(no subject)
R.I.P. Buddy: February 1995-April 5th 2006
Unfortunately, one of the worst things ever happened a few days ago. I had to put my dog down. He was loved by the whole entire family and was well behaved. Basically, 2 years ago we found out that his health was deteriorating. He had a heart murmur. His heart murmur slowly progressed after the last 2 years and his heart was beating irregularly. He kind of distance himself a bit and didn't do the things he used to do. Later that year, we got another dog, Smokey. My dad knew he was going to die soon, so he figured he'd get one now. I think that having Smokey around kind of made his life longer. The way I see it is that Smokey made Buddy more active by getting him to play around with him.
Two weeks ago, he acted really strange one day. He didn't move at all. We were really worried about him and took him to the vets. I even had to go outside in my friggin' underwear to go and try and get him. He came alone without assistance. He lied around in a few different spots during the day. We were all worried. We went to the vets, and basically they said that he was probably tired and ran out of steam for the day. We got home, and it was like it never happened.
Monday night, Kara noticed his stomach getting bigger. From mentioning it before, the doctor said that dogs with heart problems could gather fluid in their abdomen... which is what happened. He seemed alright though, and ate his food that day. Tuesday came, and he didn't eat all day and he seemed really stiff and sore. My mom called earlier in the day about the stomach thing, and we knew what it was. He stopped moving around as much and became very weak. The night he vomited countless times and couldn't move much. He had nothing in his stomach, and he'd make these loud, painful noises. He was so bad that he was lying around in his own puke and I had to go help my mother maneuver him so it could be cleaned up.
The next morning was his last. He was in SUCH bad shape. It was pretty fucking awful. He went outside in the morning, and he couldn't squat to shit... He was becoming extremely weak. My mother and sister had to carry him inside. After he got in, he made it to the water bowl and drank a bit. Soon after, he brought it back up. We called the vets and got the most soon appointment. My mother and I had to lift him out of the cage to take him to the vets. He basically did not walk again. The vet basically said you can try these other medications but he'd still build up. His gums were so white it was like a white stick of bubble gum. So, we knew what we wanted to do... and the vet basically said that it was the best decision. We let him go. I will always have the image burned into my brain of what happened. They shaved his arm and put a catheter in it, and wrapped tape around it. The vet asked again if we were sure, and he gave him the needle. It didn't take long for him at all to pass. About a centimetre of fluid went in before his head went down. He was so sick. At that point I didn't know if he was gone yet, but he was. It was the worst day ever. The dog lied there, not breathing with his eyes wide open. It killed me, man. We pet him for a while after he passed while crying our eyes out. We decided to get him cremated. I think we're going to bury him out in the garden where he used to eat the strawberries. My heart is broken. I will love you always Buddy.