My poor puppy.
My family had to put our dog down yesterday. It was a joint decision, because we could all see he was getting sicker and sicker. He'd lost two pounds or so in the last week, which is a lot when you weigh 20 pounds. He had the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel mitral valve disorder, which means his heart was enlarged and his lungs were filling with fluid. He did outlast initial expectations, when we took him to the emergency vet in 2007 they said he had maybe six months. His medicine bought him a ton of time, and he was happy until this week. He went really downhill on Sunday with obviously labored breathing and couldn't lie down without coughing and wheezing. He couldn't eat, he couldn't sleep. My family stayed up almost all night watching movies and sitting with him, because we couldn't bring ourselves to take him to the emergency vet in the middle of the night, it would have been traumatic for him and us.
So we made an appointment in the morning and my parents and I took him in at 1:30. His heart is supposed to beat 100 times a minute and it was beating at 180. Even the vet liked him, because he was such a happy little dog, he never whined or snapped or anything, even at the vet. In fact, he was always excited to go, because there are so many people and a car ride! Which was nice, he kind of perked up for the first time in days when we got him there. So we got to say goodbye and we held him and petted him, and it was awful going back home. Just awful, none of us could stop crying and we couldn't figure out what to do with ourselves. What did we do before we had a dog? I don't remember elementary school that well, much less what we did with our time eleven years ago. You know, when I was 12.
It was just like a picture with someone missing. Any time you'd hear a clicking, you'd think it was his nails, or see movement in the corner of your eye you'd think it was him coming over. And even when he was so sick that his tail was between his legs and he was tired and swaying, if you talked to him he would wag his tail. That made it tough on my mom, because however much the rest of him liked him, he was her dog. She had stayed home the first 7 years we had him, and while he adjusted fine to her going back to work, but she was always "his" mom and his favourite.
I've never met a dog I liked so much, and not just because he was ours, but because even when we first got him he was such a nice, personable little dog. I always wanted a dog before we got one, but he was worth the wait.
Rest peacefully, Hunter. You'll be missed like crazy.
So we made an appointment in the morning and my parents and I took him in at 1:30. His heart is supposed to beat 100 times a minute and it was beating at 180. Even the vet liked him, because he was such a happy little dog, he never whined or snapped or anything, even at the vet. In fact, he was always excited to go, because there are so many people and a car ride! Which was nice, he kind of perked up for the first time in days when we got him there. So we got to say goodbye and we held him and petted him, and it was awful going back home. Just awful, none of us could stop crying and we couldn't figure out what to do with ourselves. What did we do before we had a dog? I don't remember elementary school that well, much less what we did with our time eleven years ago. You know, when I was 12.
It was just like a picture with someone missing. Any time you'd hear a clicking, you'd think it was his nails, or see movement in the corner of your eye you'd think it was him coming over. And even when he was so sick that his tail was between his legs and he was tired and swaying, if you talked to him he would wag his tail. That made it tough on my mom, because however much the rest of him liked him, he was her dog. She had stayed home the first 7 years we had him, and while he adjusted fine to her going back to work, but she was always "his" mom and his favourite.
I've never met a dog I liked so much, and not just because he was ours, but because even when we first got him he was such a nice, personable little dog. I always wanted a dog before we got one, but he was worth the wait.
Rest peacefully, Hunter. You'll be missed like crazy.