Our lovely dog Belle was put to sleep today. She has been with us since 1996 when we adopted her as a puppy from the Missouri Humane Society and the girls named her for the female lead in Beauty and the Beast. She was a German Shepherd/ Beagle mix. She used to "roo" like a beagle. She was fierce in protecting our house, not always gentle with children, clear that she was Top Dog over our younger dog Sophie. She was intelligent and reasonably well trained. She was equally able to train us. For example, she used to play an elaborate game, refusing to go out into the garden without a lot of pleading. She had trained us to beg, to play this game of tag. She was sweet and affectionate.
In the last few years she developed a seizure disorder. We let her sleep in our room after that, so that if she had a seizure, we would know about it. This time last year, when we came home from vacation, she had multiple seizures and we had to take her to the emergency vet who, at vast expense, adjusted her meds and got her stable. In the last few months, she'd been having trouble standing up and staying standing, her walking was a little awkward. She tended to be slow to get up. Every now and then she'd surprise us-- dashing out into the garden with Sophie as Sophie chased rabbits and birds.
We were worried enough about her that we took her to the vet before we left town. He seemed to think she had arthritis and put her on another medication. But while we were away, Jim the dog sitter was worried that she was not eating, etc. and took her to the vet again.The vet drew blood and when I called on Saturday, he seemed to think that none of the blood tests were worrying. But by Sunday, she could not move at all, Lynn our other dog sitter took her to the vet who said that she had fluid in her abdomen and had septic peritonitis. John and I dashed home (we got the message leaving church in Holyoke MA at about nine a.m.) driving all through the night. We chose not to subject Belle to exploratory surgery and we kept her on palliative care until we got there at 6:30 a.m. today. Everyone at the Animal Emergency Clinic is incredily nice and supportive and aware of the complex emotional issues about people and their pets. They return calls immediately, they call you with updates on your pet's condition. I can't say enough about what great care they give to pets and owners.
When we got there, we told her we were home and we loved her. Her ears perked up and her eyes moved, which the vet said was more response than they'd seen all day, but she was plainly a very sick dog. So when we were done, the vet put her to sleep. She was a great dog.
5 comments:
It's always so hard to lose a beloved pet. Thanks for bringing Belle to life with your words and your memories. Please, accept my condolences and deepest sympathy.
Hi Lydia,
Hugs for the death of a beloved dog.
(And, to get rid of comment spam, go into blogger template, and turn on word verification. Works miracles.)
I am in a mostly dark room by myself and have tears in my eyes after reading your story. I have held each of my critters whose times have come in my arms as they have breathed the last goodbye.
I tell myself each time that I have had this experience before and am ready.
It hasn't been true yet.
I have a white-faced "old lady" now, 14, and still doing very well. But I know that time is coming for us too. I will be a total mess. She has been with me for so many major life events, including divorce. Don't know what this says about me, but I will grieve her loss more than I did the ex. She has been far more faithful to our relationship and her love has truly been unconditional.
If there were a Pygmalion for critters, someone would be barking, why can't a human be more like a dog?
I know you all miss your Belle. She always knew she was a very lucky girl to have you.
~gofoxie
my arms as they breathed goodbye.
I am so very sorry to hear about the loss of your dearly loved Belle.
I had to cry reading this, because I am right now googling acute septic peritonitis as our Brittany developed it following a 2 inch rip in his intestine on Wednesday(a ball was removed, he had been on and off sick for 5 months with an inflammed stomach that we were told was a simple pancreatic infection treated with antibiotics. This was in fact not the case)
We did choose to go the surgery route and he responded well, until tonight. We're not sure if he will make it through or not but are hoping and praying he can pull through. Earlier today were able to take him out for a walk together and that was a very special memory we will have if this is to be his last hours, as the vets have told us he is worsening since then, vomiting uncontrollably and losing the active energy he had finally just regained. I just hope that he can pull through...we'll be lost without him, he's just like a child to us.
*hugs to you for your loss*
As a check back - Our Brittany lived after 3 weeks of vet surgery and care - it was thousands of hours, tears and dollars later but he survived and we are so very lucky. The vets now call him their "Miracle Dog" - and he's back to being a 5 year old pup in a older dog's body.
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