[AlfiesMum]

I can't believe I am here to let you know that my sweet wee dude Alfie passed away on 16th July 2018. The reason I joined this forum in the first place even though I am not a regular poster.

It has taken me this long to come on here to say so and it still hurts and it will for a very long time. Alfie was my baby. I have no children so he was more than 'just a dog'. The house is quieter now even though we still have Lola.

It happened suddenly. He developed a cough for about a few weeks so I booked him in to see the vet. The morning of his appointment he woke me in the middle of the night to go to the toilet. This was rare of him to do so when I know Alfie does this he really needs to go. So I let him out and he had the runs. In my head I thought, gosh he is acting the way Penny did the day she died. When he came inside he just sat down and didn't move. I finally got him back to bed but I stayed awake with worry but at some point I must have dosed off but was woken by my husband saying he let Alfie out again and he was acting the way Penny did the day she died. With that I shot out of bed as I though the same.

I got him to the vet and was told he had a grade 4 heart murmur and they kept him in to x-ray his heart. Later that day I got a phone call to say it was worst than what they thought. He had fluid on his lungs and he wasn't strong enough to get the x-ray done. They gave him a diuretic and told me to take him home to a more settling environment. They were trying to do this so that he settles to get the x-ray. I had him home for 30 mins when he vomited blood (a lot) and collapsed. He was gone about 15-20 mins after that.

I just couldn't believe what had happened. What did I miss? Could I have prevented this? Should I have got him to the vet earlier would he still be alive? I just can't believe he was ok one minute and gone the next. He was 11 years old and to me still too young.