Another Good-bye

It's been a stressful week. My parents went on vacation a week and half ago, and whenever they are out of town, we dog-sit. Their dog, Amber, actually used to be our dog for about 6 years. Then we started having trouble with her and our very young kids. She had arthritis in her back, and let's just say that situation mixed with toddlers didn't end well... But we always enjoyed having her come and stay for a week or so once or twice a year. She has always been a smart, fun, and loyal dog - following me around wherever I go!

Well, this visit was different. I hardly recognized her when they brought her over. She had lost weight and if it's possible, had just shrunk in every way possible! My mom said she has been getting picky with her eating, but when she got here, things got much worse. She would hardly eat anything at all, and when she did eat, it almost always came back up. She was also having accidents in the house (which is unusual), and her stool looked very unhealthy. I was driving myself crazy trying to shop for and cook and feed her anything I could think that she might eat, not to mention cleaning up after her numerous times a day, but by last Thursday, it was very apparent that something was very wrong. I had hoped it was just being away from her home and my parents and that when they returned, she would start eating more normally. But when I took her to the vet, they confirmed what I suspected. She was very sick, and it was unlikely she would recover. But still, they said some dogs will rally for a while, so I took her home bound and determined to carefully time her anti-nausea injections with feeding her small amounts every few hours. If she wouldn't eat, I'd puree her food (or give her some kind of liquid nourishment) through a syringe. She vomited a little less, and I was a little hopeful, but by the time my parents came home Sunday night, I pretty much knew we were nearing the end.

This morning my mom took her back to the vet, and found out she had lost another pound since Friday (and trust, me she couldn't afford it!). It was evident that she wasn't going to recover, so they decided to put her to sleep, and she died quietly in my mom's arms. I was sad, but a little relieved after all she had been through last week. And I was grateful we got to spend some last time with her. The kids took it harder than I thought they would. After all, she hasn't been "our" dog in a long time. I had told them to really spend some time with her to say good-bye when my parents came to pick her up, letting them know that she was very sick and this might be the last time we saw her. They did ok with that, so I was a bit surprised by the outpouring of emotion today. Watching E.T. was a good distraction, but boy has it been an emotional week! I'm going to bed early.


Good-bye old friend. We'll miss you.