When is it time to put your dog down?
When do you know it’s time to put your animal down?
Lucky is still alive and kicking, with renewed energy because of the steroids, but we all know he nearing the end of his life. At certain points the past 2 months we have had a few moments when we thought the end was at hand, and it hurt like heck. Then he would rebound for a while. I think we are all more resigned to the fact that it will not be much longer and I am so thankful for the fairly healthy time we are having with him. Like I have said before he has been a loyal companion for almost 13 years, and he is full of personality (and an anxiety disorder!). He is afraid of vacuums and loud noises. He follows me around everywhere, even the bathroom. He decided at age 10 that he likes swimming and proved to be a very good swimmer. He has been know to steal whatever food he can get his hands on, still digs in the garbage when we aren’t looking, and sings “happy birthday”. I will miss him terribly, but I am so thankful for the time now. He took walks with us over the weekend, and his appetite is still good. But he has little balance, falls into furniture, is deaf and appears to be blind in one eye, he has paralysis on part of his body, has difficulty with stairs, and if it weren’t for the steroids, probably would be gone. But he has been a survivor- he beat cancer 2 times, both times the pathology report said it was aggressive and would return. Well it hasn’t returned for 2 + years.
My brother’s family and a good friend recently had to put their beloved dogs down. Both had heart failure. Many others have gone before us and will go after us. I say that I will know when the time is because he won’t be happy anymore. It will be painful. So interesting to me that we give animals the courtesy of allowing their lives to end when they become too painful, but not humans.
Til next time, be gentle with yourself (your animals!) and others.
Lucky is still alive and kicking, with renewed energy because of the steroids, but we all know he nearing the end of his life. At certain points the past 2 months we have had a few moments when we thought the end was at hand, and it hurt like heck. Then he would rebound for a while. I think we are all more resigned to the fact that it will not be much longer and I am so thankful for the fairly healthy time we are having with him. Like I have said before he has been a loyal companion for almost 13 years, and he is full of personality (and an anxiety disorder!). He is afraid of vacuums and loud noises. He follows me around everywhere, even the bathroom. He decided at age 10 that he likes swimming and proved to be a very good swimmer. He has been know to steal whatever food he can get his hands on, still digs in the garbage when we aren’t looking, and sings “happy birthday”. I will miss him terribly, but I am so thankful for the time now. He took walks with us over the weekend, and his appetite is still good. But he has little balance, falls into furniture, is deaf and appears to be blind in one eye, he has paralysis on part of his body, has difficulty with stairs, and if it weren’t for the steroids, probably would be gone. But he has been a survivor- he beat cancer 2 times, both times the pathology report said it was aggressive and would return. Well it hasn’t returned for 2 + years.
My brother’s family and a good friend recently had to put their beloved dogs down. Both had heart failure. Many others have gone before us and will go after us. I say that I will know when the time is because he won’t be happy anymore. It will be painful. So interesting to me that we give animals the courtesy of allowing their lives to end when they become too painful, but not humans.
Til next time, be gentle with yourself (your animals!) and others.
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