Life as a Tri-pawd

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Tonight was so hard. The vet felt that the cancer had moved to her spine which was causing the weakness/paralysis in her legs. We knew we had to end her suffering. She was literally surrounded by love as we were all around her on the table. She died at 6:08 PM. I felt her last breath on my cheek. It is so hard to feel this grief and then look into the faces of your children who are really grieving for the first time in their life. It just rips my heart. We brought our other dog along so that he won't be left wondering where she went. They were very, very close and he's pretty blue tonight too. I've lost 6 pets in the past, but nothing has felt like this.

I went through some photos tonight to post to Facebook and looking at all the happy pictures of things we've done post-amp solidified that we made the right choice. She still left us too soon, but we gave her an additional almost 8 months to do many of the things she loved one more time.

 

[sara_s]

Words can’t express how sorry I am. I’m glad you were all together at the end. Katy’s not suffering anymore, and you know you did everything you possibly could have to make her comfortable. Cancer is a nasty disease. It sounds like everything happened very quickly.

The way I’ve tried looking at this whole thing is to say: we were given two crappy choices, and chose the less crappy one. In my humble opinion, you absolutely made the right choice.

Dogs are such a gift and when you’ve loved and lost one, you’re forever impacted by it. I hope your other pup adjusts. Give him lots of hugs from me.

We’re all here for you whenever you need us. Sending you big hugs.

 

[Meriweather]

Tonight was so hard. The vet felt that the cancer had moved to her spine which was causing the weakness/paralysis in her legs. We knew we had to end her suffering. She was literally surrounded by love as we were all around her on the table. She died at 6:08 PM. I felt her last breath on my cheek. It is so hard to feel this grief and then look into the faces of your children who are really grieving for the first time in their life. It just rips my heart. We brought our other dog along so that he won't be left wondering where she went. They were very, very close and he's pretty blue tonight too. I've lost 6 pets in the past, but nothing has felt like this.

I went through some photos tonight to post to Facebook and looking at all the happy pictures of things we've done post-amp solidified that we made the right choice. She still left us too soon, but we gave her an additional almost 8 months to do many of the things she loved one more time.

So sorry for your loss. It is a hard thing to go through.....a member of your family is no longer there.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Tonight was so hard. The vet felt that the cancer had moved to her spine which was causing the weakness/paralysis in her legs. We knew we had to end her suffering. She was literally surrounded by love as we were all around her on the table. She died at 6:08 PM. I felt her last breath on my cheek. It is so hard to feel this grief and then look into the faces of your children who are really grieving for the first time in their life. It just rips my heart. We brought our other dog along so that he won't be left wondering where she went. They were very, very close and he's pretty blue tonight too. I've lost 6 pets in the past, but nothing has felt like this.

I went through some photos tonight to post to Facebook and looking at all the happy pictures of things we've done post-amp solidified that we made the right choice. She still left us too soon, but we gave her an additional almost 8 months to do many of the things she loved one more time.

 

[flyingdumbo127]

from me, too and many prayers. Indeed Katy is now forever at peace with God. Sara, it seems wrong to "like" your post but the words were beautiful. I pray they and others offer you, Shel, comfort. Know we all care.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Thank you all for your kind words and support. To say my heart is heavy an understatement.

Sara, I will continue to follow this thread so if you have questions about Ciara please ask them. Katy may not be with me, but if any of our experience can help to make it easier for you and Ciara I want to be able to do that. You haven't really said, but I am assuming you have a few chemo treatments under your belt and all is going well right now? I pray that continues and Ciara goes on for many years.

Thank you all.

 

[monsterkitty]

So many hugs coming your way.

 

[sara_s]

Thank you all for your kind words and support. To say my heart is heavy an understatement.

Sara, I will continue to follow this thread so if you have questions about Ciara please ask them. Katy may not be with me, but if any of our experience can help to make it easier for you and Ciara I want to be able to do that. You haven't really said, but I am assuming you have a few chemo treatments under your belt and all is going well right now? I pray that continues and Ciara goes on for many years.

Thank you all.

We have 2 under our belt, 3 more to go. She's done really well with the treatments. No adverse reactions. I'm very grateful. She's been getting around really well too. She's currently snoring on the couch, hehe. 3rd treatment is next week. I'll keep you all updated.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

From petloss.com

by Ken D. Conover

To have loved and then said farewell, is better than to have never loved at all.
For all of the times that you have stooped and touched my head, fed me my favorite treat and returned the love that I so unconditionally gave to you.
For the care that you gave to me so unselfishly.
For all of these things I am grateful and thankful.

