Sad day....
We had to put Patch down this morning. She was 6 days shy of 14. She's had arthritis in her back hip for a while and it was getting pretty bad. She would have terrible days and great days, but mostly she had ok days. The terrible days were getting more frequent and the great days were all but a distant memory. I didn't want to wait too long and have her suffer. (The odd thing is that she seemed to have NO feeling below her rib cage!) At the same time, I didn't want to put her down if she still had lots of life left in her. My family has been badgering me for over a year now to put her down. I have been really wrestling with the decision since September. Honestly, I had made up my mind and called vets a few times before today, but they could never get her in that day and by the next day she would always be great. So, today was the day. It was sad and hard, but not nearly as hard as I thought it would be. I think the fact that I've wrestled with the decision for so long really helped. It's as though I'd already gone through the grieving process several times. I got to spend quite a bit of time with her before they gave her the injection which is a MAJOR plus! The vet did the injection really slowly so it was more like she fell asleep in my arms than she suddenly went limp. That helped immensely I'm sure. She went very peacefully and the whole process I was telling her how much I loved her and how I would miss her and what a great dog she was. It makes me feel a lot better to know that she wasn't scared or confused as to what was going on. The hardest part was walking out of the room and leaving her body behind.
Now, Dirk's cleaning out the room she had been staying in. She had gotten pretty incontinent, so it's got a lot of stains. I'm glad he's doing it, because I don't think I'll be able to for a long time. I'm really going to miss her, but I know she's better off. She still wanted to bounce around, but couldn't and usually ended up falling when she tried. It absolutely broke my heart to watch her move sometimes. She had a really good long life and I know that she knew she was loved every second of it. That's all I could've hoped for.
Now, Dirk's cleaning out the room she had been staying in. She had gotten pretty incontinent, so it's got a lot of stains. I'm glad he's doing it, because I don't think I'll be able to for a long time. I'm really going to miss her, but I know she's better off. She still wanted to bounce around, but couldn't and usually ended up falling when she tried. It absolutely broke my heart to watch her move sometimes. She had a really good long life and I know that she knew she was loved every second of it. That's all I could've hoped for.