, sometimes still -- and it's been, what, 6 1/2 years? -- hit me like a ton of bricks. It's the way I see a dog lying down or something about the weather. I've found I really hate July, and part of that is because that's also when Shadow freaked and we had to give her up. We have not had good experiences with the seventh month of the year. I find I'm tearing up right now and it's been a really long time but that doesn't stop it from occasionally really hurting. You're right, we really do fall for them, hard.

I'm sure I'm not being helpful, just wanted to let you know that we care about you and Miss Bootsie and, well, hugs.

Aw, k, I'm so sorry. I know what your animals mean to you & how difficult this must be. Having had to put 2 very much loved cats down over the past couple of years <gulp> I was so grateful for my very good, honest vet. I knew exactly what was happening & what to expect. I also had the confidence to know, when the time came, that that it would be a gentle, peaceful ending. That's the best you can do: be fully informed, ensure that everything that can be done to reduce pain is done & watch the poor creature for signs of deterioration like a hawk. My vet told me that I'd know when the time came & I did. It's a very sad & difficult thing to have to do, though, no matter how well prepared you are. A big hug to you, k.