I ask that you not grieve for the loss, but rejoice in the fact that we lived, loved and touched each others lives. My life was fuller because you were there, not as a master/owner, but as my FRIEND.

Today I am as I was in my youth. The grass is always green, butterflies flit among the flowers and the Sun shines gently down upon all of God's creatures.
I can run, jump, play and do all of the things that I did in my youth. There is no sickness, no aching joints and no regrets and no aging.

We await the arrival of our lifelong companions and know that togetherness is forever.
You live in our hearts as we do in yours. Companions such as you are so rare and unique.
Don't hold the love that you have within yourself. Give it to another like me and then I will live forever. For love never really dies, and you are loved and missed as surely as we are.

Your Pets In Heaven

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

From petloss.com

by Ken D. Conover

To have loved and then said farewell, is better than to have never loved at all.
For all of the times that you have stooped and touched my head, fed me my favorite treat and returned the love that I so unconditionally gave to you.
For the care that you gave to me so unselfishly.
For all of these things I am grateful and thankful.

I ask that you not grieve for the loss, but rejoice in the fact that we lived, loved and touched each others lives. My life was fuller because you were there, not as a master/owner, but as my FRIEND.

Today I am as I was in my youth. The grass is always green, butterflies flit among the flowers and the Sun shines gently down upon all of God's creatures.
I can run, jump, play and do all of the things that I did in my youth. There is no sickness, no aching joints and no regrets and no aging.

We await the arrival of our lifelong companions and know that togetherness is forever.
You live in our hearts as we do in yours. Companions such as you are so rare and unique.
Don't hold the love that you have within yourself. Give it to another like me and then I will live forever. For love never really dies, and you are loved and missed as surely as we are.

Your Pets In Heaven

Thank you. That is beautiful.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

From petloss.com

by Ken D. Conover

To have loved and then said farewell, is better than to have never loved at all.
For all of the times that you have stooped and touched my head, fed me my favorite treat and returned the love that I so unconditionally gave to you.
For the care that you gave to me so unselfishly.
For all of these things I am grateful and thankful.

I ask that you not grieve for the loss, but rejoice in the fact that we lived, loved and touched each others lives. My life was fuller because you were there, not as a master/owner, but as my FRIEND.

Today I am as I was in my youth. The grass is always green, butterflies flit among the flowers and the Sun shines gently down upon all of God's creatures.
I can run, jump, play and do all of the things that I did in my youth. There is no sickness, no aching joints and no regrets and no aging.

We await the arrival of our lifelong companions and know that togetherness is forever.
You live in our hearts as we do in yours. Companions such as you are so rare and unique.
Don't hold the love that you have within yourself. Give it to another like me and then I will live forever. For love never really dies, and you are loved and missed as surely as we are.

Your Pets In Heaven

I know it always helped me.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

Things are getting back to normal here. Able to work and such. I work from home so it has been distracting not to have Katy at my feet all the time.

Hurley had his yearly exam for the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study last week. He did fine. Needs to lose a few pounds. I guess not being able to play with Katy these last couple months cut into his exercise routine!

We do have a deposit down for a female golden retriever puppy that will join us in March. It's nice to have something to look forward to. That should help with Hurley's diet too! We have a tentative name of Belle. We want to honor Katy somehow and the day Katy was born we were at WDW and had breakfast with Belle, Mulan, and Ariel in Norway. Belle is the golden princess as well. For the registration name, we're going with Princess KatyBelle.

Since tripawds is the discussion here I thought I would share this story with you. My brother and SIL live in MN and they foster rescue dogs. They fostered a puppy (I met her at Xmas) who was adopted in early January. Peaches is a tiny little thing, about 10 lbs maybe. Sweet and feisty. Last week the rescue group got an email from the guy who adopted her. He was mad that the puppy was "pi$$ing everywhere (she was trained at my brother's house) and said he accidentally stepped on her and he thought her leg might be broken. He never took her to a vet. The rescue group came and took her back. At that point, he claimed he accidentally fell on her. At the vet, she was diagnosed with a UTI (explains the accidents) and her leg was broken so badly it had to be amputated! Poor thing is only approximately 7 months old! The vet said the break and X-rays are not consistent with either of the man's stories so most likely it was an intentional break with a twist or something! There's not enough evidence to bring any charges against this evil man either!

