Buddy Baer was born around March 17, 1998. We adopted him for our 7 year old son in April that year. He wasn't a purebred pedigreed K-9. He was just cute as a button and I couldn't say no. His mother was a Black Lab and her owners did not know the ancestry of the father other than he wasn't a purebred.
Chris named him Buddy because he loved the movies about another Buddy, known as Airbud.
Today, August 14, 2008 at the age of ten, Buddy died. Well, I elected to have him euthanized. It was such a difficult decision but he was very ill and it just didn't make sense to see him suffer any longer. He had been acting different for about two weeks. Not eating well. Being rather lethargic and losing weight. We have had some really HOT days over a hundred and although he had a nice dog house under the covered patio and the fan going all the time, I worried that the heat was affecting him so we brought him into the coolness of the house. At first he seemed to be better. But the last few days he began to decline.
The vet said that there were a number of possible causes not limited to but including cancer, autoimmune disease, liver disease, Heartworm. He was severely anemic which was causing his weakness. They did a blood test and found he did have heartworm. The vet said that in his weakened state the treatment would be very hard on him. She would have to get him stable before treatment could be done and even then he may not make it. The tests they would need to run and hospitalization estimate was about $1750. Then treatment would have been even more.
Still only a 50/50 chance he would have a normal life. If I had the money, I would have done it but alas, I don't. It's so sad when money has to be a reason to chose life or death of a pet. She said the last dog that had to go through all that and survived the bill was about $4,000.
Maybe she was trying to make it easier for me to chose to euthanize but it was still so hard. I tried to rationalize in my mind if I could go further into debt to buy him a few more years but there was no guarantee and as much as I loved him I had to let him go.
Then of course all the guilt comes in. What if I had taken him sooner before he got so weak. What if I been a better pet owner and kept up with his vaccinations and check ups. He had been so healthy up until a few weeks ago. Maybe the flea bath I gave him made him sick. Maybe he got into something when he got out of the yard.
The vet asked if I wanted to be present when thay gave him the shot. I did.
We had a few minutes alone before she came in. I got to tell him good bye and let him know I loved him and that he would be feeling better soon.
It was very peaceful and painless. He already had an IV in place. He didn't move or have any kind of discomfort. He just closed his eyes and slept until he stopped breathing and his heart stopped. The vet clinic personnell were so kind and supportive, as was the vet.
I will miss him
Chris named him Buddy because he loved the movies about another Buddy, known as Airbud.
Today, August 14, 2008 at the age of ten, Buddy died. Well, I elected to have him euthanized. It was such a difficult decision but he was very ill and it just didn't make sense to see him suffer any longer. He had been acting different for about two weeks. Not eating well. Being rather lethargic and losing weight. We have had some really HOT days over a hundred and although he had a nice dog house under the covered patio and the fan going all the time, I worried that the heat was affecting him so we brought him into the coolness of the house. At first he seemed to be better. But the last few days he began to decline.
The vet said that there were a number of possible causes not limited to but including cancer, autoimmune disease, liver disease, Heartworm. He was severely anemic which was causing his weakness. They did a blood test and found he did have heartworm. The vet said that in his weakened state the treatment would be very hard on him. She would have to get him stable before treatment could be done and even then he may not make it. The tests they would need to run and hospitalization estimate was about $1750. Then treatment would have been even more.
Still only a 50/50 chance he would have a normal life. If I had the money, I would have done it but alas, I don't. It's so sad when money has to be a reason to chose life or death of a pet. She said the last dog that had to go through all that and survived the bill was about $4,000.
Maybe she was trying to make it easier for me to chose to euthanize but it was still so hard. I tried to rationalize in my mind if I could go further into debt to buy him a few more years but there was no guarantee and as much as I loved him I had to let him go.
Then of course all the guilt comes in. What if I had taken him sooner before he got so weak. What if I been a better pet owner and kept up with his vaccinations and check ups. He had been so healthy up until a few weeks ago. Maybe the flea bath I gave him made him sick. Maybe he got into something when he got out of the yard.
The vet asked if I wanted to be present when thay gave him the shot. I did.
We had a few minutes alone before she came in. I got to tell him good bye and let him know I loved him and that he would be feeling better soon.
It was very peaceful and painless. He already had an IV in place. He didn't move or have any kind of discomfort. He just closed his eyes and slept until he stopped breathing and his heart stopped. The vet clinic personnell were so kind and supportive, as was the vet.
I will miss him
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