Losing your pet.

[Fighting back]

Well, I'm a little bummed out today, but I have ample cause. My dog has just come back from a visit to the vet. The inevitable has begun. Her rear leg muscles are wasting away. She is a large German Shepard that we have had for 13 years. Remarkably, she has not exhibited any issues with her hindquarters till now. I know, the German Shepard breed is known for hind leg troubles and it is truly fortunate that she has not had troubles till now. We are not ready to put her down yet and I truly fear that day. For now, we are trying to relieve the pain and I'm afraid the days of running are over. She still enjoys grumbling at the cats and going for car rides, but I don't think she will be chasing after the deer on her walks anymore.

I don't know if we have weeks or months left with her. Maybe a year at the most, but we will be keeping an eye on her as we do not want her to suffer. I am away working right now, but I really would like to head home and spend some time with my dog. I'm feeling guilty about being away as I know each day will be one less with her. I'm headed home in another week and I know she will last that long, so I'm going to shed a few tears in private. I'm thankful for the years we have had and I'm going to make the best of what we have left.

Thanks for listening.

[Determined]

You have my sympathies. It's been 6 years since we had to part with our dog Bailey. I miss him still. He was a good friend and it was devastating watching his health fail. He was 16 years old but somehow you don't realize they are ageing.

It is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do but he left this world with the dignity he deserved.

I hope you will have some good quality time together.

[paul m]

Hello Fighting back. You have my sympathies as well. I find it extremely hard to lose a pet and especially a pet dog. I've shed more than a few tears over the yrs after having lost a valued companion. Take Care. paul m

[AJ]

Hi Fighting back. It is awful when we see our beloved pets aren't well. I had a German Shepard that lived till she was 13 years old. Her hind leg muscles weakened, among other problems. Putting her down was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. I still miss her and it's been 2 yrs. She will always have a special place in my heart. Knowing when the time was right was hard, but doing what was best for her brought me to the best decision about when.

[bucky310]

I'm so sorry to hear that news Fighting back.

I'm a dog person and my siblings each have one that I'd be terribly sad to see leave this world. I do know that larger dogs tend to have hip/back leg problems as they get older. One thing I've heard might help them (and confirm with your vet of course) is Lakota. Apparently my sister in law's old dog absolutely loved the stuff when she had an arthritic hip. Just a suggestion.

Take the time now to give the pooch extra hugs and pets while you can! Enjoy every moment.

[Pinkviolet]

Losing your pet

I am sorry to hear about your beloved german shepard Fighting back.

Cherish the moments you have left with your precious dog.

[Fighting back]

Nearly a year has gone by since I started this thread and we still have our dog. The signs of aging have been increasing. She has become increasingly incontinent, pain manifests as consistent heavy panting, weight loss is apparent and mobility is reduced although she still looks forward to her daily walk. She still occasionally becomes a puppy. Last winter she made a valiant effort to chase a herd of deer that crossed her path and came back dragging her nearly useless hind legs, but she recovered. Just yesterday she met our neighbor's dog on her walk and made a mighty effort to keep pace, but her walks seldom break a brisk trot although I will admit she still does better than me in terms of the mile or so a day that she will leisurely enjoy.

So the question remains. When will her time come? At what point will we have to make that decision? Undoubtedly, the day draws closer.

Once again, it is the season for my part time work. I will be away for much of the next 8 weeks. My dog always shows some signs of separation anxiety and it is hard on the rest of the family to deal with this although my wife does an excellent job of keeping up with her medications. I will not put this dog down as a matter of convenience, but the question is troubling me. I have had other dogs and the end came naturally. The last time was the family pet of my youth and my parents were still alive. I remember the conversation with my dad. Our dog passed away quietly in the night. There had been a light snowfall and the dog had made one last trek around the farmyard as evidenced by his footprints and passed away in his usual resting place. I had left home maybe 5 years earlier and I never had another dog till this one. I knew how much attention a pet required and life was too busy. My wife loves cats and we went through a few. I am more of a dog person, but I do consider myself as an animal lover and I did become fond of those cats as well. I have had to deal with putting a few of them down, often due to misadventure, but only once because of old age. That makes the current experience unique to me.

I am hoping the next 8 weeks do not bring a sudden crisis, but I am prepared as best I can be. There may be yet another year, but the change of seasons may precipitate new problems. We simply have to watch for them. There is a certain inevitability to this and it will be unavoidable.

Thanks to everybody for letting me vent here.

[AJ]

Fighting back I'm going thru the same thing with our cat. In May of 2013 I had to say goodbye to my dog. She had a tumour on her spleen that was at risk of rupturing and causing great pain and death. She had been declining for some time, but once the tumour was discovered, we were told it would rupture at some point. She was 13 and had other health issues as well. It was time.

Our cat has a cancerous growth on her bottom lip. It is more difficult to know when the 'right' time is. She has lost a little weight and she does have arthritis in her hips. Her kidneys, as with most older cats, don't work as well as they used to. She's 18. We know that the time is coming soon. It's harder to make that decision when they're still mobile and participating in life. We just have to trust our gut instincts. Our (current) dog has a sense that the time is coming too. She checks up on the cat often.

I think we'll know when it's time, and I think you will too. I'm going to trust my 'inner knowing'.

[paul m]

Hello Determined. Sorry to hear about your pet. I can sympathize with you as I've had numerous pets over the years and some passed peacefully, some not. This forced really tough decisions. Decisions that always seemed to come at a bad time in my life.

I don't think that you can ever be fully prepared for a time when action may be needed to end suffering and I was probably guilty of extending a valued pet's life too long because I didn't want to take action.

I hope that your pet passes peacefully. No matter what happens, when the time comes, please take time to grieve your loss. Good Luck and Take Care. paul m

[Fighting back]

Thank you AJ.

Thank you Paul.

Always appreciate you kind words and thoughts.

[catman]

I had a dearly loved neighbourhood cat that would visit me all the time. Although it didn't belong to me, I was devastated when he passed away. I still get tears in my eyes thinking about him, but it comforts me a bit knowing he's not in pain anymore. And if there exists a heaven, there is nothing more deserving in the world to make it there than our wonderful pets and animals. My thoughts are with you.

[AJ]

We said goodbye to our cat yesterday. We had a vet come to the house. As Catman says "there is nothing more deserving in the world to make it there than our wonderful pets and animals.".

[Fighting back]

So sorry AJ. I hope the loss heals soon.

[catman]

Sorry to hear, AJ. I hope the pain heals soon, and you're left with fond, loving memories.

[AJ]

Thanks catman.

How are you and your dog doing today Fighting Back?