Yesterday's drama

[mom0810]

Well, we had to put our 13 year old dog to sleep yesterday. It was so awful and I cried so hard. I thought I was doing better last night when I went to bed, then the contractions started.

Every three minutes. Getting worse and worse. I called the doctor, he's on vacation. So I got the on call doc who told me to rest and drink and call back in an hour. So I drank. I rested. No change.

I was admitted to the hospital at 11 pm. Monitoring, lots of liquids, and three hours later, I was sent home because things slowed down. The doctor thinks it was the stress of the day, and I agree.

I am now on modified bedrest until further notice. It sucks. I was on bedrest with ds, who is now 20 months old. It's finally not hot and humid out and here I am, confined to the couch. :

Anyone else here had anything like this happen? Think it's over now that the stressful day is over? I sure am hoping so. I can hardly wait to start getting some stuff done around here finally, now that it's not so BLASTED hot out!!!

[sorteep]

Ohh I am so sorry for your family's loss... *try* to rest..

[GinaRae]

I'll bet it was the stress too! I know when my dog died in October, I cried for days. I am still heartbroken.

Try to rest and if there are no symptoms, maybe you can come off the bed rest. It's still HOT out here, but I am convinced (maybe delusional??) that when the heat disappears, I will be much more active. P'shaw! I plan to do some dog walking in the cool mornings from now on.

Good luck, mama!!

[kathteach]

A year ago in July we made the decision to take our 16 year old Australian shepherd to the vet for the same thing. Her quality of life was so bad it just wasn't fair to her. She was suffering. I cried for months. I just want you to know I share your pain and I feel for you right now. And I'm so sorry it happened.


If it helps you to heal I would love to hear more about your sweetie pie, her name, and what you miss about her. If not just know I care. I am sorry about the bedrest.

[Curlita]

I'm so sorry about your pup, and sorry that you had to spend time at the hospital! Take care of yourself, and hopefully your uterus has decided to settle down for another couples months.

[sandiegokristi]

I am so sorry for your loss. I hope they take you off of partial bed rest soon. It is so hard when you are chasing a toddler around.

[Googy]

I'm so sorry about your terrible day!
If its any consolation, I have a few friends who were on bedrest for a short time and then were able to go back on normal activity and were totally fine. Sometimes you just need to take it easy for a while!

[ChiaraRose]

Many hugs to you. I am sorry for your dog and I hope your body will feel better soon, so you can go out and play with your son!!!

[maisiedotes]

I am SO sorry about your dog. I am glad you are doing ok after your contractions- stress can cause alot of issues.

[mom0810]

Yesterday's drama-- update

Hi all,

I've had a couple of days to grieve and I think I am ready to post about my dog. So many of you asked about him, and wanted to know more about him, so I thought I would write a little something.

His name was Bud, or CH. Arlin Urban Cowboy. He was a Bearded Collie, and was never like a dog. He was so noble and so like a person. I got him when I was still in college, and he and I traveled a lot together.

He was the Best Man in my wedding, and also the ring bearer. He was gentle, loving, kind, fair, and ruled the house full of dogs here with a strict, but fair and always loving presence.

He never wore a leash anywhere, because he was glued to my side. He greeted everyone with so much love and excitement when we would go out but he was always the perfect gentleman.

In the last few years, his arthritis made it so hard for him to function, but he always managed to put on a good show and seem so happy for guests when they would come over, then retreating to his bed after they left, sometimes sleeping the rest of the day. His back legs shook when he stood, and he became incontinent. In the last six months, he did not even bark anymore. But he would still always act like he was fine, I think for my benefit.

In hindsight, I probably should have let him go a lot sooner. But selfishly, I could not get myself to say goodbye. Things finally got bad enough in the past few weeks that I realized I had no other choice. My dignified friend would not have wanted me to keep finding him sleeping in a puddle of urine every morning.

Did I do the right thing? I guess I will always question that. I will always feel like I could have/should have done more for this special old man. Getting up every 2 hours to let him out...or helping him walk with a sling... I don't know. I am having to accept that I did as much as I could RIGHT NOW... with a toddler and a baby due in 2 months. I have to accept that was the best I could do.

I am making a collage of pictures of him, and I am happy to PM anyone with his photo that would like to see him. He was gorgeous, but he was also beautiful on the inside, where it matters most.

Goodbye, my old friend. I know somewhere you are chasing sheep and barking and that you have no more pain. I love you.

[mom0810]

Wanted to add that I saw my OB today and am off of bed rest. He did a FFN test just to make sure this is not labor, but he said my cervix is still very tightly closed.

He said that Braxton Hicks contractions can be pretty strong, and they occur more often in each subsequent pregnancy. So I am not as worried now. I will find out about the FFN test later, but I'm reassured. He told me not to freak out if I have more contractions, so that is good.

[GinaRae]

What is it about dogs???? They're amazing sometimes. My Rudy was only 6 and I am still devastated that he's gone! I can only imagine spending so much time with such a wonderful dog and what a hole that leaves. Bud sounds so special, and yes, I think you did the right thing!

Sounds like the premature labor scare is over too. Good luck, mama!

[marisa]

I'm so sorry for your loss. It hurts so bad to lose a beloved pet!

[Hezzy]

I'm glad you're off bedrest and that everthing is fine.

Your dog sounds like he was a wonderful companion, and I feel so much empathy for your loss. We put our 10-year-old cat Fido down in May after he threw some blood clots. It was terribly difficult to do, but also completely obviously the right choice. I think the quality/quantity of life equation is a bit different for animals than for people, and we have to let them go unselfishly when it's time. I promised myself that I wouldn't go doing more research on his condition to challenge whether we did everything we could - we made the best decisions we could based on the information we had at the time, and that makes it right.

Now, what we get, what our beautiful animal friend gives us, is that we get to miss him, and keep loving him.

[kathteach]

Thank you for telling us about Bud. I would like the PM of your picture collage. I'll also try to send you a pic of my dog too.

I wondered too if I did the right thing. Then like you I felt badly we didn't do it sooner. I want to tell you I am more able to remember all the beautiful times now, and not just dwell on the pain at the end. I think it will be like that too for you when more time passes. Your dear friend will always be in your heart.

Glad to hear your FFn test was okay and things are looking up.

[Curlita]

I think pet parenting is a lot like human parenting... you always second guess yourself. Did you wait too long (the question we asked for our first dog, Blossom)? Not long enough (next dog Sherman)? But as time goes by and the initial shock and sorrow fades, it's easier to come to peace with your decision. Bud was lucky to have such a dedicated Mom and loving family. Hugs.

[Mama Bear]

So glad you are doing better. I still miss my dog terribly, who passed on 1997.

[Googy]

I'm so glad that you are feeling better (at least physically) and that you are off bed rest.

For what its worth, I think you did the right thing putting Bud down. Sometimes I think we treat our animals much more compassionately than we treat people. I have been watching my grandfather die slowly for two years now and it is awful. I would never want to end up like he is now--pooping all over myself, not able to talk to anyone or understand anything, lost in my own world of confusion. I'm not trying to get political here or start an ethical debate, but is it were me I would prefer to be "put down" humanely than live like that for two years.