I was hoping he would outlive me, but fate has decided otherwise.  I will miss him, as will my companion and my son.  My dog it fourteen years old, blind in both eyes, but he was doing okay until his spine began to degenerate.  I guess from arthritis.
He is in constant pain and has slowly eaten less every day this week.  Yesterday he didn't eat at all, and he didn't drink enough.

He has pain pills but, when he is asleep, apparently he moves around in some way that causes the nerve to spasm, and he wakes up screaming.  We can't stop the pain.

I've been having medical problems of my own, which is why I haven't been posting.  My right arm is painful enough to wake me up at night, and the "normal aches and pains" have become more everpresent.  I'm sorry for not participating more.  I don't even come on to read as much as I did because I'm afraid I might be driven to respond.

And you know the kind of loooooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnnnnnngggggggggg posts (raves) I find myself composing.
My arm can't handle that for a while, maybe never again.

Meanwhile, when I do come on, I always find some interesting subjects and posts.  Thank all of you who are posting so frequently.

jd

I am so, so sorry, jd.  Our pets become our family members and it is so hard for us.  You know that you gave him a good life, and he won't be in pain any more.  That won't help much now, but in time it will.

Hang in there. 

Sorry JD. My heart aches for you and your family.

Am so, so sorry to hear this.  Thoughts are with you JD.

Oh Jeanne!  I'm so sorry.  Just rest assured you are making the right decision and are doing him a kindness.

You're a good heart, Jeanne. You're little dog's been fortunate to have you.

Thanks for your understanding and support.  I am really going to miss him. 

I would post a photo, but it appears that all of those I have were botched.  Nothing could have shown his personality.  He was a character, a little twelve pound hobo that I got from the pound.  I never understood how he had survived on his own for so long.  There was much evidence of trauma on his body at the time.

He wasn't too happy about having a home back then.  Neither was I.  I had acquired a wanderlust during my homeless period and loved living in my van and moving on whenever I felt like it.  I guess we were kindred spirits.  I guess we came to accept each other as partners in this life.

Thank you.

jd

Goomie (l) and Buddy (r), 2006  Buddy, my son's dog, was still a puppy.  He grew to be twice the size of Goomie.  Goomie was full grown and approximately 9 years old.  I am so glad my son found these pictures.


Goomie, 2011.  Wearing one of my not too well done grooming attempts.

Too early for me to think of memorials.  The tree is not the kind of thing I can do.  We rent this house, and it's complicated.

OMG... with a face like that he would have walked all over me!! And that's not a bad grooming attempt at all, either. Curly coats are tricky!

Thanks, Chaos.  I hope the same for you.

My daughter stopped in for an overnight visit on her way home to NC from LA.  I hadn't seen her in two or three years so that distracted.  Family gossip and health issues were at the head of the discussion list.

jd


 

What precious pictures Jeanne.  

Seems like when it rains it pours here for us.  Last month my precious cat Hailey passed away and our son buried him in our pet cemetary and at 8:00 pm last night he was digging a grave for my husbands 13 year old Great Pyrenees who died suddenly.  We think he had a heart attack/stroke because he was out running around and suddenly lost ability to move his back legs and barely made it to the porch then died.  My husband hasn't been having a great time the past couple months with his own health issues and this loss has really hit him hard.  I don't think he slept much at all last night and was even walking around the grave all hours of the night last night.  Today he's been very quiet and has been sitting on the front porch most of the day.  I've been taking him to his doctor so many times these past weeks for more tests and more medication and I see nothing good coming from any of it yet.  So depressing for me so I can only imagine what he is really feeling.   Sorry, didn't really mean to pour my heart out here.

Jeannie, I too hope everyday gets easier. 

My beloved Chewy died 5 years ago, and I can still break into tears about her.  Baby steps.

I am sorry about your husband's pet Dee.  I hope hubby feels better soon. Hopefully the docs find the right combo of meds for him.

Dee,

I can imagine these are difficult circumstances for all of us.

