RIP Meggie
Unfortunately, last weekend we had to say our last goodbyes to our sweet dog, Meg. She was almost 12 years old. She'd been having some weird liver problems for over a year now, but it seemed to be under control and the vet said she was hoping we'd get 3 more good years out of Meg. No such luck.
Last Friday when it had started to snow (#SNOWZILLA) she went out with my husband and was playing in the snow and catching snowballs and having a lot of fun. About an hour later she was whining and begging at the door to go out -- we assumed she just wanted to go out and play, but a while later we discovered she had pooped under the table. So we felt bad about that and she seemed really ashamed, but she seemed otherwise ok so we just went about our business and went to bed.
Woke up Saturday morning she was sleeping in a puddle of vomit on her bed. We'd actually had a REALLY nasty stomach bug the previous weekend, and on Thursday she'd eaten a bag of our paper towels/kleenex that we'd used to clean our mess ... evidence says that the bug can be passed to dogs, so we assumed she'd caught that and it'd be 8-12 hours of misery like we had but then she'd be fine. So we watched her all day, kept her lying on puppy pads because it started coming out both ends, and cleaned up after her. That night she still wasn't doing well, so we called the emergency vet to ask for advice, they said try to get her to drink (she never did, no water, we even tried to get her to eat some ice or snow thinking it would feel good in her mouth but she wouldn't have any of it). They said we needed to do whatever we could to get her in because dogs don't do well with dehydration. But of course, there was more than 2 feet of snow on the ground, and it was still coming down... the chances of us getting out were zero.
My husband stayed up with her all night, still vomiting and diarrhea. Sunday morning first thing he called the county to see when we might get plowed out so we could take her to the vet. They said Tuesday, he was really upset, they said maybe they could try to prioritize our street, they'd check and call back. I tweeted to the County Govt and EMT asking them to retweet to try to get some nice person with a big truck to help. I went around and asked our neighbors if anyone knew anyone with a big truck, but no one did. I noted that there was a set of large truck tires that had made its way through the snow on our road, so I bundled up and just followed the tire tracks hoping that I'd find a big truck at the end. I did, and the guy was super nice and agreed to try and get us out of the neighborhood to the vet, which he did just taking my husband and Meg while I stayed with the baby.
But it was too late, by the time they got there, her kidneys had completely failed and her liver values were off the charts. I left the baby with the neighbor and the vet kept Meg stable so the truck guy could come back and get me and both of us could say goodbyes and be with her at the end. Not an easy thing to do.
I keep wondering, "what if" we had gotten there sooner, but of course that doesn't change anything. And she was old, and had liver problems anyway, so this may have just been the end of that progression. It was just so sudden and she'd had a great appetite and a lot of energy right through Friday afternoon. The vet said maybe in romping around in the snow she knocked loose a blood clot or shifted an organ which just kicked it all off :/
I feel so awful still about Friday when she wanted to go outside and we didn't let her because we thought she "just" wanted to play. We just kept telling her "we'll get to play tomorrow, Meg." "There will be so much more snow to play in tomorrow!" But of course, tomorrow never happened. I feel awful because she had to poop inside because we wouldn't let her out. But I also feel awful because if I'd have known it was the end of her life, I would have taken her out to play as much as she wanted.
Why do we put things off until tomorrow? What if tomorrow doesn't happen? It caused me to prioritize taking the baby out in the snow to get pictures.
And I also started thinking about perception. When I was riding in the truck, we got the most evil glares from people who were out shoveling or playing in the snow. One guy even yelled at us to get off the road. Everyone HAD been told by the local authorities to stay off the roads so the plows and emergency vehicles could get through. And I know that had everything been going well in my life, I probably would have been muttering under my breath about the "idiots" in the big truck who were out on the roads when they shouldn't have been. Makes me really think -- maybe those "idiots" aren't just out for a joy ride. We should learn to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Similarly, it turns out the really nice guy with the big truck is the same guy I have been cursing every night at 3am since I moved in - his big truck is really loud when he comes home, and also he plays music with loud bass. But he was so nice, and even sat around at the vet for an hour waiting for us... I won't curse him anymore.
