I just wanted to post this here in the proper place. Max was our apparently 12 or 13 year old Sheltie who was put to sleep last Sunday at 3am.
We adopted him about 4 years ago and until recently, believed him to be only 8 or 9 years old. But he had really bad arthritis in this back legs and painful hips. He started forgetting where to go to the bathroom. He started getting clumsy about things, seemed to forget where he was sometimes. He would wonder aimlessly in the house until we called him and he would snap out of it, then shortly after that, he didn't even respond to that and would walk into things. He would point to go outside like he always did but point to the wrong side of the door. He stopped responding to his name and forgot how to do tricks he always knew. He would also continuously walk in circles, always to the left. The vet guessed he may have basically had a stroke, or the equivelent to one that a person would have. That is why this stuff came on so suddenly. His blood work came back close to normal.
They decided he had a cognative disorder. Within a week of figuring this out, and deciding what to put him on or what to do to help him, he started having extremely bad seizures where he would scream and urinate and defecate all at once. The next day he was having them every hour and at 2am we rushed him to the emergency vet. The vet said she believes he had a brain tumor, which I already suspected and told my parents earlier that day. The vet was extremely nice and said we could extend his life 3-6 months, possibly more but he would still be having seizures and he wouldn't know where he was or what he was doing or even who we were. Plus since it all came on so extremely fast and he is already so much older, it just wouldn't do a lot to help him.
We just decided that is no way to live just because we wanted him around. The quality of life wasn't there anymore and he would just be unhappy. As would we seeing him like this when just a month ago he was a happy healthy dog. We decided to have him put down.
The whole time we were at the vet, he never responded to us or even lifted his head. It was so incredibly sad. I have been present for many euthanizations, but never on my own pets. Hardest thing ever. But on top of it all, my mom and dad and I all individually said our goodbyes and when I got in front of his face and spoke to him, he picked his head right up and started licking my face. I know he was just telling me it's okay and it's time, but god that was awful.
So anyways, good bye Maxie, I miss you so much buddy. I can't even talk about you without crying as I am doing right now as I type. But I know you are happy and healthy somewhere else. I love you.
We adopted him about 4 years ago and until recently, believed him to be only 8 or 9 years old. But he had really bad arthritis in this back legs and painful hips. He started forgetting where to go to the bathroom. He started getting clumsy about things, seemed to forget where he was sometimes. He would wonder aimlessly in the house until we called him and he would snap out of it, then shortly after that, he didn't even respond to that and would walk into things. He would point to go outside like he always did but point to the wrong side of the door. He stopped responding to his name and forgot how to do tricks he always knew. He would also continuously walk in circles, always to the left. The vet guessed he may have basically had a stroke, or the equivelent to one that a person would have. That is why this stuff came on so suddenly. His blood work came back close to normal.
They decided he had a cognative disorder. Within a week of figuring this out, and deciding what to put him on or what to do to help him, he started having extremely bad seizures where he would scream and urinate and defecate all at once. The next day he was having them every hour and at 2am we rushed him to the emergency vet. The vet said she believes he had a brain tumor, which I already suspected and told my parents earlier that day. The vet was extremely nice and said we could extend his life 3-6 months, possibly more but he would still be having seizures and he wouldn't know where he was or what he was doing or even who we were. Plus since it all came on so extremely fast and he is already so much older, it just wouldn't do a lot to help him.
We just decided that is no way to live just because we wanted him around. The quality of life wasn't there anymore and he would just be unhappy. As would we seeing him like this when just a month ago he was a happy healthy dog. We decided to have him put down.
The whole time we were at the vet, he never responded to us or even lifted his head. It was so incredibly sad. I have been present for many euthanizations, but never on my own pets. Hardest thing ever. But on top of it all, my mom and dad and I all individually said our goodbyes and when I got in front of his face and spoke to him, he picked his head right up and started licking my face. I know he was just telling me it's okay and it's time, but god that was awful.
So anyways, good bye Maxie, I miss you so much buddy. I can't even talk about you without crying as I am doing right now as I type. But I know you are happy and healthy somewhere else. I love you.
