My dog is sick

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
21

I’ve been thinking of this all day, and I finally ran it down. It is in Dean R. Koontz’s book Watchers( a MUST read for anyone who loves dogs.)

         **TRIBUTE TO A DOG**

The one absolutely unselfish friend that man can have in this selfish world, the one that never deserts him, the one that never proves ungrateful or treacherous, is his dog. A man’s dog stands by him in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness. He will sleep on the cold ground, where the wintery winds blow and the snow drives fiercely, if only he may be near his master’s side. He will kiss the hand that has no food to offer; he will lick the wounds and sores that come in encounter with the roughness of the world. He guards the sleep of his pauper master as if he were a prince. When all other friends depart, he remains. When riches take wing and reputation falls to pieces, he is as constant in his love as the sun in it’s journey through the heavens.

-Senator George Vest, 1870
How blessed we as humans are to have such companions in our journey through life. Please let us know how Jake is doing.

All my prayers,

Dave

22

Silent-Bob, Wow. I cried so hard. That was absolutely beautiful.

WeirdDave, I love Watchers! Do you remember the line “Home is where the weenies are”?

Jawofech, Good luck to you and Jake. I’m hoping it’s just arthritis. You and your husband are wonderful people to have rescued Jake, and given him the love that he so desired. Let us know what happens! Our prayers are with you.

23

Hey, this is Michi, checking in under a friend’s account since my coputer is kaput and I no longer have an e-mail account.

Everyone has already offered some pretty good advice about taking the pet to the vet. I would like to say, however, that until a vet HAS looked at your pet, please DO NOT administer any medications, even aspirin.

Good luck with your baby, please don’t wait too long to bring him in.

Michi,
Emergency Veterinary Nurse

24

Jawofech – several years ago I was faced with taking my ailing 14 year old shih tzu to the vet to ask if it was time to put him down. Dr. Oswalt was very kind and wise. After examining him and determining that he wasn’t in pain but would die soon from old age and kidney failure he gave me some meds to make him more comfortable and I took him home. Bo bo lived another 2 pampered weeks, and died in his sleep. If he can be made comfortable take your baby home and love him and spend some quality time with him. I’m sure he knows you are sad and will find a way to let you know it’s OK really.

SILENT-BOB I’m speechless. God bless you.

25

Oh dear, this thread is really turning the waterworks on for me. weirddave, I love Vest’s tribute. I have tried reading the entire tribute out loud and can never finish it. Here’s the last paragraph:

Jawofech, again, good luck.

26

I just re-read Silent Bobs post and cried AGAIN!! Holy Smokes…

Zette

27

I had a dog who was given to me when I was one. We grew up together and were rarely apart. Shiela (the dog in question) travelled all over Australia and Papua New Guinea with us and I have so few childhood memories that don’t feature her. Shiela had a great life and a long one. She was 14 when I came home from school one day and couldn’t find her. Dad told me she’d died - though it was a few years later before he told me he’d actually taken her to the vet.

(god, I’m crying as I write this and it was fifteen odd years ago)

Shiela had lived a long life but did suffer the last year or so. She had problems with one eye, struggled to walk and run at times. Retrospectively she was in a bad way. In fact the only thing that probably kept her going was her love for us: she was the most devoted dog you could ever wish for (she once nearly killed a Rottweiler (?) who attacked my baby sister despite being considerably smaller and lighter though that’s the only aggresive thing she ever did).

I miss her horribly (and will never have a dog again - I can’t face that sort of pain) but I understand why Dad had to have her put down. In fact it would have been a kindness to do it a lot earlier.

But I never would have been able to.

28

This seems to fit well here…(and probably also at the Dogs and Heaven post over at GD)

Do Dogs Go To Heaven? (Roy Alan Wilson)

The question, it seems to me, suggests more the arrogance of Man than the worthiness of these virtuous animals. Consider for a moment, these personal observations of the dogs I have known and loved: without exception, they savored life for all it could offer. They faced every one of their days with a sense of adventure and joy and good-natured spirit, a spirit tempered only by an overriding eagerness to please and love their masters, for nothing gave them more pleasure. Not to the smallest degree were they capable of discrimination, sarcasm, pettiness or treachery. They were, however, eminently capable of qualities to which Man can only aspire.

“Unconditional love”, for example, is a very modern term Man has coined to describe a paragon of loving…an all-forgiving love, a love without reward, expectation, or promise of reciprocity. Yet dogs, from time immemorial, have exemplified this ideal of love.

What other friend, I wonder, would have not a flicker of care whether you were successful or an abject failure, whether you were homely or comely, clean or smelly-dirty, foolish or clever, beggar or king?

Who else would judge you–not by your appearance, power, or money–but solely by the kindness of your hand and heart?
Yet who else, I ask, would forgive a blow with a kiss to the offending hand? Come what may, he loves–no, adores–you, be you sinner or saint. And he will softly lick the sores and wounds the world gives you, and never ask (or worse, tell you) what you did to deserve them.

And if Man is a dog’s “God”, what man serves God with such a thoroughly cheerful, immediate and unquestioning obedience as a dog serves his master? Show me a man who so delights in all the great bounties God has given him. Show me a man as gleefully grateful for his wondrous blessings as a dog is for a scrap of would-be garbage from his master’s hand. Show me a man as trustful, as humbly devoted, as appreciative and joyfully submissive to God, as my brainless, soulless dog is to me. Yes, show me this man, this saint, who so embodies all these abiding virtues.

Then I will show you, my friend, a man with a soul as deserving of Heaven as the most meager of dogs.

