Posted on 03/16/2017 10:36:46 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack
My good buddy Ranger suffered a severe stroke sometime late Monday early Tuesday of this week. I've been working with the vet trying a few different meds to try and remediate the effects, but nothing has worked and there has been no improvement to his condition, and he's paralyzed on the right side from the neck down. He is comfortable and can drink his water when I hold his head up over the bowl.
We have an appointment for 8:30 in the morning, at which time we'll do what's necessary and Ranger will slip this mortal coil.
Please keep him and me in your prayers.
Awwwwww.
It’s going to be hard. Give him that respectful, beautiful send off his life deserves.
Last July our heathy, smart, doglike (fetching, running to the door to greet you) 4 year old cat ate a couple of clear gummy window cling decorations that had fallen to the floor. THEY ARE TOXIC, we now know. Within 24 hours her kidneys were destroyed. We tried for a week to save her, IVs, injecting water into her skin round the clock, force feeding her droppers of watery chicken, to no avail. Came that day when the blood tests showed she was worse and we were all in that vet room sobbing.
May the souls of all our beloved pets be enjoying each other in heaven.
Will pray for you tomorrow Joe.
GSDs don’t like having ‘accidents’ in the house. Your care should help to alleviate the related anxiety.
Prayers FRiend.
It hurts so much because you love so much.
Those of us that have loved and lost great dogs share in your suffering.
Hugs Joe.
Red
I am so sorry. Prayers for you as thou let him go.
BFL (after I wipe my eyes)
Ranger will always love you.
My heart, prayers and tears are with you.
I stayed up with Ranger ‘til about 1:00 a.m. this morning, and he was quietly sleeping. I caught about three hours of sleep, and starting about 4:00 a.m. I sat with him and prayed for a good while with his head propped up on my leg. Ranger had his very favorite things for breakfast including a small tub of ice cream and hot dogs. When the time came, I carried him out to the Jeep he so loved to ride around in, and we took a last little cruise past some of our old haunts for old time’s sake. We showed up at the vets around 8:20 a.m. My vet is a very kind, compassionate man and with great affection and sensitivity he put Ranger to rest. Ranger went under very peacefully, very quickly and very gently.
Thank you all for your prayers and support.
He will live in your heart forever.
I’m so very sorry about your loss, Joe.
Keeping you in my prayers.
pax
Peace at last for Ranger. Prayers up for letting him into your life.
Thank you. Yes, it is amazing how many memories came flooding back today, of things I had long forgotten. I’ll be 48 in a few months and I had Ranger, so a full 25% of my life was spent with that dog. It’s a lot of ground to cover in my hard drive.
Praying for you, Gd bless.
This day will pass, then the next, and they will start getting a lot easier. Your memories will start adding more joy and less sadness to each day.
Distract yourself each day after you have mourned enough. Gaming is fantastic for this. Online, handheld, puzzles, word games, anything that uses up the analytical part of the brain and gives your emotions a rest.
I remain very sorry for your loss.
But I have resolved in honor of Ranger, every St. Patrick's day for the rest of my life will involve hot dogs and ice cream in his memory.
Get some rest. Sending positive thoughts your way.
No offense to any human out there but to me there is simply nothing better than the love of a good dog except of course our parents. The complete and unconditional depth of it without any strings attached is second to none.
At 48 you can possibly have 2 or more great dogs in your life if you choose it. I generally wait a couple of months before I think about getting another one and have been getting rescues forever. These days as I get older (I’m 58) I try to find older good dogs who deserve a top notch doggy home with lots of room to run on my property and the companionship of not only me but other good dogs as well. My last adoptee was 8 when I got her and she’s now 10 and plenty healthy. The poor girl wasn’t abused per se but she was neglected by an old man who kept his “darling” little dogs in the house with him and this one stayed outside by herself until he died and they all went to the rescue shelter. She wasn’t house trained when I got her but within a couple of hours of watching the other dogs she got it down easily.
I know our time together will be short compared to getting a puppy but I also know she appreciates her new home and stays right near me when I’m home because she can. Her first 8 years may not have been all that great but after that she has been in doggy heaven right here on earth and she makes my life better too. I have a story about all 4 of my rescued dogs but this one gives you the idea of what they might be like. I’m constantly blown away by how people, maybe through no fault of their own sometimes, can give up such amazing dogs. The older ones are especially appreciative and generally smarter than the younger dogs. Imagine if something had happened to you when Ranger was 5 or older. I’m sure you would want someone who could appreciate him and give him a good home if you or your people couldn’t.
Some people are true angels on earth who adopt larger dogs over 10 and sometimes with health issues just so their remaining time can be as good as possible. There’s a special place in heaven for such people with lots and lots of loving dogs all around them.
That will be nice, to remember him on St Patrick’s Day forever. Slowly start eating so you don’t get sick. Just one meal a day is enough. Your appetite will slowly return. Mourning is ok, don’t let anyone put you down for it. You have to go through it to get to the other side.
Oh Dear Lord. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Please Lord, help Ranger heal from this stroke.
Praying.
Ranger had a lot of friends from around here, and as the tag line I've had on FR for years suggests, I will not accept as a friend anybody who will not also befriend my dog. This past week, I neglected a lot of food, sleep and hygiene so I could spend every possible second caring for Ranger. I caught up on the self-care issues today and actually started googling a few breeders which cheered me up a little thinking about the future, but I still need a little time to grieve. I firmly believe that people don't find a dog, but that dogs and people find each other, at least that's the way it's always seemed to work for me. To be fair to any new dog, I have to be 100% positive that I'm not looking to replace (the irreplaceable) Ranger, but looking to start making a whole bunch of new memories with another pup on his own merits. I'm not there yet.
Having said that, the support of all of you and others on this forum and elsewhere have been a tremendous help in moving through this. As I lay here on my bed surfing on my laptop, I keep expecting to hear toenails clicking on my tile floor, the doggie door flapping open and closed and yes, the slurping of water from the toilet bowl...but of course those expectations hang in the air unfulfilled like overly ripe fruit hanging from a tree.
I gave dear Ranger the best life I could, and our vet, who is not just one of the finest vets I've ever known, but also one of the finest people I've known, gave Ranger a quick, painless and peaceful exit from it. I was blessed that Ranger remained aware and alert this week so we got to spend time together and I got to love on him in his final days. He's not the first dog I've ever lost, and I know I'll get through this, but it truly helps having a community like all of you on FR who have taken a lot of the sting out of this. Thank you all again so very, very much.
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