Posted: 12/18/2010 5:27:12 AM EDT
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Snow killed our departure for my Daughters place to visit the Grandkids for Christmas, then the day we were going to leave my son went in the hospital with an 8MM Kidney stone that they Broke up yesterday. He was back home by yesterday and we were ready to leave this morning. Last night our little Jack Russel Terrier had a stoke and we had to take him to the Emergency Valley Animal Hospital in Winchester to have him put down. That has really set the mood for our trip west. Bo was 15 and one hell of a dog, he had the heart of a pit bull and was affectionate and loved our two grandchildren, which is rare for a Jack usually they do not do well with children.
I think that this is going to be the last dog for us. At our age it is getting too hard to lose them. If you ever have an emergency with an animal I highly recommend the Valley Animal Hospital across from Costco in Winchester. They were very sympathetic and sensitive to our plight. We stayed with Bo while they put him down, they then took him to another room and removed the needles that the had to put in his vein and they returned him to us in a small Card Board coffin not a black plastic trash bag like the Vet who put down our last dog did. This meant a lot to us as Bo was also a service dog of sorts. He could sense when my Blood Sugar was dropping when I was asleep. He would jump up on the bed and bark and pester me until I got awake Or got someones attention. It looks like we may get to head west tomorrow. Our house setter is back home and the trip will be a little sadder until we get to the kids place. Just rambling ANGMSG |
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Sorry to hear of all your troubles this season.
I have kidney stones, an 8MM on is sure a honker! 
Also sorry about your terrier. I had a mixed breed Fox Terrier/something else that lived into her early 20s (as did my cat). I was glad for the time & affection that she shared with me and, like you, have hesitated to get another dog. I hope things look up for you in 2011. I think these issues in our lives are meant to make us appreciate the "boring" times when everything is going OK and we fail to notice. |
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Another +1 for Winchester. Caring and compassionate, and some great folks. They've assisted me with several animals so far, and the fact you can get to them almost 24/7 means a lot.
Sorry to hear of your loss. Nothing else I can say on that. This seems the time for 'shit' to happen, just in time for the holidays. I just helped move the wife out the door and into to 2 waiting trucks and trailers. Going to be a merry christmas here at the millerized casa.  As much as I wanted her gone, it's still kinda bittersweet. Now I just have to get this mess cleaned up....when I'm ready.
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Dang, when it rains it pours. Sorry to hear about your old dog.
We're very familiar with the emergency vet clinic at Winchester. We had our GSD in there a few times when he had cluster seizures and we couldn't stabilize him at home, and they did the emergency surgery on him earlier this year when we took him in for bloat at 0130 on a Sunday. |
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Bubbles, you have three that I would take any one of in a second. All are totally spoiled, Max is a sweetheart though, I heave a feeling if someone tried to harm Charline he would damn near eat them. I like a dog like that, I will see you guys when we get back. It seems like the week I really started to feel good turned out to be the worst of the year.
ANGMSG (Ron) |
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MSG, you have our deepest condolences for the loss of a cherished family member.
Don't let the pain and loss you feel now discourage you from giving and receiving the love and companionship of another good friend down the road. Those of us who've shared the experience of losing a "hell of a dog" (and in some sense, aren't they all?) know that our old friends can't be replaced, but there's not much better to help ease your grief than a good face-licking from a new buddy. |
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Yeah, I know what you mean, nothing like having your face licked by a puppy to bring you out of a funk. My hold up on getting another dog is the fact that I have Diabetes and Multiple Myeloma, from Agent Orange Exposure back in my late teens. The MM is incurable. The VA says I have 4-5 years yet before it becomes full blown, once that happens, I will have about two years. I don't want a dog going around the house looking for me. That would be too much for my wife. After our Aussie Shepherd passed after 13 years we swore that he would be the last, then we ended up with a Jack because the idiots that bred him docked his tail too short, plus he was almost pure white which is rare for a jack. Who knows we may change our minds, but not soon.
ANGMSG (Ron) |
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Quoted:
I think that this is going to be the last dog for us. At our age it is getting too hard to lose them. It is always hard on us to lose them. It's harder for them to die in a lonely kennel. When we adopt dogs, we know we're probably going to outlive them. The way I look at it, I'm taking the pain of an unwanted life off of them and on to me, because I'll survive that. In the grand scheme of things, it's more than a fair trade, when you consider all of the love they give to us unstintingly. |
Some years ago after we lost our 17 year old cat to kidney failure, our Lab mix's health started going downhill. They were buddies and the cat had raised him as a puppy. After watching our old Lab go downhill like that for over a year and then having him put down my heart was pretty well broken. Without them here the house just felt like a dead cave. Really lonely. A year later I couldn't stand not having a pet anymore. I adopted a adult cat from a local no-kill shelter. He is the most loving and gentle little character of a cat I have ever seen. A real charmer. We think he's part Lab.  That was almost two years ago. Feels like he's been our little buddy here forever now.
It does really hurt to lose them. But all those good years you do have together make it worthwhile. We thought we'd sworn off pets after that pain. But, suckers that we are, it wasn't all that long before we adopted another. And he is a very worthy little cat who deserved and appreciates a good home. There are many shelters out there with unwanted pets who need us to open our hearts to them. The love they return to us really makes our life better. |
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When i had to put my black lab down ( had to do it myself we were poor back then) when i was 16 it was hard but had to be done. She new it was time and made it easy for me. She stood on her back legs ( which she couldn't walk for 3 months prior ) licked me one the face and sat down all pretty and i swear to you she raised her head noded and then held her head high for what had to come.. I cried for hours after that. To this day i swear i can still smell her from time to time.. I love dogs more than people and hurt more when one dies..
Keep your chin up old man your dog knew he was loved and loved you even more.. |