I’m still in a state of utter shock and disbelief. 6 weeks ago I dropped of my baby Marco (he was a 1.5 year old Chocolate Lab) at a top-notch training facility in South Carolina. Their kennel and the 160 acres of fenced in land were beautiful. (I live in Miami, FL)
Just 5 days before I have to pick him up one of the trainers calls me telling me that Marco barely had breakfast and didn’t want to eat dinner. So they rushed him to a state-of-the-art animal hospital in Columbia, SC (CVETs). This was on Super Bowl Sunday.
The next morning I call the vet and I find out that he’s in the ICU, the vet said that he has very severe pneumonia, and that she was very confident that he had aspiration pneumonia (because none of the other dogs at the kennel got sick and because of the sheer damage to his lungs seen on the X-RAYS).
He was being given supplemental oxygen through his nose (15g/L) and I was told that he was living just to breathe. His blood oxygen level was 85% (severe hypoxia). I began to panic and look for flights to South Carolina, but the next morning the vet said that not only does Marco look better and more comfortable, but that he was able to get his oxygen levels back up to 95%.
I was so hopeful at this point, as was the vet, but after that he plateaued. For 2 days he could not produce the oxygen he needed without supplemental oxygen, so at this point I book my flight to South Carolina so I can see him for myself.
When I arrive at the vet, I couldn’t bear to see how badly my poor baby was suffering. The vet said that his infection became more complicated and that he now had 2 secondary infections of the upper respiratory tract.
I knew that it was my baby’s time to cross the rainbow bridge before the vet even mentioned it to me. While I was laying down with him he looked me in the eyes and I knew that he was telling me that he wanted out of this misery.
Just 2 years ago I had to put my Yellow Lab, Polo to sleep (which is why my baby Marco was named Marco) and Polo gave me that very same look, but he had lived to almost 14 and had a full life.
Marco and I laid down together for a good 4 hours, I just wanted to feel him and be with him before it was his time. He got up a few times over the course of those 4 hours, but at the end he just laid down to fall asleep right by my side.
At this point I told the vet to please prepare for the euthanasia, it was his time. Within 15 minutes he crossed the rainbow bridge with me there by his side.
My heart is shattered into pieces, I feel dead inside. I was so excited to go pick him up from the training, I was missing him so much that I was already depressed before this all happened.
Marco and I were inseparable, he came with me to work every single day, he slept on my bed the first night I brought him home. He was also much more attached to me than my last dog, he’d always come and lay down right next to me on the couch (Polo always liked his distance), and he’d always lay down right next to me in bed (so much so that he would push me off the bed throughout the night).
Coping with this has been so hard, I still can’t believe that i wasn’t there with him for the last 6 weeks of his life. I loved him so much, I’m a strong 29 year old guy, but I’ve sobbed for hours over this.
All I can say is please give your babies their favorite treat, belly rub, or hug tonight. If your baby is going through anything similar, please reach out. In my case there wasn’t much that can be done, but ~75% of dogs with aspiration pneumonia survive.
RIP Marco, I loved you more than words can describe
July 31, 2021 - February 17, 2023
Just 5 days before I have to pick him up one of the trainers calls me telling me that Marco barely had breakfast and didn’t want to eat dinner. So they rushed him to a state-of-the-art animal hospital in Columbia, SC (CVETs). This was on Super Bowl Sunday.
The next morning I call the vet and I find out that he’s in the ICU, the vet said that he has very severe pneumonia, and that she was very confident that he had aspiration pneumonia (because none of the other dogs at the kennel got sick and because of the sheer damage to his lungs seen on the X-RAYS).
He was being given supplemental oxygen through his nose (15g/L) and I was told that he was living just to breathe. His blood oxygen level was 85% (severe hypoxia). I began to panic and look for flights to South Carolina, but the next morning the vet said that not only does Marco look better and more comfortable, but that he was able to get his oxygen levels back up to 95%.
I was so hopeful at this point, as was the vet, but after that he plateaued. For 2 days he could not produce the oxygen he needed without supplemental oxygen, so at this point I book my flight to South Carolina so I can see him for myself.
When I arrive at the vet, I couldn’t bear to see how badly my poor baby was suffering. The vet said that his infection became more complicated and that he now had 2 secondary infections of the upper respiratory tract.
I knew that it was my baby’s time to cross the rainbow bridge before the vet even mentioned it to me. While I was laying down with him he looked me in the eyes and I knew that he was telling me that he wanted out of this misery.
Just 2 years ago I had to put my Yellow Lab, Polo to sleep (which is why my baby Marco was named Marco) and Polo gave me that very same look, but he had lived to almost 14 and had a full life.
Marco and I laid down together for a good 4 hours, I just wanted to feel him and be with him before it was his time. He got up a few times over the course of those 4 hours, but at the end he just laid down to fall asleep right by my side.
At this point I told the vet to please prepare for the euthanasia, it was his time. Within 15 minutes he crossed the rainbow bridge with me there by his side.
My heart is shattered into pieces, I feel dead inside. I was so excited to go pick him up from the training, I was missing him so much that I was already depressed before this all happened.
Marco and I were inseparable, he came with me to work every single day, he slept on my bed the first night I brought him home. He was also much more attached to me than my last dog, he’d always come and lay down right next to me on the couch (Polo always liked his distance), and he’d always lay down right next to me in bed (so much so that he would push me off the bed throughout the night).
Coping with this has been so hard, I still can’t believe that i wasn’t there with him for the last 6 weeks of his life. I loved him so much, I’m a strong 29 year old guy, but I’ve sobbed for hours over this.
All I can say is please give your babies their favorite treat, belly rub, or hug tonight. If your baby is going through anything similar, please reach out. In my case there wasn’t much that can be done, but ~75% of dogs with aspiration pneumonia survive.
RIP Marco, I loved you more than words can describe
July 31, 2021 - February 17, 2023