29

I’ve never owned a dog before, but my grandparents have almost always had a dog, at least for the 19 years I’ve known them. And, they used to have a dog, Tojo, which was the cross between a collie and a few other breeds. But my grandpa especially LOVED his dog. And whenever Tojo got sick, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him so sad in all his life. I don’t remember what was wrong with her, but she wouldn’t or couldn’t eat and didn’t move much. It was a sad sight. We all knew the dog was dying. And my grandpa would usually go outside to cry so no one would ever see him. And so my stepdad took my grandpa and Tojo to the vet to be put to sleep. And what I heard about the trip was terrible: how one moment your holding a breathing living dog in your lap on the way to the vet, and then when you’re coming home, you’re carrying a dead, motionless body. the dog that used to be yours. I couldn’t possibly understand what my grandfather felt.
But, the good news is that when he went to the beach the next weekend (as they had planned) a stray came up and befriended him. It gave him company. They brought the cat home, but the cat isn’t his. It’s my uncles. My grandpa has another dog, Asia. But, sometimes I wonder if Tojo sent the cat to keep my grandpa company.

-crispix is listening to the harmonious sounds of Buddhist chanting

30

Jeeze, Michi, you medical people are always like that. “Don’t give your dog aspirin until the doctor says it’s okay.” “Don’t remove skin tabs with a hunk of dry ice and an X-Acto knife.” “Don’t drink any booze until you’ve gotten that bullet wound in your stomach looked at.” I have self-medicated myself for many years without dying and if it’s good enough for me it’s good enough for my dog. :wink:

Yeah, of course you’re right, but it was late at night, the vet wasn’t going to be in for hours, you weren’t around, and it wasn’t likely to do any harm. But people should listen to what you say.

31

I was trying to avoid this thread as the subject is near and dear to my dog-broken heart. Then mojo57 started that other thread and, well, here I am.

Yes, by all means take him to the vet.

Yes, Silent Bob made me cry AGAIN, dammit.

I also wanted to add the following poem by Kipling - dpr, are you reading this?

And, yes, I pulled that damn thing out and bawled even harder every time one of my dogs died, and I swore every time I wouldn’t get another one, and that oath would last for about six months.

32

** Stoidela ** You’re right. Vet’s don’t like putting dogs down as a first option. It actually also made me realize that I have the option of taking him elsewhere for 2nd and 3rd opinions if I choose. So thank you for making me remember that.
** Ivar ** Thank you for the link to that web site. I have been surfing through it and it is very informative. Great site.

** EJsGirl ** I’m sorry about your loss of Ceasar. Tell Angus thanks for the sloppy doggy kisses. Nothing in the world can make your heart smile like a doggy kiss. :slight_smile:

** Dire Wolf ** Great info on the Rimadyl. I plan on asking the vet about all about it. Thanks.

I can’t agree with you more. Puppies are wonderful little things, cute as cute gets, but an older dog has things to give that people don’t realize. They are wonderful pets if just given the chance to show how special they can be.

** weird dave, brachyrhynchos, dire wolf ** Wonderful, wonderful messages in both those quotes. Truth in each and every word of them. I think that I mentioned somewhere earlier that I believe Jake was meant for us to have because he taught me one of the most important things I have ever learned. He was forgiving and gentle of spirit even after all he had been through and it was thought provoking to me that he could have the capacity to be this way. These quotes reemphasize that.

** dpr ** I am truly sorry about Shiela. I have owned and lost dogs in the past but Jake is somehow special to me. I loved every animal I have ever owned, including the others I have now. Jake for some reason touches my heart a special way. It sounds like that was Shiela for you and I’m sorry for your loss.

My husband has requested a day off work and will find out tomorrow what day that will be, so we can make an appointment at the vets. Since so many of you have mentioned arthritis I am feeling more optimistic about that. I know that older dogs often get arthritis and I’m pretty sure he has had it for a few years because he has been slower standing up and creaks and cracks from his joints now and then, so maybe this is just a really bad bout of it due to the cooler weather. I’m keeping my fingers crossed regardless.

33

Jawofech, I think you are wonderful. Please let us know how Jakey is feeling.
I remember the goofy songs I sang to Willie, our Great Pyrenees, who died at six years of age from a heart condition that he was born with. He was the best dog. He would follow our son around the yard when Justin was a toddler, and if Willie thought Justin was wandering too far away from me, he’d wrap one of his front paws gently around Justin’s legs, and turn him around. He never tripped Justin; he just re-directed him toward safety. Damn, it was hard to lose a friend like him. After he died, I sometimes found myself absent-mindedly singing my Willie-songs…
I have Willie’s daughter, Jewel (named by Justin), and she is in good health, but I worry about her often because of her dad’s unexpected death. I found out that big dogs like Pyr’s don’t live very long, so I get apprehensive when she needs a check-up. It’s better to know than not know, though.
We adopted another Pyr after Willie died. Jewel wouldn’t eat because she was grieving, and King needed a home. We have about 275lbs of dog in the backyard between the two of them! They are so gentle and intelligent, I hate knowing that they aren’t likely to make it past 10 years of age because they are extra-large dogs.
We just have to enjoy every day we are given to spend with our pets. Good luck.:slight_smile:

SILENT_BOB, I cried,too.

34

I am unable to read through this right now.

The monitor is blurred by the tears.

Silent-Bob, you have slain me.

Thank goodness we all know the “Jakey, Jakey, pooh pooh pants” song.

I need to go and drink this off right now. Thank goodness all of my favorite posters have shown up with me to tear their their hearts out too.
::Wwwwwaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!::

And no, I don’t feel better.

I’ll tell you about Bear Dog sometime…

35

Ever since you posted, jawofech, I have been thinking about Jake every time I look at my own beloved pooch. I have to know, how is he doing?