[Seqathe]

After having lived a very healthy 12 years with me (I got her when she was 12 weeks old), my dog had a very scary experience where I had to rush her to the pet hospital. It was in the middle of the night and while there were no cars on the road, the 17 minutes to get her there was the longest of my life. By the time we got there, I had them on speaker phone and they rushed out to pull her from my arms and started emergency medications. After a long, long night of waiting in the parking lot, the vet said she had miraculously made it through and she was able to go home in the evening with me.

This was October of 2020. She is now on hospice care with three kinds of heart medications, and they originally said they did not expect her to live past Christmas. Well my little pup is a fighter and just celebrated her 13th birthday!

She is not allowed to jump onto things, walk stairs or play fetch etc, so we had to modify some things for her. While her diagnosis is super scary and I know there will come a day where I need to do what is best for her, as much as I never want to let her go, I am just feeling so blessed for every day that she is still with me; eating, wagging, snuggling, taking little walks and so on.

I have never had a senior pet before, let alone one that is fatally ill, so I have no idea how to prepare for her last day or decisions that come with it. I am wondering if anyone has been in the same situation before and have any advise on how to cope with loss of your pet?

 

[Seqathe]

It‘s good to check out these possibilities before, phone the companies and ask them about anything you should know. Write down the addresses and numbers.

Thank you for this. I will admit I just kind of buried my head in the sand and tried not to think of the practical things around what will happen after. It's still hard to think of but I feel she is winding down more this week and I am given a bit of a reality check. You are absolutely right in treating all these extra days as gifts. I have had her seen by both specialists and her primary vet and they all said they did not think she would live this long. Her regular vet said on her last checkup that at this point, she has not even an educated guess as far as a life expectancy is concerned because she's already surpassed it. She never gets 'people food' normally but we did celebrate her birthday with hot dogs and treats this year.

I think tomorrow I will do some research on what comes next - and perhaps allow myself to cry too. Thank you so much for your reply ^^

I am deep in grief having lost my senior pup just over a month ago.

I am so sorry to hear this. I honestly can't imagine, even in my situation. I can relate to the difficulty of making that decision and I really hope it will be clear to me as well, because right now there is so much doubt. I am just thinking that as long as her days are still generally happy, she is eating and her basic functions are good and she's not in unnecessary pain, we are still good. I can also relate to the mobility reference. She has always been a very active dog and we have done so much together in nature, so it's sad that she can no longer do more than ten minute walks to avoid being winded but at the same time, I am grateful I can still walk with her. I think it's wonderful that you have found a bit of peace through the medium, even if you are still grieving <3

It is never easy when a pet dies. I'm 71 and have lost far too many. I try to remember that I've given them the best life I can and they've done the same for me.

And suddenly your name here made more sense. I know I will think of this every time I see your helpful and kind posts elsewhere on the forums!

The Joe Garagiola quote is so good and so accurate in my situation, thank you. I think part of my hardship is that I have never had to lose anyone before so I am just struggling with figuring out where to put all these emotions that come with it. I can't imagine going through it as many times as you say you have. The hot dog in the final moments with her is a great idea and I don't think I would have thought of it on my own, so thank you for that too. I really hope I will share the experience of feeling like I am not really leaving her. And while I am so sorry to hear about your loss, I was so glad to see that you included a good memory of Russel in your post.

 

[Seqathe]

BTW, where is our picture? And what is her name???? I found sharing Russell's journey after he was diagnosed to be cathartic. People on this Forum were and are very kind and supportive.

Here she is!

Her name is Molly and she's an English setter 💕

Her breed have LOTS of energy so we have done so many hikes and trips together.
This was of course prior to her heart issues (and also when I back then thought it was a great
idea to dye my hair silver 😆 )

These days she is more of a potato couch with 10 minutes max walks,
and got her own little space with lots of cushions.

And yes! I have noticed that there are many people on this site who are fantastical supportive and kind - not to mention very knowledge when it comes to fish. I have learned so much about bettas even in the short time I've been here and I'm ever so grateful <3

 

[Seqathe]

We have an English Setter named "Boo."

I love how his name is Boo and not Bo! So cute And yes - Setters are the sweetest things. I've always said you will never find a gentler soul than Molly

 

[Seqathe]

I will never make peace with the fact that their life span is shorter than ours

This is exactly how I feel. I wish they had the life span of a parrot or turtle instead of being with us on borrowed time. Thank you so much for the kind words 💕

but in the end think of all the years you got to spend together and all of the memories?

Thanks ^^ I'm just currently trying to live in the moment, and being grateful for every new morning that we get to spend together =)

 

[Seqathe]

I took Molly to the cardiologist this morning and he said he’s out of educational guesses as far as how much time she has left. In fact, he was asking what all I do with her besides giving her (many) prescriptions and taking her to all of her re-checks, for her to look so good and “healthy” despite her diagnosis.

None of the vets who have seen her, or the two cardiologists, thought she’d live past Christmas but here we are. Perhaps I will get to see summer with her too. My family and some of the friends of family always do vacation together, both abroad or domestic, but this year I plan on not going. I have never skipped and I love my family vacation but I will GLADLY trade it for a summer with Molly❤

 

[Seqathe]

She passed today.
I’m just heartbroken 💔

 

[Seqathe]

I just wanted to thank you all for the lovely comments. I have been reading them quietly over the past days but I just have not managed to post in here until now. Molly was, and is, my everything. I am just so happy I took so many photos and videos of her from puppy through senior age 💕