We had to let Alfie go today.
He had just turned 14 yrs old. He lived with a slight heart murmur all of his life...whether that had anything to do with his passing or whether it was just old age, I'm not sure. Within just this last week is when this hit him. I may have noticed that he wasn't eating quite as much, then looked at him just a day or two ago and noticed how skinny he was looking. And his breathing looked so deep and labored. We took him to the vet this morning, fearing/knowing the worse scenario and our fears were confirmed. He had lost 5 lbs (since his weight was taken last June).As we waited for the results of the xrays they took, I held this 29 lb dog in my lap and in actually feeling his stressed breathing next to me, I just cried.
The xrays showed that his heart was enlarged and fluid was building up, not in his lungs, but in his chest, crowding the lungs, which was what was making it difficult for him to breathe. The vet used a term (starting with a P) which I didn't quite catch while I was there, but upon returning home I looked up those symptoms in a book I have and Pleural Effusion describes it almost to a tee. The vet said that she also suspected that there was probably a mass there somewhere too and that the prognosis was not good. We could have given him meds or such to try and get rid of some of the fluids, but even with that he would at best last just a few days to a week longer. We knew it was time to let him go, but even knowing that, actually giving the go ahead was the hardest thing to do. We stayed with him til the end, I held him, told him we loved him and what a good dog he was We've had him since he was 8 weeks old and he was one of the nicest dogs I've owned. He is being sorely missed today and will be remembered with love always. Rest in Peace, Alfie - we love and miss you!