mydaddysjag
Well-Known Member
As some of you know, our black lab, Lady, was twelve years old, and for the past 6 years has been blind, had severe diabetes, and thyroid issues, along with hip dysplasia. My mother has always taken the absoulte best care of Lady, sometimes I think better than she took care of herself. My moms entire life was scheduled around ladys meals, insulin shots, medication, and walks. My mom actually became self employed so that she could better schedule her time around lady. When lady went blind from her diabetes, my parents built a huge ramp off of their house and fenced in a special part of the yard for lady so she didn't have to always go up and down steps. Lady was able to tackle our front steps though, as there were only three small steps. Through the years, my mom always said we would keep taking care of lady as long as she was happy. She had her fair share of ups and down, and always seemed to bounce back from everything, despite her condition.
Lady required so much special care that she wasn't just a dog, she was a child to my mom. Everything down to the way you mixed her food. She got so much at first with meds mixed in, then a 1" piece of hot dog with a gross pill in it, then once she ate all that she got the rest of her food, then her shot. About a month and a half ago lady was sick with a UTI, and quite ill. Mom said at that point since she still seemed happy and had a good quality of life we would bring her home on the IV's, and keep doctoring her. She got better, but since then she has been downhill. two days ago she started completely refusing to eat. Normally you might have to coax her for a while to eat, but this time she flat out refused. The next morning she threw up three times without eating, and started leaking her urine. When she would walk she would stagger like she was drunk, and she was having a hard time getting up. We all knew what needed to be done, there was no question about what if she will bounce back this time. My parents took her to the vet, and discussed everything with him. The wobbles when she walked was an advanced condition from the diabetes, cant think of the name right now though. Even if she got better, that would never go away, and it is painful. It was decided that we would let Lady cross the rainbow bridge, as she has been through a lot of testing, medications, needles, and pain, and she just looked like she was tired. We said if she would get up at the vet and act like she wanted to come home we would give her one last go, but she just layed there, like she wanted to go to sleep. Everyone is a wreck. This is the third dog we've lost in the past year, and it never gets any easier. We never thought about it when we got the dogs, but all of our dogs are around the same age, and with them all being seniors now, it seems like over the years we'll just keep losing them. It's hard to think of, but our oldest dog is 16, and we're not sure if she'll make it to the end of the year. On the bright side, the vet told my mom that he has never seen a diabetic dog make it for 5 years, let alone be happy and have a good life for those years, and that not even he could have given the dog the life that my mom did.
Lady required so much special care that she wasn't just a dog, she was a child to my mom. Everything down to the way you mixed her food. She got so much at first with meds mixed in, then a 1" piece of hot dog with a gross pill in it, then once she ate all that she got the rest of her food, then her shot. About a month and a half ago lady was sick with a UTI, and quite ill. Mom said at that point since she still seemed happy and had a good quality of life we would bring her home on the IV's, and keep doctoring her. She got better, but since then she has been downhill. two days ago she started completely refusing to eat. Normally you might have to coax her for a while to eat, but this time she flat out refused. The next morning she threw up three times without eating, and started leaking her urine. When she would walk she would stagger like she was drunk, and she was having a hard time getting up. We all knew what needed to be done, there was no question about what if she will bounce back this time. My parents took her to the vet, and discussed everything with him. The wobbles when she walked was an advanced condition from the diabetes, cant think of the name right now though. Even if she got better, that would never go away, and it is painful. It was decided that we would let Lady cross the rainbow bridge, as she has been through a lot of testing, medications, needles, and pain, and she just looked like she was tired. We said if she would get up at the vet and act like she wanted to come home we would give her one last go, but she just layed there, like she wanted to go to sleep. Everyone is a wreck. This is the third dog we've lost in the past year, and it never gets any easier. We never thought about it when we got the dogs, but all of our dogs are around the same age, and with them all being seniors now, it seems like over the years we'll just keep losing them. It's hard to think of, but our oldest dog is 16, and we're not sure if she'll make it to the end of the year. On the bright side, the vet told my mom that he has never seen a diabetic dog make it for 5 years, let alone be happy and have a good life for those years, and that not even he could have given the dog the life that my mom did.
