Posted on 01/05/2022 10:09:28 AM PST by MountainWalker
We lost our dear dog, Sully, yesterday, and I'm absolutely heartbroken. He was our second recuse dog - the older one is strangely still alive and well. So, this was our first time going through the process. I expected it to be terrible, and it's worse than expected.
He was about 13 and getting pretty rickety, falling down a lot, had trouble going up and down stairs, had poor bladder and bowel control anymore and had some dementia - staring off into walls at times. But, he was still as sweet as he was the day that we decided to keep him after fostering him through the rescue organization that my wife has volunteered for.
He had cancer surgery right before Labor Day when he was starting to get a little wobbly and the surgeon estimated that we might have bought him another year or so. It was eye-wateringly expensive, but we did it anyway without a second thought.
His arthritis accelerated quickly, however. Toward the end of his life, his lower back would slouch down because his hind legs were too weak to hold him up, especially near the end of the day, and had trouble getting comfortable even laying down. We tried some pain killers, but that made him even more clumsy.
It makes no sense, but the sharpness of pain is as much as I remember feeling when we got my father's terminal illness diagnosis. Maybe time has only softened my memory of the pain compared to now, but it's definitely in the same ballpark. Watching a helpless creature whose life revolved around you and was by your side constantly pass away based upon your call is indescribably painful. He was sleeping wedged against me with his head on my pillow next to mine on Monday night and now he's gone.
Any prayers or suggestions for how to manage the pain are appreciated. Thanks, FRiends.
Yet you are now trying to ruin my thread for prayers.
WHY???
*gave, not “have.”
I hate it
You’ll have no choice
I’m sorry
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