A sad day for us

[LostInTyme]

Today, we had to say goodby to our Hogan. He was thirteen and had been deteriorating for several months. He went out on his morning rounds and Vija heard him crying. His back legs had gone out and he couldn't pick himself up. So, Vee called the vet and we took him for his last visit.

We have gone through it many times with our pups. It never gets any easier. Hogan left a sister, Beasley who hasn't realized her loss just yet. Hogan was a thief until the very end. Last night he stole a dinner we had brought home from a local restaurant. It was a meal for Octoberfest consisting of kielbasa, German potato pancakes and pierogis. A good meal for a German Shorthaired Pointer.

 

[GHT]

You are right, it's a pain that most of us go through many times and I'm so sorry for your loss of a great looking friend.
We have had to say farewell to many a cocker spaniel, but perhaps the hardest loss was Jasper. He was a rescue cat who had lived with cruel owners. He was so wary of people, but lots of love and gentle coaxing he eventually adopted us. Your explanation of Hogan's back legs had gone out and he couldn't pick himself up, brought back the memory of Jasper. We found him on the patio with his back legs given out, initially we assumed that he must have been struck by a passing car but the vet explained that Jasper's condition was due to a stroke.

What a lovely photo of Hogan, how I love all the grey tufts, growing old, disgracefully by all accounts, stealing your takeaway indeed. No doubt you will cherish Hogan's memory and his photo will have pride of place. As we have said farewell to each of our dogs over the years my wife has kept their collar name tags, had them silver plated and wears them on a bracelet.

 

[BobHufford]

Today, we had to say goodby to our Hogan

So sorry for your loss.

 

[tonyb]

Dogs are the finest people I know. I’m very sorry for your loss.

 

[AeroFan_07]

Sure sorry of your loss of Hogan. He looked like a wonderful pup, and you can never fully replace the kind of love he gave you for 13 years. I love dogs of all sorts, they really do add something so special to our lives.

 

[seres]

Today, we had to say goodby to our Hogan.

Dogs are the finest people I know. I’m very sorry for your loss.

I couldn't have said it better.... Dogs are the finest people I know, too. Losing your best friend hurts. I am very sorry... RIP, Hogan

 

[Fiver64]

So sorry for your loss. We said goodbye to 5 of our 4-pawed kids in the last year. Never does get easier, our family always heals quicker when we give another soul a forever home. Perhaps you have a shelter in your area….

 

[Frunobulax]

Sorry for your loss. I had a great cat, named Guinness, who threw a blood clot causing him to act as if he had a stroke. We nursed him back from that, and he was put on blood thinning medication. He had a condition that resulted in the walls of his heart thickening. We treated him for about a year, then he threw another clot, and this one was fatal.

Damn, he was a great cat, too.

Sorry about Hogan, he looked like a prince.

 

[tonyb]

Well, LostInTyme, sad days are on our horizon, too. We recently assumed responsibility for a 12(?)-year-old cat. Our little spaniel mix Otis is 11 or so, and our terrier mix Sandy is at least 12, but he’s maybe two or three years older than that and has numerous health problems.

Sandy went to the vet today for his quarterly bloodwork. His numbers are marginally better than they were three months ago, but only marginally. At least they aren’t worse.

Rare is the vet visit that doesn’t include an intimation to what they euphemistically call “humane euthanasia.” I believe they include that in the discussion so as to ease whatever guilt the pets’ human keepers might be harboring about sending ’em over the bridge. But they were saying that about Sandy since summer before last, and he’s still plugging along. So long as he’s comfortable and taking sustenance, he’ll stay on this side of the span. And the vet will keep getting money out of me.

 

[LostInTyme]

Hi tonyb. We have been down thee very same road more times than I wish to count. It never gets easier. We have found once the vet offers a diagnosis of the particular pet, we choose to provide care and comfort and love rather than expensive tests, treatments and further discomfort for our friend. We have found CBD oil offers them pain relief without the harmful outcomes of some of thee prescribed pain meds. Hogan actually had a form of ALS and the nerves ruptured or broke and he lost the use of his hind legs. There was no cure, no fix, no possibility of healing. Hey was in such misery we wanted it to end for his sake. The poor guy was crying, howling and struggling to stand but couldn't. This was a dog who spent his whole life chasing birds and chipmunks and squirrels and snakes. Hey sleeps now, and has no more pain.

