Quote:
Originally Posted by alaskayorkie  This is a little on the dark side, but in my mind it illustrates what they can understand.
I recently lost 14-year-old Eddie after 3 rounds of chemo. When we started it, I knew, at best, it was a long shot and that it was probably going to make him sicker before it was going to make him better. I looked him in the eye and told him I needed him to fight. He made it through the first round and actually started doing better.
For the second round, they upped the medicine and I told him I still needed him to fight. He made it through the second dosage, but was weak afterward for almost a full week. With the third, more powerful, dosage coming up, I told him I left it up to him. If he was tired of fighting, I'd understand. I told him I didn't want to make him feel bad, and if he decided it was time to stop fighting, he could go and we'd meet another day.
He died in his sleep the day after his third dosage. I have no doubt he was fighting for me and left when I gave him permission. |
I’m sorry for your loss. A similar scenario happened to me with Sophie last year. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor in July and I told her to stay strong and that I wasn’t ready to lose her. I’m August I went in to talk to our vet about her future and what her quality of life would become. This was a Wednesday night. I had a sense of peace that night and Thursday and then it hit me like a ton of bricks that Friday night. I told her that I was sorry for asking her to suffer and that even though I wasn’t ready to lose her I promised I wouldn’t keep her alive for my benefit and that all she needed to do was give me a sign that she was done fighting and I would take her in and I understood if she didn’t want to continue. A few hours later she lost her balance while running and cried out. She couldn’t walk anymore and just laid beside me staring at me and kissing my hands. I knew she was ready and we took her in the next morning and had her put to sleep. She stayed calm that whole night and in the car and didn’t fight the vet or bark...she just kept kissing my face and stayed curled up in her blanket on my lap.
Our current dog on the other hand...does what he wants and doesn’t care what we say to him lol