It always interests me how long it takes to recover from certain events. I haven’t posted in 12 days. I was in a flap getting ready for Mothers Day, thinking I was really stressed out but at least it would be over by Monday and I could relax.
HA!
Mother’s Day was fabulous. More about that with pictures of gardens later.
So the weekend went well, except that Cassie was throwing up and seeming sick. We decided to phone the vet first thing Monday morning. We got woken up to more barfing, so I called and got her an appointment for the afternoon. John took the crew outside while I was calling and Molly had another seizure. And this was the fun part of the day…
Molly recovered, after several hours of pacing around and running into things. This was her third seizure, and second in 2 weeks. We took her in with us to the vet, although there is really nothing that can be done at this point.
As for Cassie, we all figured that she was in kidney failure. So the vet drew some blood and asked for a urine sample, and warned us that this might be it. We took her out back and waited, thinking that we were going to have to put her to sleep that afternoon
It is hard to make a dehydrated dog pee. I took Molly home and called my Mom to come. Cassie drank water but after an hour still had not produced. She had always been funny about peeing anywhere but at home, so John took her home.
Mom and I got called back into the office and surprisingly, Cassie was not in kidney failure. She probably had an infection but they could not tell what was making her sick, but it was worth investigating. John came back with pee, and we checked her in for IV antibiotics and xrays.
The xrays showed a mass in her stomach, probably a tumour. We brought her home the next day with antibiotics, ulcer medication and special canned dog food. She had not been eating much, and she LOVES the canned dog food. They left the line in just in case she decompensated fast.
However, being a stoic border collie, 15.5 years or not, a week later she is still good. I took the IV line out Friday. She is eating and kind of perky. We are waiting to hear back from the vet about what she thinks, but she already warned us that things are not going to get better.
So do you euthanize a dog that likes her food, enjoys sitting out on the grass and wants to cuddle on the bed at night? Or do you wait until she is in pain and miserable again? If you know border collies, you know they don’t show pain until it is very bad. Finding that exact moment before the slide downhill starts again is tough.
It has been a bad week. Well, no, a bad week would have been everything ending in misery Monday. It has been a week of waiting , observing and feeling anticipatory loss. But we are spending time with her and doing things that make her happy (she enjoys BBQ steak too) and that is a gift.
Oh… your question. I had to make that decision last year. Trixie enjoyed her last meals of chicken, and a walk around the block so much in the days just before she was scheduled to be put to sleep, I almost backed out, but the growths in her bladder and bowel were making her really uncomfortable when she tried to go to the loo, and that wasn’t going to get better, and I decided to let her go, and not wait until she was in severe pain and / or unable to walk or enjoy her food. Yes, I had doubts. No matter which choice we make, I think we’d doubt ourselves, because it’s hard either way. I wish you well, and comfort for the doggies.
I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. I’ve been through this and understand how hard it is. When it got to the point that Sister could no longer enjoy being touched and cuddled, and eating was less than a pleasure, I gave in to the inevitable and made her last days as gentle and love-filled as they could be.
I hope my sons will treat me as well when it’s my turn.
Whatever decision you make, you’ll probably doubt yourself later – but you’ll also know you made it with love.