I feel like things have gone topsy turvy in my life these last couple of weeks! Work has been so busy, I get a moment to log onto LBT and immediately something comes along to take me away! And even worse, my dog went to the vet to have his teeth cleaned and his annual check up on Friday morning. The vet called me and said that his bloodwork showed he was in kidney failure. I was an instant basket case! I had to leave work at noon. DH and I went to visit the little guy that afternoon. He was in a cage hooked up to an IV and he is still there today. We visit as much as we can (at least twice a day). However, we get to take him home this evening. The vet will teach us how to hydrate him subcutaneously to help his kidneys do their job. And the way I understand it, all the hydration he has gone through has diluted his red blood cells and caused him to be anemic. So now he is getting Procrit injections 3 times a week. Those injections are $30 each!!! He looks and acts like he feels really good, but this is very serious business! At 18, I know he won't last much longer, but as long as he acts like he is a happy boy and has a good quality of life, I cannot put him down. He's my baby!

Meanwhile, I should find out today or tomorrow if my surgery date will be October 28. Seems my surgeoun likes doing the surgery on Mondays, but because of work I want it done on a Thursday. We will see.

Geez, it feels good to reach out to you guys!!!! I have a lot to catch up on!

Blossom, best of luck to you on your upcoming Banding!

I'm so sorry to hear about your puppy! 18 years! Wow, you must be doing something right! I know he's lived a happy, healthy, and very much loved life. You have a lot of stress hitting you right now. Please give that puppy a big hug for me. Take care!

I'm sorry to hear about your poor doggie. My big dog lasted 14 years and that was not long enough. I hope yours does well at home with your loving care.

Good luck with your surgery date. You must be getting excited -- in your spare time!

Best wishes for a speedy recovery for both of you.

I have a black Lab mix and the life expectancy for them is 12. When she was 14 she had a cancerous tumor in the belly. Dr said she may not survive the surgery and if she did she was looking at several months of chemo. Surgery was $700.00 and chemo could cost up to $1,200.00. We we decide as a family that we didn't want her to suffer so I told them I'd bring her back in a week to be put down. Week came and I was in the parking lot of the vets with her licking my face as I was crying and saying good bye. Well after about an hour and no tears left I went in and made a surgery appointment for her. Doc got all the cancer and she didn't have to go thru the chemo. That was 4yrs ago and she is still running around here. Slowed down but has no pain and she still meets me at the door every morning at 7am when I get home from work.

Things do work out.

Well once again good luck and keep us posted

Greg

Greg, that's such a nice story. My animals cost me a fortune, too, but they're worth every nickle.

I have a sad story with a happy ending to send more hope out there. My dad lives in Key Largo, and he takes he 3 dogs on the boat every day. Last weekend, he got home and one of the dogs was gone - he jumped off the boat in the middle of the ocean, and my dad didn't know till he got home. They did everything to try to find the dog, but came home empty handed. But the next night they got a call from the Animal Foundation. Someone actually found a dog swimming in the middle of the ocean and saved him! He's home safe and healthy! There's always hope

Wow! Thanks to all of you for the good wishes! Greg and Lisa, I am sitting here fighting back tears!!!! What wonderful, happy endings!

Lisa that was a good little story. It' amazing how animals can touch our heart like they do.

My DH was heartbroken yesterday...He lost his DD (dear dog) yesterday.

Toms had that dog more than 10 years that I know of. Poor dog hung onto life till he could'nt any more. I've begged pleaded and demanded that Tom take Buddy down to the vet and have him put to sleep for three years now.

People would come over and pity the poor pup. Buddy had problems. Lots of problems.

Buddy had the kind of mange thats in the blood stream (red mange) there is no cure for it, just treatment (expensive meds), he contracted it when he was a pup nursing off his mother. so, he was on medication for life.

On top of that he got an ear infection about 5 years ago, his ear bloated up like a balloon and deflated like a balloon & by the time we got him to the vet his ear was permanently mangled. I felt terrible about that happening, I begged Tom then to go ahead and put him down instead we got him some antibiotics and it healed up. Tom was obviosly having a hard time letting go.

That was not all of Buddys problems. Buddy was allergic to fleas! When fleas would go to the eyes to drink his eyes would produce some sort of junk that would mat up and have to be wiped away with a warm wash cloth everyday or he would walk around blind!

Poor Buddy would walk around w/o most of his fur and half blind most of the time because Tom was'nt consistant with his meds or wiping the gunk from his eyes.

Your probly wondering why I did'nt take on the resonsibility of caring for Buddy. Well thats just it I did'nt care for Buddy. That was Toms dog not mine. I knew Buddy led a miserable life I could see that just looking at him. When Tom looked at him it was through love. They say love is blind. I believe them now.

Never seen anything like it before. Never want to see it again.

Tom told me it should make me feel good that he would'nt just put his dog down. That it shows how when I get old he won't abandon me and put me down. I remided him that he was 13 years older than me......

I know this sometimes can be a sensitive subject and this story was gross but I shared it because we sometimes have a hard time letting go of our dear pet that has been a loyal companion for many years. If thay are suffering or quality of life is poor we should let them go.

18! Amazing. My Mr. Whipple is 16. And I think he knows it.

They come into our lives, and their lives are on a faster track than ours.

They look up to us, we are, after all, the leaders of their packs.

They love us......no matter what. They love us when we believe we are unloveable.

