Posted on 05/18/2012 11:26:20 PM PDT by BIV
Hi Fred: Boss is getting worse by the hour. I am up late (2 am) trying to tend to him, but it's hopeless. I have given up trying to clean up the blood. That exercise will wait. I do not think he is suffering (i.e., in bad pain) yet, but that, I fear, is only a few days away. I will not permit him to suffer. Right now, he is choking, but just a little, on blood, but that will get worse. In animals things metastasize more quickly than in humans. His medication only treats the symptoms, and does a poor job of that. Jack wants Dr. Draper to see Boss and to administer the medications that will give Boss peace and send him to dog heaven. Jack says Dr. Draper saved Boss once and that Draper still loves Boss. He wants Dr. Draper to do it with all of us there. Boss will pass away in our arms, a happy dog. I agree with Jack's sentiments about Dr. Draper (though surely naive), but I am having trouble reaching him. I will try again later today. Of course, Draper doesn't do a lot of hands on vet stuff anymore, but maybe he will make an exception for Boss, and for Jack. I will insist upon it for Jack. Money talks. If need be. A woman at the emergency center last night, who has worked with Draper for years, clearly remembered Jack's picture with Boss on the walls of the old office. She remembered Jack's name and Boss's name, and especially Jack's handwritten thanksgiving to Draper, following Boss,’ emergency abdominal surgery Jack wrote, with a picture of him and Boss: "Thanks for saving Boss's life." She remembered that line and quoted it out of the blue, no prompting from me. We are talking about an event that occurred seven years ago, yet she remembered. Boss was only three years old at the time Draper saved his butt. Jack was 9 or ten. The best money I ever spent. Jack's picture and comment made a profound impact on her; she remembered it and quoted it. Again, no prompting from me, as I had forgotten the precise words of Jack's note. She told me she saw the picture every day for years and smiled each time she saw it. It became sort of an icon at the office. Boss and Jack slept together for more than twelve years. He is beyond despair. We are having sad days and sad nights here. Jack and I cannot stop crying. This is true especially for Jack, Boss’s favorite. We are crying and grieving for an inevitable and irreplaceable loss. But, you know that. Boss is/ was a friend, protector and good guy for years. We'll never really know how many times he protected us. That was his job and he did it well and with pride and devotion and love. Can you make it here Sunday or sooner if necessary? When? Sadly, time is becoming of the essence. Jack and I want you here. I think, I know, that Boss wants you here too. Boss never stopped loving you. We'll cry, but we'll recover. And, we will never forget what a wonderful member of our family he was. He gave his all for all us. Dad
That dog I swear had a sense of humor. He would walk in front of a fan that was blowing on us, pass gas and then walk a way.
You are right about that. Rhodies possess more human traits than any other dogs I have ever been owned by. BTW, I should add that Boss passed that night, w/o a need to take him to the vet to be put down. Considerate to the end.
My current RR is about as narcissistic as zero.
My brother-in-law was at work and his mother took the dog out on a cold winter morning. When she brought the dog back in he laid down on the cold concrete in the garage. She knew the dog was not well and told him to come in because she did not want the dog to be uncomfortable on the cold floor. The dog obediently got up and went in the house laid on the rug and quietly passed away.
there are two types of RRs - big and bigger. I prefer the bigger males as they are more placid and control the environment through sheer intimidation. My RRs weigh in at about 125 to 135 lbs., and their bite strength is second in the dog kingdom But they (at least the males won’t bite, generally, unless trained as a guard dog). Females bite occasionally,but males just intimidate. Sweetest beasts I have ever met.
I’m sorry about your puppy. All day I’ve been missing my cat who died in October.
I think she was my best cat ever and I still miss her so much. I could cry about it right now.
I guess i should say that Dr. Draper agreed to help Boss He loved him too. Best vet ever.
thanks jocan. sorry about your cat. i lost Gus too; a superb cat
I understand still loving and missing a dog. Mine loved bedtime, his favorite part of the day. He’d been not doing well, he was going on fifteen, a Lab. He got up and wobbled down the hall, looking back smiling and wagging like he always did, as if to say come on, come on, it’s time to go to bed. He made it to the bedside and collapsed. I curled up beside him with my arms wrapped around him and he quietly passed away.
On July 30, 1984 [my birthday, no less] my beloved Wonder Dobe passed away.
There has not been one single day since then that I have not thought of him and missed him.
I love him dearly, still.
Some dogs, you’ll always remember.
Some dogs, you’ll never forget.
Your story brought tears to my eyes as it reminded me of the night we had to put my dane, Duke, down. Slept next to my bed all of his years. The vet put him down on his pillow next to my bed.
I know what you’re experiencing. The memories of the dogs I have loved are with me every day. I find Romans 8:21 a comfort. It says that the entire creation, of which my dogs are certainly a part, will be redeemed in the new earth. I look forward to seeing them again. I’ll look for Boss, too. I love the ridgebacks.
But the hardest, most painful thing I've ever had to do or have gone through has been calling the vet to have him end my dog's suffering.
It was especially sad seeing that my other dog hurt as badly as I did. And then I had to go through it all over again a couple of months later having him put down.
It hurt so bad I don't know how we survive such a loss, especially one we have to cause ourselves, because it's the right thing to do, the most caring and compassionate thing to do.
Puppy breath helps...but not right away.
Losing a family member is always tough.
Our late, greatly missed Golden Retriever, Prior Lake Jake developed a fast growing cancer on his lower jaw at age seven. I noticed he was having trouble with his chow and took him to the vet for an exam. The vet had to knock him out to get him to hold still for the checkup.
Surgery was not an option. Our son, the dog’s favorite buddy, was away at college so it didn’t seem right to just put him down without a last hug.
We waited til the following spring when our son was home from Iowa State and allowed Jake one last swim in the lake he loved before taking him to the vet’s to be put down.
That was over ten years ago and I still tear up when I think of that great dog...
Thanks for sharing this. My golden retriever Kelso passed away in August a year after being diagnosed with lymphoma. (We did chemo.) His last year was the best year of our time together - I wouldn’t have done the chemo if the vet said he would be in pain. Fortunately, he went into remission almost immediately, but months after the chemo completed, hemangiosarcoma crept in,and we had to make the tough decision on the spot because his spleen was bleeding and chemo (again) and surgery would have been too much for him at age 11, and probably would have only gotten him a few more months - and they wouldn’t have been good months. That dog was my entire heart and I miss him terribly.
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