Peaches is back with my brother. He brought her home the day after amputation (Friday). She's already trying to escape and play with his dogs and is really sick of being kenneled. It's amazing how quick she has recovered and adapted. I guess age makes a big difference! So sad that she'll have to be a tripawd her whole life though. Poor baby! I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up staying with my brother permanently. He's feeling guilty about the adoption (not his fault though) and so protective of her now.

I hope things are still going well for Ciara and the other tripawds from this post!

 

[sara_s]

That's so exciting for your family. I can't wait to hear about Belle!

That's sickening about Peaches. Poor baby...but that's the thing about dogs, they're forgiving to a fault. I think they can live nice long lives even as a non-cancer amputee, right? I hope she can stay with your brother until she finds a nice family. And that guy....well....I hope karma finds its way to him.

Ciara's doing great still. I'm a little worried about boarding her this summer. We're going to Europe and my parents can't be with her the whole time. She was used to being boarded a lot before all this started happening, but I always worry about leaving her (especially now).

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

That's so exciting for your family. I can't wait to hear about Belle!

That's sickening about Peaches. Poor baby...but that's the thing about dogs, they're forgiving to a fault. I think they can live nice long lives even as a non-cancer amputee, right? I hope she can stay with your brother until she finds a nice family. And that guy....well....I hope karma finds its way to him.

Ciara's doing great still. I'm a little worried about boarding her this summer. We're going to Europe and my parents can't be with her the whole time. She was used to being boarded a lot before all this started happening, but I always worry about leaving her (especially now).

I worried about the boarding thing too. Katy was diagnosed 1.5 weeks (before amp) before we went to Grand Cayman last summer. Her and Hurley were supposed to stay at the daycare/boarding place. I was too worried about her leg getting broken or something due to it being weaker. Luckily my mom was able to come and stay with the dogs here at our house for that week. I was worried about what we'd do in the future though but was putting off any vacation plans because everything felt so risky.

Ciara will be well on her way to recovery by then and she's younger than Katy. She'll probably do fine, especially if it's a place she's already familiar with.

And yeah, I too hope Karma hits that guy hard!

 

[monsterkitty]

Really excited for your family to get Belle as well!

Poor Peaches. I really hope the person who did that to her has a huge run in with Karma.

Sara, have you looked into having someone stay at your house instead of boarding Ciara? We were told Dug couldn't have the kennel cough vaccine anymore so he could no longer go to doggie daycare or be boarded. The vet techs at our vet will house and pet sit. I also have a friend who quit teaching and went to work for Rover and she will stay at clients houses as well. (btw, she make more money as a pet sitter than she did as a teacher, haha).

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Things are getting back to normal here. Able to work and such. I work from home so it has been distracting not to have Katy at my feet all the time.

Hurley had his yearly exam for the Golden Retriever Lifetime Study last week. He did fine. Needs to lose a few pounds. I guess not being able to play with Katy these last couple months cut into his exercise routine!

We do have a deposit down for a female golden retriever puppy that will join us in March. It's nice to have something to look forward to. That should help with Hurley's diet too! We have a tentative name of Belle. We want to honor Katy somehow and the day Katy was born we were at WDW and had breakfast with Belle, Mulan, and Ariel in Norway. Belle is the golden princess as well. For the registration name, we're going with Princess KatyBelle.

Since tripawds is the discussion here I thought I would share this story with you. My brother and SIL live in MN and they foster rescue dogs. They fostered a puppy (I met her at Xmas) who was adopted in early January. Peaches is a tiny little thing, about 10 lbs maybe. Sweet and feisty. Last week the rescue group got an email from the guy who adopted her. He was mad that the puppy was "pi$$ing everywhere (she was trained at my brother's house) and said he accidentally stepped on her and he thought her leg might be broken. He never took her to a vet. The rescue group came and took her back. At that point, he claimed he accidentally fell on her. At the vet, she was diagnosed with a UTI (explains the accidents) and her leg was broken so badly it had to be amputated! Poor thing is only approximately 7 months old! The vet said the break and X-rays are not consistent with either of the man's stories so most likely it was an intentional break with a twist or something! There's not enough evidence to bring any charges against this evil man either!

