"In a dog's life
A year is really more like seven
And all too soon a canine
Will be chasing cars in doggie heaven
It seems to me
As we make our own few circles 'round the sun
We get it backwards
And our seven years go by like one"
~ Peart
A sad day has come.. Our dog, our friend, protector and companion these last 13 years has reached the point in his life where the kindest thing we can do for him is to put him down.
His name is Murphy.. we usually just call him "Murph". He's been the most gentle, smart and fun dog I've ever known.
We have an appointment this Friday to have the vet come to the house and take care of it. I haven't cried yet but I know I will.
My wife is already extremely upset. Though it hurts for Jason and I, I think that for her, it is nearly the same as losing a child. She just lost her mother last year and if you've been paying attention, you know my own situation.. She is an amazing woman, stronger than I ever would have guessed but I worry about the added strain.
Murphy has had something called Hip Dysplasia which is something like arthritis for dogs. It's so bad now that he can barely get up to eat without our help. He also has several other problems and basically has very little quality of life remaining. You can see that he is in pain much of the time and he's sleeping when he's not.
This should have been done months ago but it's taken a while to convince Dianna that it really is the most humane thing to do for him now. But she has finally accepted it so Murphy will be leaving us this Friday.
A very sad day indeed.
Good dog, Murphy.. may you find an endless supply of lizards to chase and faces to lick.
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(Warts and all...) Have your E tickets ready....
2 comments:
Hey Now... I'm not sure what to say but I know I've got something to say, which isn't always the case, it's just that I've got an aging dog who'll be 12 in August... had a health scare as recently as a couple weekends ago. There was alot of serious whining & crying while he layed on either side (but was fine if he wasn't on his side which made it impossible for him to sleep for about a day.) Thought I'd have to head to the animal hospital but with some wicked expensive worming medicine and time, he got through it okay.
Sadly, i think he also has hip dysplasia which he limps from and it doesn't allow him to be the spunky super playful running around hiking dog anymore.
Cassidy's been so amazing, he's been the one and only constant in my life since he was 10 weeks old. It would nearly kill me if I sat and thought about how he's quickly coming up on the end of his time.
Your words on your Murphy got me very choked up and just thought I'd hafta share with ya my very similar story.
Well, take care and have great memories!
Yep.. it was tough but we're getting over it now though we'll never forget him. It really was like losing a family member.
Allowing the vet to inject him as I stroked his fur was one of the most bitter-sweet memories I've had. He was calm, seemed unafraid, even accepting.. He deserves the rest.
Since we've got other serious 'stuff going on in our family at the moment, I think it all actually helped us get over our loss quicker than it may have otherwise.
Hope your pooch has plenty years of enjoyment left for him, even if he's a little slower about it. Murphy had been like that for several years but still managed to remain a good friend and get joy out of his life, up to that last year or so.
Thanks for the post - always nice to hear from a kindred spirit..
"Let the words be yours, I'm done with mine..."
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