Yes Cashmere had to be put down in January. She was 13 and had stopped eating and was very weak. Vet said she had acute kidney failure. Nothing he could do for her, so my wife and I decided it was time and not let her suffer any more than she had. Very difficult and sad day for us.
Red, remember when JADB put up growing areas on this site?
If anyone remembers that site it could help Marcella plan her gardens.
So sorry to hear about Cashmere.
After months of consulting Max’s vet about his sudden vomiting and getting no answers, we consulted a new vet in February. He also was losing a lot of weight and had suddenly became quite boney. The new vet kept him over night and fed him until he vomited. Then he took X-rays and discerned a thickening next to the pyloric valve at the end of the stomach.
We didn’t know what it was, but you could tell that Max was in distress. The distress had come on suddenly because he’d handled the vomiting OK until then. His previous diagnoses had ranged from digestive upset to Lyme Disease. Most of the time Max vomited outdoors and just gobbled his food back up, and we never knew about it. That wasn’t working any more.
The vet recommended putting him down, or opening him up to take a look (no guarantees). I didn’t think that he was strong enough to withstand surgery (he’d lost 10 pounds in 10 days) — 20 lbs since the illness onset. We agreed , and it was a remarkable experience. All of the tension went out of his fur as he drifted away.
Afterward, the vet asked to do a post mortem — for free — and we agreed. It turned out that he had Pancreatic Cancer. Nothing could have been done, so it was good that we let him go before it got too bad. I was just about to go into the hospital for a full knee replacement, so we have not discussed getting another dog. The problem is — Max was the perfect dog. Hard to replace that.
Since he was a rescue, we don’t know how old he was, but we would have had him 11 years in April, had he lived. We think he was about 12, but could have been as old as 13. I feel cheated because my previous Golden lived to 15 1/2. I know that’s irrational, but that’s how I feel. 15 1/2 would have been too short a time for such a wonderful dog.