Posts
5575
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Yorba Linda, CA
US
Edited Date/Time
1/26/2012 4:57pm
Is on his way out.
He's fifteen years old, and has acted like a puppy his whole life, until a couple weeks ago.
We walk him every day, and run him three days a week.
He was always excited when he saw the leash.
Out of the blue, he lost interest in going out, slowed way down on his food intake, and within a few days didn't have the energy to get up for anything more than to go outside to pee.
Took him to the vet, and found that he was anemic.
They prescribed some medication, and a new diet (that I have to cook for him, but he seems to like it), and asked us to bring him back in a week.
During the week, he got skinnier everywhere but his belly.
He went back yesterday, and his blood count is worse.
The vet thinks he has either an immune problem, or cancer, and recommends a transfusion to keep him alive long enough to run some more tests...
My family think I'm a cold old bastard, but believe we're only prolonging the inevitable.
Fifteen years is a long life for any dog, and he's had a great run.
No health issues ever, and happy and active as could be, right up 'til now.
I love the old guy, but even if it's not cancer, and I can't see him living much longer.
I'm thinking that his old body is shutting down from old age.
He's fifteen, for crying out loud!
Any ideas on how to get this across to the wife and kids without looking even more like a heartless asshole?
No "Death Panel" jokes please.
He's fifteen years old, and has acted like a puppy his whole life, until a couple weeks ago.
We walk him every day, and run him three days a week.
He was always excited when he saw the leash.
Out of the blue, he lost interest in going out, slowed way down on his food intake, and within a few days didn't have the energy to get up for anything more than to go outside to pee.
Took him to the vet, and found that he was anemic.
They prescribed some medication, and a new diet (that I have to cook for him, but he seems to like it), and asked us to bring him back in a week.
During the week, he got skinnier everywhere but his belly.
He went back yesterday, and his blood count is worse.
The vet thinks he has either an immune problem, or cancer, and recommends a transfusion to keep him alive long enough to run some more tests...
My family think I'm a cold old bastard, but believe we're only prolonging the inevitable.
Fifteen years is a long life for any dog, and he's had a great run.
No health issues ever, and happy and active as could be, right up 'til now.
I love the old guy, but even if it's not cancer, and I can't see him living much longer.
I'm thinking that his old body is shutting down from old age.
He's fifteen, for crying out loud!
Any ideas on how to get this across to the wife and kids without looking even more like a heartless asshole?
No "Death Panel" jokes please.
"Looks like ol' buddy died in his sleep in his favorite spot". Nobody has to know different.
She got lethargic and then they checked and said she was anemic.
At one point, they drew blood from her belly and found blood which didn't coagulate, which indicated it was organ blood, so they figured she had a tumor.
We couldn't bear to put her down without knowing, so we had exploratory surgery, and she had a tumor on her liver that was hidden from the ultrasound they did.
We had her put down while she was under, because they couldn't remove the tumor without taking too much of her liver.
She was about 13, and the best dog you could imagine.
One thing the vet told us is that bleeding to death from a tumor like that is a very ugly way to go. The poor dog basically thinks ii is suffocating, because the blood loss is also an oxygen loss.
My advice is to put the poor dog down asap, to head off the inevitable and maybe a really bad way to go.
Here is our girl in better days.
Good luck and best wishes for you and your family.
It's a tough call.
I'll be talking with the family tonight.
It's going to be hardest on my son, since the dog has been with us as long as he has.
They grew up together.
The Shop
Tough days, Geezer. All of us dog-lovers have been through these things
and we know how painful it can be.
God bless ya, ya sound like a good dude.
Do the right thing for dog and family.
Whatever that may be.
This afternoon, my wife noticed that his belly was bigger than it was this morning.
She took him to the emergency vet.
They did an ultrasound and found that he had tumors in just about every organ, and was bleeding internally.
She called me with the news while I was on my way home from work.
My son was with her, so I picked up my daughter at home, and we went and saw him off together.
RIP old friend.
Thanks for the well-wishes guys.
Gotta go find a Kleenex.
The day I had to lay her down was one of my toughest.
Thoughts with you, my friend.
Pit Row
I have a 14 year old golden retriever, "Cooper".............I'm right behind your sadness.
Sorry for you losing your buddy.
My old lab is 13 and slowing down... I'll be crushed when she's gone!!!
None of my dogs have made it past 13 and one of my dogs now is 9 with a 13 yr old body after two knee surgery's and a bad lower back. I havta help her up the stairs everyday.
Take care,
G
It sounds like you and your family gave the old pooch heaven on earth, so you should all take comfort in that.
G-man, we actually got a new puppy a couple months ago.
It was pretty heart wrenching this morning, seeing her searching the house for her big brother.
We'll all miss the old guy, but we've got good memories to get us through...
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