Peaches is back with my brother. He brought her home the day after amputation (Friday). She's already trying to escape and play with his dogs and is really sick of being kenneled. It's amazing how quick she has recovered and adapted. I guess age makes a big difference! So sad that she'll have to be a tripawd her whole life though. Poor baby! I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up staying with my brother permanently. He's feeling guilty about the adoption (not his fault though) and so protective of her now.

I hope things are still going well for Ciara and the other tripawds from this post!

That is so sad about the little dog! I hope your brother keeps her! (Funny I was just on another thread about a little dog also having its leg amputated.) Good luck with the puppy! I was at the vet's this weekend and the most beautiful and sweet Golden puppy came in and it just made me so happy to get to interact with her even for those few minutes!

Sara, how is it going for Ciara?

 

[sara_s]

Sara, have you looked into having someone stay at your house instead of boarding Ciara? We were told Dug couldn't have the kennel cough vaccine anymore so he could no longer go to doggie daycare or be boarded. The vet techs at our vet will house and pet sit. I also have a friend who quit teaching and went to work for Rover and she will stay at clients houses as well. (btw, she make more money as a pet sitter than she did as a teacher, haha).

If I can convince one of my friends to stay with her on Memorial Day weekend, we'd be set. My parents are going to be out of town that one weekend. We've talked about hiring someone, but I'd rather have someone she knows stay with her. Not all of my friends are dog people, or are allergic to the cats. Perhaps my BIL can help, but I don't want to put pressure on anyone to stay. I'm more than willing to pay, just a little leery of a stranger staying in the house.

Sara, how is it going for Ciara?

She's been great! We only have 2 chemo treatments to go. She's been jumping on the couch and acting like her old self. The vet is always happy with her progress. The only thing we were told is that she gained some weight between Jan and Feb, but it could be due to muscle. We have to keep her weight down. I have to yell at my husband who does not measure her food - he just does two scoops. The man drives me nuts. He claims "oh we should just take her for longer walks." WE? He means ME. Men.

 

[IceSkatingPrincess]

Peaches is back with my brother. He brought her home the day after amputation (Friday). She's already trying to escape and play with his dogs and is really sick of being kenneled. It's amazing how quick she has recovered and adapted. I guess age makes a big difference! So sad that she'll have to be a tripawd her whole life though. Poor baby!

I'm so glad Peaches is home and your brother is taking care of her. My little guy Rocky (6 pounds) has been a Tripawd since around the same age. He was found on the side of the road in Texas with a cigarette burn in one ear, needing a rear leg amputation, needing part of his liver removed, and blind in one eye. He has since lost an additional weight bearing toe on his remaining back leg. I'll tell you though - NOTHING stops that little guy and he is the sweetest most adorable pup around. He can walk, run, jump, climb stairs, swim - the works. He is 9 now and acts like a perpetual puppy. He is truly my baby and I am forever grateful to the rescue that gave him a chance and the fosters that helped him along the way.

Peaches has a wonderful, long, happy, very loved life ahead of her. She is young and will learn to adapt and it will just be her way of life. She won't know anything different, it will just be her normal.

 

[ShelsGoingToDisney]

I'm so glad Peaches is home and your brother is taking care of her. My little guy Rocky (6 pounds) has been a Tripawd since around the same age. He was found on the side of the road in Texas with a cigarette burn in one ear, needing a rear leg amputation, needing part of his liver removed, and blind in one eye. He has since lost an additional weight bearing toe on his remaining back leg. I'll tell you though - NOTHING stops that little guy and he is the sweetest most adorable pup around. He can walk, run, jump, climb stairs, swim - the works. He is 9 now and acts like a perpetual puppy. He is truly my baby and I am forever grateful to the rescue that gave him a chance and the fosters that helped him along the way.

Peaches has a wonderful, long, happy, very loved life ahead of her. She is young and will learn to adapt and it will just be her way of life. She won't know anything different, it will just be her normal.

Wow, the transformation of Rocky in those pictures is amazing! Thank you for sharing your story. I will pass it on to my brother! Go Rocky!

 

[sara_s]

Hey guys! Just a pupdate - Ciara had her 4th chemo treatment on Tuesday and did great. Our last chemo appt is on 3/26!! I truly can't believe how fast it's gone. Grateful that it's almost over, though I'm not sure what options we'll be faced with next time. I'm prepared for them to offer some sort of pill or injection, but since she has chondrosarcoma and not osteosarcoma, I'm not sure how much further I want to push it. I'll come back with an update soon!