I've learned so much from my old Whip. If I were more like him I'd have a happier, more successful life. If we would go wild with joy when we saw a loved one, how could they help but love us? When we can eat the exact same supper every night for a lifetime without complaint, acting like we relish it, food will not have power over us.

When a fly isn't a nuisance, but a jolly game.

When the height of luxury is a vigorous belly rub, followed by a good nap.

When we can love someone because we live with them, and not live with them because we love them..............

Then, maybe then, we'll be as classy as our dogs. Until then, we'll just be human. In some ways a step below.

Enjoy your old pet. Soak up all the love you can, Blossom. And, perhaps, like me, you'll notice something new about your dog......

Mr. Whipple acts like he knows he's on borrowed time, and you can see him soaking up every second of our love, it's eerie in a warm and fuzzy way.

Give your baby back what he has given you, love. And when that dreaded day at last arrives, creeping in to darken your life for a time, you'll feel sadness, but you'll never be sorry.

I know that I will feel honored to have been in Mr. Whipple's company for a time.

Such loving stories. We had a black lab we absolutely loved. When we moved he was 19 years old. He had arthritis really bad, but still moved on his own, but we had to give him asprins every day in a hot dog. We tried every thing we could to get him in the truck to bring with us. We even used a ramp for him to walk up, but we couldn't get him to get in the truck. When my hubby tried to lift him in, he was hurting so bad, and knew we would have to put him through that every time he had to be put out to go potty, so we had no choice but to leave him behind. A nephew said he would take him if we would provide the dog house and pay for his food. We agreed happily. We left money, and sent more when we got down here. Well, two weeks later the nephew decided he didn't want to bother anymore, so he had him put to sleep. We were so heartbroken. If I had only knew he would do that, I would have taken the chance that we could have gotten him here. He was a really special dog, and will be remembered for a lifetime.

Aren't dogs wonderful people?

I brought my boy home last night and he was so weak and wobbly. But this morning I coaxed him into eating and that perked him up alot! By the time I went home at lunch to check on him, he actually barked for a treat and gave me one of his special hugs. Tonight I have to do the first subcutaneous hydration. I've never stuck a needle in anything and I don't look forward to this, but I will do it.

I also know how hard it is to lose a beloved pet. It was just last October 25th that we had to put our 16 year old Shi Tzu/Poodle to sleep. I cried for months! Now I am at a point that I can actually think of the happy times and smile a little before I tear up. Ryan, her name was Tilly, but somehow she acquired the nickname Whippie which evolved into Whip for short!

Blossom, you enjoy that baby as long as you can! You know he is so glad to be at home w/ his family. You can do this hydration. Just take a deep breath and know that it's absolutely necessary. Are you having to watch his fluid intake now? Sending (((hugs))) and prayers to you.

Blossom, my heart goes out to you. Animals are like children, and we love them so much. You will be able to handle anything, I am sure everything will work out for you. Just enjoy while you can.

There's no way on earth I could ever stick a needle in someone... that is, until the day might come where one of my fur babies requires it, then I'll do whatever has to be done. My precious fur babies.

Blossom, are you doing a type of dialysis for your puppy? Those toxins and wastes have to be gotten out of his system. How often each day are you doing this? It's amazing what we can do when we love someone or something!

Originally posted by blossom

Aren't dogs wonderful people?

Ryan, her name was Tilly, but somehow she acquired the nickname Whippie which evolved into Whip for short!

OMG! If I misspell anything it's because my eyes are filled with tears. Please, I'm a big tough biker, I can't be crying!

As if the Whippie, Whip thing were'nt coincidence enough, I now have a short story to tell you.

Four years ago we had a wonderful little dog, a Sheltie. She was such a happy soul. She loved children and would not leave my wife's side. She went to the Nursing Home with Patty to help give pet therapy to the residents. Seeing their faces light up when our little Sheltie came up to them was a real treat.

and now for THE REST OF THE STORY:

This wonderful little sheltie, looking for all the world like a miniature Lassie was named..........................Tilly.

Tilly and Whip.

Eerie????? Yep.

Patty opened the front door one February day to get the paper, and Tilly ran out and across the street to greet our neighbor's dog. She was run over right before Patty's eyes. Tilly ran back to Patty and lay down and passed, just that fast. She had never ran out the door like that before.

Gonna go wipe the tears from my eyes, hug my wife, and our pets.

OMG, Ryan!!!! This is just too freaky! You don't happen to have a Scrappy do you???? How awful for Patty to have witnessed the tragedy. I don't know that I could ever get over something like that! I'm so sorry it happened. :cool:

Marie, I guess it is some sort of dialysis. The purpose is to flush the toxins from his kidneys. He was getting the fluids in an IV for 5 days and now his numbers are down enough for us to do the subcutaneous fluids on a daily basis. We will do that for a while and see how the numbers do. We may have to do it forever, or we may not. We'll just have to see.

Lisa, when it came down to it....I just couldn't stick that needle in my baby! I had his skin pulled up in one hand and the needle in the other and I just couldn't do it. So my hubby said a quick prayer for strength and stuck it in like a pro!!! Last night Scrappy was sitting in my lap when we did it, and after a few minutes he started squirming around alot so we only got about 1/4 of fluids in. We did it again this morning while I held him and we just stood and looked out the back door, he was very calm and we got all of the Fluid in. Only problem was, by the time it was over my arms were absolutely numb! And I had to drive to work immediately afterward. Guess I'm gonna be building some arm muscles!!