Update on Tina

[Sandysbabies]

Its been awhile since I have talked about Tina on here but for those who don't know she is our little min. schnauzer that is 14. She has CHF, dementia and is almost blind. I know its coming soon and I just can't let her go. I know thats selfish. She is down to 9lbs. and still eats good, sleeps most all day and night. We keep her in her playpen because she has gotten hurt twice pretty bad and I just can't chance letting her run loose at all. They told me at the vets to keep her up and it would be better than her getting hurt, since she has no direction or whats she is doing too much of the time. This will be my 3rd Schnauzer we have lost in the past 5yrs. We have our 2 little yorkies and Lexi, (mini schnauzer) left. To think of putting Tina down breaks my heart but she is wasting away to nothing. My dh just holds on. I still hold her and rock her and sing to her. She loves that. She will look up at me with those little eyes and skinny face and its going to be horrible all over again. I dread it sooooo much. Please pray that we will know the right time and use wisdom in the timing. I hurt and she is not even gone.

[107barney]

I can't imagine how painful this is for you. I know you will make the right decision for Tina. I'm so sorry

[ladyjane]

You will know when it is time...Tina will let you know. I am so, so sorry.

[yorkiedallas]

I'm so sorry. I am sort of going through the same thing right now, I have a 14 year old mutt named Teddy. He has been with me for such a long time. We have had so many adventures, walked so many miles together. The world has changed so much since I got him.

When he was younger he was a force of nature. No back yard could hold him. We would go hiking for miles, and he was always ready to go for miles more. He would climb chain link fences like they were nothing.

A few nights ago I was woken up by Teddy howling in a strange way, I jump out of bed and find him in the kitchen, maybe 10 feet from my bedroom. He slipped on the tile and couldn't get his legs back under him. In his struggles he peed on the floor. It ripped my heart out to see him lying on the floor in his own urine. He was so strong and full of life when he was younger.

His eye sight is almost gone, we think he is deaf. He is in kidney failure. There are most certainly times when he is confused and not himself. He falls down, and is so slow on walks.

He won't be around for much longer. I love him as much as I can while he is here. I take him on nice walks. I help him onto the couch. I make his life as happy as I can. I take him to the vet as needed. That's all we can do.

Take comfort in the fact that Tina is one of the very lucky ones. She is warm and safe and loved. You have given her a happy home, and given her love and purpose. Celebrate her life well lived, and be warmed by the thought she will be out of pain, and will be young and happy, waiting for the day she sees you again. Best of luck.

[My lil friend]

I have been were you are VERY recently. 2weeks ago we let our 2bits go. He was the rock of our family (15 1/2yrs). We started talking before last Christmas about how to know when the time was right. One evening he just pooped in my den (in his good years he weighed 70lbs at that time he weighed 52),then a week later he peed in the den and didnt even know it. When he figured it out he just looked at me and I could tell that he was so sad. He had hip displacia,walking was very difficult so my 16 year old daughter would pick him up and take him outside,there was a time when he greatly out weighed her. I laid in the floor with him after everyone went to bed and I know that he was telling me that he was done,his kidneys were failing as well. I made the call on a Friday,for the next Tuesday,we all just wanted a few more days. Those last 3 days were so hard for him physically.
The ride to the vets was so hard for me and my husband. 2bits had been with us half of our marriage and was only 6months older than our youngest child. It was a very hard thing to do,but I know in my heart that he was ready.
Your Tina will let you know when,your heart will let you know when. As some one here on the forum told me. As hard as it is,it is the greatest act of love you can give to a pet that is suffering. It an act of unselfish love. You will know.
I will keep you in my thoughts and pray that you will have peace in your heart.

[lisaly]

I am so very sorry, Sandy. I wish I could take away your pain. I know how much you love your baby girl and how much you don't want to let her go. You have been so devoted to Tina's care and also her happiness, and I know you'd do anything for Tina and your other beautiful babies. Ashley also found it so comforting when I held her close to my body as if she were a baby. She'd just look into my eyes and kiss my nose. We walked for miles each day, mostly with her walking but some late night and early morning walks she was ecstatic just being carried close. Ashley's health wasn't failing (that I knew of) and she was still very active, but I knew that, because she was close to seventeen and the dangers of caring for her with dementia, she wasn't going to live forever. Still, I could do nothing to prepare myself for losing my sweet little baby. I kept relying on my vet to tell me if I was looking out for Ashley's interests over my own, but he kept assuring me that she was a happy little girl who was so responsive and attached to us that she had a good quality of life. I truly believe that was the case also. I don't know how to advise you, but I do know that I will be there for you if you need me. You can call me any time, day or night, and I will support any decision you feel is best for Tina. I think you know how much I care and understand. You and your babies are in my thoughts and prayers.

[kjc]

I am so sorry... When I went through this with mine, it seemed like one day I woke up and a calm peace had come over me... I knew then it was time. It was probably from the signs I had gotten from my pup over the previous weeks and days leading up to it, but when I awoke I no longer felt conflicted and I knew in my heart, beyond any doubt, that it was time. I scheduled the appointment for that evening and spent the day with her, hugging, petting and talking to her. She passed quietly in my arms at the vet's office, wrapped in her favorite blankie with her favorite toy.

