Ch. Sweet Sadie Sunshine 04.04.07 Options

[Sadies_Daddy]

New member here -

Last nite I had to authorize the euthanasia of a very special family member - 8 year Sadie, a brindle boxer.

Two nites ago, Sadie started to have issues sleeping and seemed to be up all nite and couldn't get comfortable. The next morning while I was walking her she seemed like it was the last thing in the world she wanted to do.

I asked my wife to make sure during the day that she kept on eye on her, thinking she might have the flu or something. However, just before I left Sadie urinated on the floor and it was dark brown in color and very pungent.

Naturally, I thought this was the onset of a UTI. My wife took Sadie to the vet. After many tests and a lot f confusion we determined Sadie was probably suffering from Autoimmune Hemlolytic Anemia - her body was attacking her red blood cells.

Sadie was transported to a critical care facility and over nite took a turn for the worse. The blood transfusion and immunosupressive therapy didn't stablize her. The vet said it could take up to a week of work to get her better and then there were no guarantees. She would only ever have a 50 50 chance of survival and then chances are we would be right back here again a month.

I am feeling pretty low that I authorized the death of someone very dear to me. I came home last nite and wanted to be greeted by a short snubby tail wagging and her contorted into a "bean".

I haven't thrown anything out. I am not sure I can as I don't want to say goodbye. All of us at home feel quite upset and wish there had been other alternatives, but neither us nor the doctors saw any.

I miss my Sweet Sadie Sunshine.

Thanks for listening.

[Sadies_Mama]

Thanks to everyone for your kind words. We are coping -- not great, not horrible -- just coping. Still crying a lot today (Friday), not quite 48 hours later.

We were frantic this morning as we realized that there was an issue with our home PC and precious recent photos of our girl may be gone. We are more hopeful now that the drive can be resurrected and the photos saved.

The house is just so quiet. And I miss her the most during the day, when I work from home and no one else is here. Even if it was just an absent-minded scratch or pat as I typed during the workday, I didn't realize how much I relied on her for companionship until it was gone. Isn't that always the way?

Gentle hugs and prayers to those facing the same loneliness that Sadies_Daddy and I are dealing with.