Last Friday when it had started to snow (#SNOWZILLA) she went out with my husband and was playing in the snow and catching snowballs and having a lot of fun. About an hour later she was whining and begging at the door to go out -- we assumed she just wanted to go out and play, but a while later we discovered she had pooped under the table. So we felt bad about that and she seemed really ashamed, but she seemed otherwise ok so we just went about our business and went to bed.
Woke up Saturday morning she was sleeping in a puddle of vomit on her bed. We'd actually had a REALLY nasty stomach bug the previous weekend, and on Thursday she'd eaten a bag of our paper towels/kleenex that we'd used to clean our mess ... evidence says that the bug can be passed to dogs, so we assumed she'd caught that and it'd be 8-12 hours of misery like we had but then she'd be fine. So we watched her all day, kept her lying on puppy pads because it started coming out both ends, and cleaned up after her. That night she still wasn't doing well, so we called the emergency vet to ask for advice, they said try to get her to drink (she never did, no water, we even tried to get her to eat some ice or snow thinking it would feel good in her mouth but she wouldn't have any of it). They said we needed to do whatever we could to get her in because dogs don't do well with dehydration. But of course, there was more than 2 feet of snow on the ground, and it was still coming down... the chances of us getting out were zero.
My husband stayed up with her all night, still vomiting and diarrhea. Sunday morning first thing he called the county to see when we might get plowed out so we could take her to the vet. They said Tuesday, he was really upset, they said maybe they could try to prioritize our street, they'd check and call back. I tweeted to the County Govt and EMT asking them to retweet to try to get some nice person with a big truck to help. I went around and asked our neighbors if anyone knew anyone with a big truck, but no one did. I noted that there was a set of large truck tires that had made its way through the snow on our road, so I bundled up and just followed the tire tracks hoping that I'd find a big truck at the end. I did, and the guy was super nice and agreed to try and get us out of the neighborhood to the vet, which he did just taking my husband and Meg while I stayed with the baby.
But it was too late, by the time they got there, her kidneys had completely failed and her liver values were off the charts. I left the baby with the neighbor and the vet kept Meg stable so the truck guy could come back and get me and both of us could say goodbyes and be with her at the end. Not an easy thing to do.
I keep wondering, "what if" we had gotten there sooner, but of course that doesn't change anything. And she was old, and had liver problems anyway, so this may have just been the end of that progression. It was just so sudden and she'd had a great appetite and a lot of energy right through Friday afternoon. The vet said maybe in romping around in the snow she knocked loose a blood clot or shifted an organ which just kicked it all off :/
I feel so awful still about Friday when she wanted to go outside and we didn't let her because we thought she "just" wanted to play. We just kept telling her "we'll get to play tomorrow, Meg." "There will be so much more snow to play in tomorrow!" But of course, tomorrow never happened. I feel awful because she had to poop inside because we wouldn't let her out. But I also feel awful because if I'd have known it was the end of her life, I would have taken her out to play as much as she wanted.
Why do we put things off until tomorrow? What if tomorrow doesn't happen? It caused me to prioritize taking the baby out in the snow to get pictures.
And I also started thinking about perception. When I was riding in the truck, we got the most evil glares from people who were out shoveling or playing in the snow. One guy even yelled at us to get off the road. Everyone HAD been told by the local authorities to stay off the roads so the plows and emergency vehicles could get through. And I know that had everything been going well in my life, I probably would have been muttering under my breath about the "idiots" in the big truck who were out on the roads when they shouldn't have been. Makes me really think -- maybe those "idiots" aren't just out for a joy ride. We should learn to give people the benefit of the doubt.
Similarly, it turns out the really nice guy with the big truck is the same guy I have been cursing every night at 3am since I moved in - his big truck is really loud when he comes home, and also he plays music with loud bass. But he was so nice, and even sat around at the vet for an hour waiting for us... I won't curse him anymore.