Felch wrote:Our beloved family member and friend, Maddi was put to sleep tonight at the vet. After spending the weekend spoiling her, we made the heart-breaking decision to have her put down, and i made the appointment yesterday, for tonight.
Today was one of the longest days of my life, and getting home from work i was greeted by the usual excitement she has shown for the last 10 years - mainly because she knows its dinner time, but im hoping it was because she actually liked me too. Very heart-breaking to take her for that final drive to vet, as she loves the car ride ( i thought about turning the car around at least 3 times). Even harder taking her out of the car and into the vet. The Vet and nurse were fantastic, explained everything to me. I thought long and hard about being there when it happened, and was given the option of letting them do it after i left - i decided i needed to be there and i dont regret it one bit. Very quick, painless and peaceful for her. Her suffering is over, her last 2-3 years havent been very good at all. As i mentioned before, she was basically allergic to everything and had very bad skin irritations and infections. Beautiful natured dog though, and was excellent with our kids.
The drive home alone was horrid - think i was in a daze for most of it. There is a very eerie feeling here at home - like something isnt right, like something is missing. There is.
RIP Maddi
Sorry for dribbling on, but its been a rough day and evening. Thanks everyone for their support.
Condolances Felch- the "Drive" is one of the worst feelings I ever had. Our Greyhound Zak had a very slight limp a couple of years back. After checking paws etc for thorns, and rubbing his legs looking for obvious sore spots, we took him to the vet for an xray. We'd thought he may have pulled a muscle, instead he was diagnosed with an osteosarcoma (aggressive bone tumour) in his back right leg. Our vet gave us some pain relief medication and told us he'd last about 4 weeks.
We took him home and proceeded to spoil him for the next 3 months (tough bugger he was), all the time watching his movements, we had decided once he had obvious discomfort or any limitation in his movement we'd take him back for his final vet visit.
We had a set of 3 steps out the back, and one night he just couldnt come down. It was too late to take him to our vet so we covered him up in a warm rug and he stayed in the sandpit for the night (we stayed with him until about 3am...) Secretly we hoped he'd fall asleep and not make it through. However next morning he was still wide awake, but unable to get up. He had that resigned look which just said "Mate I cant do it anymore".
Herein lied the next problem- a 35kg dog we had to get down the stairs, through the house and into the car. Eventually we folded the back seat down, caried him on his earlier mentioned rug like a stretcher and placed him in the boot, with his head sticking thorough the now flat split fold rear seat, and on Mrs G's lap. Still get upset thinking of him in there, he too loved the car rides and still wanted to look out the windows..
Got to the vet where the vet helped us bring him in. Gave us the lowdown of how it was gonna work, and too gave us the option to leave. However, we couldnt do it- he'd been so brave up until then, how could we leave him? Pretty confronting being there as it is quite tough knowing they are going, but deep down you get a sense of relief as they slide away.
The drive back home was numb...you really dont know what you got til its gone. I put a blog and some photos on my 'Myspace' page and we kept his collar with a framed photo of him (we also had a heap of photos from his racing days). It got easier over the next week, but it took a while for the habits (feeding/walking/car rides etc) to subside.
Took us almost a year to get another dog, now she is givin me the shits cos she is barking as I type...
All the best to choccies and Felch!