I have been in a very small room with a very large Great Pyrenees and that breed takes up a lot of space in a family's life.  I cannot imagine that somehow the bare spaces with the loss of such a pet would be not easily overlooked.  I hope your husband will share the loss of this pet with his treating physician.  It has to be having an affect on his well being, or, at least, Dr. jd (the quack) imagines so.  I know the empty space of my little one is rattling my brains and attention to household tasks.

I am curious as to how old the Great Pyrenees was and how long your family had him.  They are huge dogs and the veterinarians are always saying "the little ones live the longest.  The big ones have shorter life spans. "  The vets said my little one's vital organs and all else was in great shape, it was just the pain from the degenerating spine that couldn't be fixed.

Tonight, I ordered from ebay a little stuffed white fuzzy dog, and I am going to put him to sleep on the left side of my bed, where Goomie used to sleep.  I keep waking up and trying to feel the presence of Goomie and he isn't there.

I feel a bit daft for doing this.  It reminds me of a skit on SNL where "the Godfather" kept petting a stuffed white cat.  But, on the other hand, being a bit daft is seeming more and more a positive goal than attempting to understand what's going on in the world.  If it is outright insanity, I don't give a damn.  I wanna look down there and see something white and fuzzy in that space on the foot of my bed, dammit.  Nobody but me sleeps in that bed  now,  so it shouldn't  create a problem for my companion or  my son.

For all of us who have lost pets recently (or ever) we can be grateful that we have had the privilege to be loved and to love in a way that only a pet can provide.  I had only one elderly relative whose dog outlived her.  And the dog grieved itself to death in a short period of time.  I guess that's why we, who can rationalize, or comprehend that they did not abandon us, can eventually make peace with the loss of the pets, who usually die first.  Although I was hoping I would die first and not have to endure the loss of Goomie, I remember his pain and how much greater, and probably longer, his pain would  have been had I gained my selfish wish.  He was only a dog.  He couldn't have understood that I didn't abandon him.

Wouldn't it be an improvement if we humans could all leave this world as a result of romping  and playing. in the company of those we love.

I know I am saying this badly, but I hope you all will understand I'm just having difficulty with this and I am trying to make it fit into some acceptable form of normalcy.    I'm sorry, Dee.  Philosophical blithering isn't very helpful.   I do hope your husband's health will improve.  I am sure this loss has added to your family's stress.  Good thoughts for all of you and tomorrow, is tomorrow, is tomorrow.

jd

JD- I work in the hospital on weekends and I have encountered a number of patients who have stuffed animals of their pets in their hospital beds.  Don't feel daft, if it comforts you it comforts you. 

Wow, Dee. I'm so sorry about your doggie! Hope things improve with hubby very soon.

There is nothing different between sleeping with a stuffed animal or sleeping with a body pillow, which a lot of people do. Everyone needs comfort of some kind. I think it's great!

I don't find anything wrong with finding comfort and enjoyment with stuffed animals either Jeanne.  I actually still have a stuffed dog I had as a young child sitting on one of our beds.  I've moved that dog, which I call Precious, from state to state.  

We got Thor ( the Great Pyrenees ) when he was approximately 2 months old according to the vet. He just showed up at our home one day and had a very hurt paw so hubby loaded him in the truck and took him to the vet where the vet fixed his paw and gave him some shots.  We advertised for two months in the local paper that we had found him and if anyone had lost him to please contact us.  We also posted a picture of him and posted around various stores locally.  After another two months hubby took him back to the vet for a further checkup and made sure he was up to date on his shots and that was 13 years ago.  At that time since we already had two chows named Thunder and Lightning, and they really got along with the Pyrenees, we decided to name him Thor as the name Thor is a god associated with thunder and lightning.

Thanks to all for your kind words. Hubby is doing somewhat better today as he actually wanted to go into town for a few items so we did that and now he's down for what he calls his "power nap".  

It's a beautiful day today so I am going to be outside some pulling weeds out of the flower beds before the rains start tomorrow night as predicted.