 

[Edward]

Today, we had to say goodby to our Hogan. He was thirteen and had been deteriorating for several months. He went out on his morning rounds and Vija heard him crying. His back legs had gone out and he couldn't pick himself up. So, Vee called the vet and we took him for his last visit.

We have gone through it many times with our pups. It never gets any easier. Hogan left a sister, Beasley who hasn't realized her loss just yet. Hogan was a thief until the very end. Last night he stole a dinner we had brought home from a local restaurant. It was a meal for Octoberfest consisting of kielbasa, German potato pancakes and pierogis. A good meal for a German Shorthaired Pointer.


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Sorry to hear this. I hope the old boy is enjoying the garden at the Rainbow Bridge where you'll see him one day. The single, hardest thing about pets is how their species have shorter lifespans than our own. It does mean there's room in our lives for others to have a loving home, but it never makes it easier. Our first family cat will be gone thirty years next Easter, and I still miss the old boy terribly. For many years after that, he would visit me in dreams, always when life was difficult, and things always somehow seemed better in the morning. He last dropped by that way in 2008, not long after Marlene Cat died. She was with him - and now she's the one visits in dreams when life is tough. A passing of the torch. Her sister Greta, from the same litter, is now thirteen. She's in fine form and likely to be around for many year yet (last year when she was in for her shots she shocked a new vet in the practice when he brought up her records and discovered her age - she is, of course, a very pampered, indoor kitteh), though I think when she does knowing her sister will be there to greet her on the other side will make it just a sliver easier. Our rescue cockerpoo, Mimi, is also (despite her conditions, epilepsy and a heart murmur) doing really well and is just the most adorable dog. She's eleven, our only wish is that we could have had her younger so we'd have longer with her and she'd had an easier life (she lived on the street in Romania, abandoned, for they believe around three years - basically two decades in doggy time). Quality of life over quantity, though, is the most important thing. She's certainly showing no signs of slowing down yet.

You are right, it's a pain that most of us go through many times and I'm so sorry for your loss of a great looking friend.
We have had to say farewell to many a cocker spaniel, but perhaps the hardest loss was Jasper. He was a rescue cat who had lived with cruel owners. He was so wary of people, but lots of love and gentle coaxing he eventually adopted us. Your explanation of Hogan's back legs had gone out and he couldn't pick himself up, brought back the memory of Jasper. We found him on the patio with his back legs given out, initially we assumed that he must have been struck by a passing car but the vet explained that Jasper's condition was due to a stroke.

What a lovely photo of Hogan, how I love all the grey tufts, growing old, disgracefully by all accounts, stealing your takeaway indeed. No doubt you will cherish Hogan's memory and his photo will have pride of place. As we have said farewell to each of our dogs over the years my wife has kept their collar name tags, had them silver plated and wears them on a bracelet.

I'm planning when the time comes for Greta to join her sister having some of both their ashes crushed into a stone to be mounted in cufflinks. Not something I want to think about just yet. My sister in law who is a gifted painter did us a portrait of Marlene, which we plan to have framed along with her last collar and tag.

 

[tonyb]

Hi tonyb. We have been down thee very same road more times than I wish to count. It never gets easier. We have found once the vet offers a diagnosis of the particular pet, we choose to provide care and comfort and love rather than expensive tests, treatments and further discomfort for our friend. We have found CBD oil offers them pain relief without the harmful outcomes of some of thee prescribed pain meds. Hogan actually had a form of ALS and the nerves ruptured or broke and he lost the use of his hind legs. There was no cure, no fix, no possibility of healing. Hey was in such misery we wanted it to end for his sake. The poor guy was crying, howling and struggling to stand but couldn't. This was a dog who spent his whole life chasing birds and chipmunks and squirrels and snakes. Hey sleeps now, and has no more pain.

It’s possible and perhaps likely that our little Sandy has a brain condition which is curable only by surgery. The tests to verify that he indeed is so afflicted would run about a grand. If he were younger we’d consider it, but we’re not about to subject an old dog to brain surgery, which he might not survive anyway.

His life is still a good one. He has little if any pain, eats enthusiastically, goes outside to do his business, romps around some and loves getting affection from his humans. He hasn’t had a seizure since he got on Keppra (both our mutts are on that medication), and his back legs have been functioning acceptably well since he’s been on Galliprant. (In the summer of 2020 he had difficulty standing, let alone walking.)

I’m sure that if he got a vote, it would be to stick around.

 

[LostInTyme]

Tonyb, it sounds like you have things in good order. I hope the best for you and your beloved pets.