SAYING GOODBYE TO YOUR OLD DOG
On Monday, December 13th, of last year, Bob and I had to take our Shih Tzu, Rosie, to the vet’s to be euthanized. It was a rather easier decision than I have encountered in the past, as it was absolutely apparent that it was time. When I got home from work on Sunday evening, Bob informed me that Rosie had died that afternoon but somehow holding her for 45 minutes revived her. He had put her outside to potty, which I only do with supervision, and about three minutes later he went to check on her and she was propped against the house, barely breathing. We kept a diligent eye on her all evening. She would not eat, and she had some trouble navigating outside. Earlier in the day she wandered the yard and then just lay in the cool grass gazing at who knows what. Then she slept until I left for work.
Months before, I started to put a soft harness over her sweater at night and I would leash her to the bed so that if she died under my bed, I would be able to pull her out. I also put loud bells on her collar so that I would hear her if she woke up and needed to go out. Sunday night, after the incident with Bob, I shortened the leash and tied it to a different place. She could get under the bed, but I was hoping she would sleep in her bed. During the night I prayed that she would just die in her sleep. When I woke up, I found her stretched out on the carpet and as I lightly touched her to see if she was alive, her head popped up. I knew then that I would have to call the vet and hopefully, Dr. Grant, who knew her best, would do the procedure. He was impressed that I had managed to keep her alive about four months longer than estimated, as she was on three heart medications, twice a day, and I added CBD oil as well to help control the cancer we knew she had, and to lessen her anxiety and frequency of seizures.
Bob and I both knew it was inevitable that Rosie would not be around much longer, and we hoped it would happen before my second knee surgery due late that December. We still had Ebby, the foster/rescue, and unless she did something awful, I was certain we would keep her, which we have. And, Zoey, our Maltese, is low maintenance. They are only now, this month of October, seven and eight respectively. Old dogs who are losing their hearing and sight, and cognition, can be very trying. Sometimes, I am ashamed to say, I would yell at Rosie when she woke up and just continued to “urff’ until she was picked up and brought upstairs or downstairs whichever was the case. It was so annoyingly demanding that sometimes I got unnerved. As much as we loved her, we realized how much easier it would be in our daily lives. We were confident we had chosen wisely. When I took her out of the car, to let her pee before the vet room was ready, she peed and then fell over and whimpered. It confirmed for us that we were doing the right thing. It seems that many of our customers have lost dogs during the last few months. Bob and I are still devastated about losing Parker at seven from spleen, liver and gall bladder cancers, due to his poor breeding. I can easily empathize with my customers.
With better care, which includes better nutrition, dogs are living longer than ever. Just in the United States, there are probably 7,300,000 dogs who are ten years or older and over half of these dogs will live to experience the same age-related issues as us humans. Even though it is not very cold yet, it will get cold, and puppies, older dogs, and infirm dogs need to be covered to protect them from the damp cold and winds in winter. In my opinion, all dogs that live inside and don’t naturally develop a winter coat, should be covered, just as you bundle up. You will help ward off arthritis by keeping those joints warm. We have a wonderful selection of all-weather, and regular coats and sweaters. Great prices, too.
Something I learned from a customer this week: There is a town, population about 6500, called TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, New Mexico! We have lovely cats and kittens for adoption in our shelter.
