My dog, Kaywinnet, had been having issues with her kidneys for a while. But there were no symptoms, just wonky levels on her lab work. She did well on her special food for dogs with crummy kidneys for a long time. And there were medicines and painkillers that helped too, but the pain was just from being and old lady dog, and not from the kidney issues.
When her kidneys went, they went fast. We knew we'd have to make the decision to take her in, and we talked about it a lot so we were all on the same page. So, when she went from prancing around all proud of her goofy self in the morning to trembling and not being able to get up at dinner, we knew it was time.
She was a good dog, totally crazy, but she had a giant heart. She'd been abused by the people who had her before us, so she didn't do a lot of regular dog stuff, and she didn't ever seem to learn anything, but she had a sweet soul and she wanted everyone to be happy. We had to take her to a special "dog whisperer" up in Boulder to learn how to deal with several of her weird behaviors, and while we never trained her to do anything, we were able to understand her doggy needs (and her "special doggy needs," after the abuse) and find ways around the worst of her odd actions.
She was deaf and blind by the end, but so happy and excited to go anywhere to do anything. She'd get all hoppy and giddy! She had this routine which always made me laugh, but I'm sure the neighbors won't miss. I saw her do it right up to the end, so I feel pretty good about taking her in as close as we could to that invisible line between "life is good, and I have an illness to worry about," and "I'm sick and miserable and there's nothing good left in my life."
Every time she needed to poop, she'd run out into the yard and bark a little bit. Then she'd find a spot and bark a little more. Then, when she got a good squat going, she'd bark her heart out. We decided she was alerting all the neighborhood dogs:
It's me, Kaywinnet! I'm coming outside to poop!
It's me, Kaywinnet, I found a spot to poop!
It's me, Kaywinnet! I'm pooooooooooooping!
So, it's okay. I'm glad we could help her get her wings when the time came. I miss her, but not enough to want to drag her through all the stuff she was dealing with just to keep her around.
We're getting her ashes back, and my kids will bury her in our impressive Pet Cemetery (it looks weird to spell it correctly). We'll have a little service for her like we did for the 427 other animals out there (mostly fish, then mice, then lizards and snakes.) (Can't forget the dead animals we've found, like birds.) That will be a nice way to close this whole episode.
Bye, Kaywinnet J. Prettydog.
When her kidneys went, they went fast. We knew we'd have to make the decision to take her in, and we talked about it a lot so we were all on the same page. So, when she went from prancing around all proud of her goofy self in the morning to trembling and not being able to get up at dinner, we knew it was time.
She was a good dog, totally crazy, but she had a giant heart. She'd been abused by the people who had her before us, so she didn't do a lot of regular dog stuff, and she didn't ever seem to learn anything, but she had a sweet soul and she wanted everyone to be happy. We had to take her to a special "dog whisperer" up in Boulder to learn how to deal with several of her weird behaviors, and while we never trained her to do anything, we were able to understand her doggy needs (and her "special doggy needs," after the abuse) and find ways around the worst of her odd actions.
She was deaf and blind by the end, but so happy and excited to go anywhere to do anything. She'd get all hoppy and giddy! She had this routine which always made me laugh, but I'm sure the neighbors won't miss. I saw her do it right up to the end, so I feel pretty good about taking her in as close as we could to that invisible line between "life is good, and I have an illness to worry about," and "I'm sick and miserable and there's nothing good left in my life."
Every time she needed to poop, she'd run out into the yard and bark a little bit. Then she'd find a spot and bark a little more. Then, when she got a good squat going, she'd bark her heart out. We decided she was alerting all the neighborhood dogs:
It's me, Kaywinnet! I'm coming outside to poop!
It's me, Kaywinnet, I found a spot to poop!
It's me, Kaywinnet! I'm pooooooooooooping!
So, it's okay. I'm glad we could help her get her wings when the time came. I miss her, but not enough to want to drag her through all the stuff she was dealing with just to keep her around.
We're getting her ashes back, and my kids will bury her in our impressive Pet Cemetery (it looks weird to spell it correctly). We'll have a little service for her like we did for the 427 other animals out there (mostly fish, then mice, then lizards and snakes.) (Can't forget the dead animals we've found, like birds.) That will be a nice way to close this whole episode.
Bye, Kaywinnet J. Prettydog.
