# Another "old doggie nearing the end" thread (long) (and sad): update, dog has died (07-14-22) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 22, 2022, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907 "2022-02-22T04:14:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/81 "2022-07-15T14:20:06Z")
**EPILOG**. (Channeling Quinn Martin. If you understand that reference, you’re old like me.) So strange to wake up this morning with Sweetie gone. My first few tasks were always to let her out, change her water, put out some quickie food (usually a can of sardines or mackerel), get her pills ready, and then go for my walk. Back from the walk (drenched in sweat, as it’s been 78-80 at 6 am here), fix her main breakfast (which she would take all day to eat), give her the pills (each one wrapped in a tiny piece of butter), and then generally keep an eye/ear on her during the rest of my waking hours. And sleeping hours, too, come to that. This morning I got up, fed my sourdough starter, then walked. No other caretaking tasks. Very strange. I did get eight hours of sleep last night-- that’s only happened a handful of times in the last few years. My fitbit gave me a very high sleep score of 88-- also never happens. An hour and a half each of deep sleep and REM sleep. One of my girlfriends is convinced I’m sleep-deprived. Very likely true. I’m glad I didn’t wait a day longer. She was so ready to leave this life and, truth be told, I started to second-guess myself on the way to the animal hospital yesterday morning. But the vet tech who has seen her hundreds of times assured me it was the right thing. The vet reinforced that, which helped. I went through the Quality of Life questionnaire (cited in the OP) yesterday morning and came up with 28, where it had been in the 40s for the past few months. I think if you wait until you’re absolutely sure it’s time, you’ve waited too long. At least for me that’s been true in the past. Missing her, but feeling good and very sure about the decision. Thanks for all the support as I’ve walked this sad path with my Sweetie, the sweetest dog in the whole world. Y’all are the sweetest Dopers in the whole world. 🙂 * * * * * * P.S. Another thing about the death of pets-- Sweetie joined the household when I was dating the man who died this past February, so she was a link with him. In fact, he named her. I remember when the last pet died who had been in the household when my late husband was still alive. That was hard. Both of the two cats I have now knew my dear friend B. who died in June 2018. B (who was a passionate cat lover and was devoted to his two cats) had found one of them as a week-old kitten under a bush near his apartment. No mom, no siblings. I asked him if he had named her, and he said, _“Yes, I’m calling her TLC.”_ I said, _“What does that stand for?”_ He said, _“ThelmaLou’s cat.”_ That’s how she became mine. 😇 She was very sick for her first few months. Almost died of mange. I used to sing “Me and My Shadow” to her while I bottle-fed her. First cat I ever raised from a tiny kitten. She’s a very healthy 10-year old now and a powerful link to my friend B. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/82 "2022-07-15T14:48:43Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > This morning I got up, fed my sourdough starter, then walked. No other caretaking tasks. Very strange. The day after Ella died, I got out of bed and began doing all the things I’d been doing for months as part of her “hospice” care. Then it it me that I no longer had to do all those things. I should have been happy about that (it was a lot of work) but instead I realized I was crying. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/83 "2022-07-15T15:14:28Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I remember when the last pet died who had been in the household when my late husband was still alive. That was hard. I remember thinking “the last cats my mother ever patted.” They’re gone now, too. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/84 "2022-07-15T15:29:34Z")
@kayaker @thorny_locust Now both of y’all have made me cry. In a good way. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/85 "2022-07-15T21:03:25Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Then it it me that I no longer had to do all those things. I should have been happy about that (it was a lot of work) but instead I realized I was crying. Well, _yeah_. We’re not looking forward to the lack of well-care stuff come Sunday, either. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2022, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/86 "2022-07-15T21:24:33Z")
I’m so sorry. It’s so hard, but it’s supposed to be hard. If it was easy, that wouldn’t be love. StG ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/87 "2022-07-17T01:40:27Z")
Sweetie is playing with Nina the rescue puppy as I write this. Hugs and doggie kisses to you, ThelmaLou. Here’s the thread. > [@Welcome to the world! Please, please stay a while (newborn puppies!)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/welcome-to-the-world-please-please-stay-a-while-newborn-puppies/967918): > > Mama beagle is a first-time mom, she’s nervous, and she had to have an emergency c-section. She was brought to the shelter a few weeks ago from a rural animal control, where she had been on the euthanasia list. Dad is a mysterious stranger. When she woke up from her c-section, mom showed zero interest in her pups. She didn’t want to clean, feed, or be anywhere near them. We decided to give her a chance in case she was just loopy from anesthesia, but it wasn’t to be. The kennel manager came to m… ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/88 "2022-07-17T02:30:01Z")
Awww… 😻 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/89 "2022-07-17T04:05:37Z")
And Neppie (Neptune) is gone. I was handling the administrata to let **DesertRoomie** say her goodbyes but I lost it when the vet injected the Ace – I had to turn away. After he was gone we brought out the other two resident dogs to view the body. Ari, the Saluki refused to do anything with it; I guess De Nile isn’t just for people. Anya, the Anatolian Shepherd was concerned. He was one of her charges and I think she felt some confusion that she wasn’t able to protect him from what ever it was that happened. KC, the cat couldn’t care less. Right now I have three shots in me and Vince Guraldi streaming so I have a pretty good buzz on. Three more shots should let me sleep tonight without too much of a hangover in the morning. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/90 "2022-07-17T13:24:36Z")
I am so sorry. 🙁 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/91 "2022-07-17T13:29:20Z")
It was the right thing to do. It still sux big donkey balls. They can breed all kinds of dog shapes. Why can’t they breed a 50-year dog? ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/92 "2022-07-17T13:43:07Z")
I know. {{HUGS}} The house feels _vacant_ somehow with Sweetie gone. Even when she was asleep in the other room (which during the last few months was probably 22 hours a day), I felt her presence here. I have never been able to bring myself to be there when the vet actually does it. I held my husband’s hand when he died (22 years ago in a couple of days), and I held my friend B’s hand when he drew his last breath, but not the animals. Sweetie had been to this clinic many dozens of times over the last 10 years, at times weekly for various treatments. The vet and all the techs there knew her and loved her. She was among loving friends and they would be able to calm and soothe her in a way that I would not have been. I said goodbye to her in the parking lot when one of the techs carried her in. He sent me a text message right after telling me that she was now running over the Rainbow Bridge, happy and pain-free. I did right by her but I miss her. I haven’t always done right by my animals-- with several I know I waited too long. I still feel bad about that, but I think they forgive me for being misguided. 😭 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/93 "2022-07-17T13:50:18Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > The house feels _vacant_ somehow with Sweetie gone. I commented to **DesertRoomie** five minutes ago, “There’s a dog-sized hole in the living room.” Being a hound, like Sweetie, he spent 22 hours a day snoozing. Until my first dog I thought it was just cats who did that. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2022, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907/94 "2022-07-17T15:56:09Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > It was the right thing to do. It still sux big donkey balls. Yes indeed. We’re having a bad run for Dopers right now, aren’t we? But it’s because there’s so much love there to start with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/another-old-doggie-nearing-the-end-thread-long-and-sad-update-dog-has-died-07-14-22/959907.md?page=4)