gregorystellar
New member
It's been a rough day.
A little backstory: We adopted our dog and later on at a wellness check, he tested positive for Lymes. We were told there was no way to know exactly when he was bitten but were given doxycycline for antibiotic therapy.
We do the antibiotic treatment and all seems well (this was a few years ago).
Fast forward to a few nights ago he wasn't interested in eating. I kept an eye on him, and noticed that he was drinking a decent amount of water. I took him out to go to the bathroom and he wouldn't come in. He just laid in the yard. I finally coaxed him back in and he went into the bathroom and laid next to the tub, which he never laid in the bathroom or anywhere alone - he always laid with one of us or the kids or our other dog or our cat.
I called the vet and the soonest we could be seen was a week and a half. He was still getting up and going to the bathroom so we kept an eye on him and thought by morning he'd feel a little better and eat. Morning comes, and he still won't eat and is still drinking excessively. Except now he wont even get up to pee and peed on himself instead. And his breathing starts speeding up and becoming shallow and just inconsistent. We call the emergency vet and they ask me the color of his gums (?) and say they could do an exam. I run to the store for gas while my husband gets ready and by the time I get back - my husband is standing at the door with tears in his eyes. And he says, "he didn't make it." I walk into the house to find our pups lifeless body. He said shortly after I left, our pup seemed to be gasping for air and taking long drawn in breaths and then all of a sudden stopped.
His health just seemed to deteriorate so fast. And it is just an awful level of heartbreak. I just keep feeling this overwhelming sense of guilt, like I could have done something or acted quicker. He was alive for about 11 years, with us for about 7 and it just feels like the time went so fast.
He was such a loving dog and a bulldozer all in one. He would push all of his weight against you (all 100lbs, he is a large breed!) and nearly suffocate you in the morning as his means to signal that he needed to go potty. He would dig grass up in the yard, his snout all covered in dirt, and give us a "what?" look when I'd yell about the grass being ripped up lol he would fall asleep in the living room and around 12am, like clockwork, we would wake up to the sound of his feet scurrying across the hardwood floors to come climb into our bed. And I never thought I'd say this but I think I'm going to miss how much our dog farted and how he startled himself with his own farts and how he'd fart, immediately make eye contact with us to see if we noticed and then quickly look away. We have 2 other pets but I don't think I will get anymore ever again. I'm afraid to go through this feeling again with our current pets and I just can't imagine adding to it. It literally feels like my heart has been stepped on.
Anyways, a long sad day and 2 days of very little sleep. I just wanted to talk about him and how much we miss him.
(P.s. if you have a dog with Lymes Disease, I would encourage you to do tons of research and just be aware of symptoms that could be linked to it so you can be better prepared and more knowledgeable than we were. I think the Lymes was a factor in his death.)
A little backstory: We adopted our dog and later on at a wellness check, he tested positive for Lymes. We were told there was no way to know exactly when he was bitten but were given doxycycline for antibiotic therapy.
We do the antibiotic treatment and all seems well (this was a few years ago).
Fast forward to a few nights ago he wasn't interested in eating. I kept an eye on him, and noticed that he was drinking a decent amount of water. I took him out to go to the bathroom and he wouldn't come in. He just laid in the yard. I finally coaxed him back in and he went into the bathroom and laid next to the tub, which he never laid in the bathroom or anywhere alone - he always laid with one of us or the kids or our other dog or our cat.
I called the vet and the soonest we could be seen was a week and a half. He was still getting up and going to the bathroom so we kept an eye on him and thought by morning he'd feel a little better and eat. Morning comes, and he still won't eat and is still drinking excessively. Except now he wont even get up to pee and peed on himself instead. And his breathing starts speeding up and becoming shallow and just inconsistent. We call the emergency vet and they ask me the color of his gums (?) and say they could do an exam. I run to the store for gas while my husband gets ready and by the time I get back - my husband is standing at the door with tears in his eyes. And he says, "he didn't make it." I walk into the house to find our pups lifeless body. He said shortly after I left, our pup seemed to be gasping for air and taking long drawn in breaths and then all of a sudden stopped.
His health just seemed to deteriorate so fast. And it is just an awful level of heartbreak. I just keep feeling this overwhelming sense of guilt, like I could have done something or acted quicker. He was alive for about 11 years, with us for about 7 and it just feels like the time went so fast.
He was such a loving dog and a bulldozer all in one. He would push all of his weight against you (all 100lbs, he is a large breed!) and nearly suffocate you in the morning as his means to signal that he needed to go potty. He would dig grass up in the yard, his snout all covered in dirt, and give us a "what?" look when I'd yell about the grass being ripped up lol he would fall asleep in the living room and around 12am, like clockwork, we would wake up to the sound of his feet scurrying across the hardwood floors to come climb into our bed. And I never thought I'd say this but I think I'm going to miss how much our dog farted and how he startled himself with his own farts and how he'd fart, immediately make eye contact with us to see if we noticed and then quickly look away. We have 2 other pets but I don't think I will get anymore ever again. I'm afraid to go through this feeling again with our current pets and I just can't imagine adding to it. It literally feels like my heart has been stepped on.
Anyways, a long sad day and 2 days of very little sleep. I just wanted to talk about him and how much we miss him.
(P.s. if you have a dog with Lymes Disease, I would encourage you to do tons of research and just be aware of symptoms that could be linked to it so you can be better prepared and more knowledgeable than we were. I think the Lymes was a factor in his death.)