[Sandysbabies]

I want to thank everyone for your support and prayers. I am sitting here bawling because I know we may have to make that decision and yet I wish at times the little thing would just let go herself. She use to love to go out in the backyard and just take her time and walk and walk around the fence. I thought about not having her cremated like Max and Mandy and bury her where she loved to spend time. I don't know yet. Schnauzers are double coated and she has lost most of the hair on her back and the vet said the weight loss comes with CHF. She is so skinny, her little back bone is sticking through. I bathed her last night and its so hard because she fights me so bad where she use to love a bath and be groomed. You can feel every little rib. Oh, God just help me through this. I'm hurting so bad until I think what is it going to be when she goes. Thank goodness for a sweet and loving vet that understands. She has took care of my baby for years. I gave her a copy of their portait I had done a few years back and she said, Look at that little TIna. She was always really tiny. Like I said, she loves to be sang too, and I always sing Jesus Loves Me to her. And I know He does. Pray for us both because as much as my husband loves Lexi and the yorkies he was kinda joined at the hip with this little one. She always sat in his recliner with him and watched tv.

[MauiGirl]

Sandysbabies, my heart goes out to you. I went thru the same thing with my Schnauzer Niko six months ago, and he was almost 16.

He was the sweetest boy, even after he became deaf and lost much of his vision, and got confused in the yard due to dementia. He slept most of the time, but ate well and love massages. He started having seizures, and would lose control of urine and fall in it, as someone else mentioned. We had to carry him outside to potty, as he fell in the swimming pool several times. Finally one day, I just knew it was time and made the appointment I had canceled several months earlier. It was hard, but when I took him in, he didn't even try to stand up. He laid cradled in his bed, looked at me, then looked away and laid his head on the side as if to say "mom. just get it over with and let me rest". It was sad, but also very peaceful to know he didn't have to struggle any more. They are so brave.

Schnauzers are such wonderful dogs. Niko was the last of the four that I have owned over time. Now I have my Yorkie and 3 Morkies to fill the house with joy.

You are in my thoughts and prayers, and one day Tina will be free of her aging body and be in a better place, and my special Niko will be there for her (as well as all the other wonderful fur kids).

[MauiGirl]

I had saved this poem from Yorkie Talk a while ago, and found it helpful when I lost my Schnauzer. Our little furry friends are so brave, but they do depend on us to give them the final gift of peace. I am so sorry you are approaching that difficult time now. My heart aches for you.

The Last Battle

If it should be that I grow frail and weak
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then will you do what must be done,
For this -- the last battle -- can't be won.
You will be sad I understand,
But don't let grief then stay your hand,
For on this day, more than the rest,
Your love and friendship must stand the test.
We have had so many happy years,
You wouldn't want me to suffer so.
When the time comes, please, let me go.
Take me to where to my needs they'll tend,
Only, stay with me till the end
And hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.
I know in time you will agree
It is a kindness you do to me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering I have been saved.
Don't grieve that it must be you
Who has to decide this thing to do;
We've been so close -- we two -- these years,
Don't let your heart hold any tears.

[Sandysbabies]

Everything that everyone has said means so much. I know you know how hard it is too. Yes, schnauzers are wonderful little dogs. When Tina leaves us we will have just one, Lexi, and our 2 little yorkies.. I have grown to love the yorkie breed so much. They are all concerned about their sister. EVerytime they walk by her playpen they look in to see if she is okay. Espically Lexi. Its kinda like, hey, she looks like me. Although she is attached to Kayla and Dudley she really loves Tina. She is so gentle and just gives in all the time to the yorkies. I will always have a place in my heart for my schnauzers. With health conditions its just too hard to take care of their grooming. Lexi is good, but it helps to have these little ones. They are easy to bathe and groom.

[Yorkiemom1]

OOOOOHHH Sandy.....my heart BREAKS for you and what you are facing now.....most of us have been right where you are, and, as I sit here at work, sobbing, with co-workers walking past wondering who in my family has died, I cry not only for you and Tina, but for all the others...myself included....my precious little Bumper, my precious Aija.....even gone for 3 and 4 years now...I feel they really do let you know when they can go on no longer...both of mine did....we love these angels with all our hearts and souls, just as they love us.....I carry a poem in my billfold....."....and my friend, when I am very old and I can no longer see your precious face, or hear your gentle loving voice, do not make heroic efforts to keep me from my destiny. Please, see that my life is taken gently, holding me close and stroking me lovingly, and I shall leave this Earth knowing with the last breath I take, the last beat of my heart, my fate was ALWAYS safest in your hands." "She is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are her life, her love, her leader. She will be yours, loyal, faithful, and true til the very last beat of her heart.....You owe it to her to be worthy of such complete devotion."

[Sandysbabies]

Thanks so much for the poems and words. Just like I have told others going thru this, time and time alone helps. Just hard when you yourself is going through it. Her weight bothers me so much. I would call and ask the vet if I should try feeding her 3 times a day instead of 2 but right now I couldn't talk to her without crying. I hope we have alittle bit more time with our baby girl but only time will tell. I don't see letting one suffer at all and I don't want to be selfish and do that. She seems to be in no pain but just can't walk too far without falling over and like I said, has to have help in tee teeing and when she potties. I can still see her as a little fiesty, silver baby with her first schnauzer cut and pink collar. We too, had to put a bell on her she was so tiny. Brought her home and by the end of the day she knew where everything in this house was. She thought she was so big. Gosh, I am going to miss that baby. Max, with the diabetes was sudden. Mandy also was a sudden thing even though we knew she had cancer. I guess I just hoped beyond hope. But, this is the first time I have had this mourning type feeling ahead of time. Guess I just know whats coming.

[TxVicki]

Prayers going out for Tina and you as well.

I know how very, very hard this is.