Jake Options

[Cass]

Well here is my story. I woke up a week ago on tuesday to a day I will never forgot. I have two dogs Jake and Sandy. Jake is a 11.5 year old German Shephard mix and Sandy is a 7 year old lab mix. I have 3 kids ages 2, 5, and 6. I got my young kids off to school. I noticed in the morning that Jake had thrown up a few times. I was not alarmed. He threw up once in a while. I let the dogs out and then took my kids to the bus stop. When I came home I went to let the dogs in. Sandy came in, but not Jake. I went to see what he was doing. He was not hearing as well as he once had. He was laying with his head up enjoying the cool air. So I said come on Jake. Grabbed his collar and he got up like usual, came up on the porch and came into the house and laid down.
I thought he didn't really look right.. I called my husband and mentioned it to him. He said call the vets and keep and eye on him. My husband had seen the dog 20 minutes prior. I thought ok. The vets weren't open, so I was thinking lets go in the car Jake. I got his leash and he got up and then jumped in the back of my SUV. We drove down the street a little and stopped for a minute. He stood up as he often did when he thought we were at our destination. I went home and he jumped out the car. I then wanted to see if he wanted to go for a walk. He laid down like he was tired. I thought ok maybe he is tired. I went inside and he laid down and drank some water. I then thought ok. Well maybe I was wrong, and figured he was just tired. He didn't try to vomit or anything. My daughter and I then left to run some errands and when I returned he was laying at the bottom of our stairs. I called my husband and said he didn't look good. I called the vets and said the same. They said they could get him in at 430. By this time it was 130. I thought the dog was hot and went downstairs where it was cool. He often laid around, so I was thinking maybe he is just not feeling well. Aside from being overweight. The only other thing was that Jake would breathe heavy at night and often lick his paws alot. The vet called back and asked if I could bring him in at 330. I said I would. My son had a dental about at that time. I called to cancel his appt. I was thinking ok the vet didn't say much so I must be overreacting. My husband came home at 330 and we had to lift Jake in the car. Which was not easy, he was a good 95 plus pounds. The vets was a few minutes away. She asked us info and came to the car to look at him. Said he was laid out. He had a fever. She didn't seem too concerned. We carried him inside, where she administered fluids, antibiotics and pain med. She said she would do blood work and call us in 30 minutes with the results. Well a little over 2 hours later, she called to say that he had died. She said his white blood cells were elevated and his calcium was high. She mentioned something of toxins in his body. She said that he came around for 20 minutes or so and snapped at flies and thenn put his head down and that was it.
She never mentioned anything about xrays. She said it could have been bloat. But really said that she wasn't sure. I never noticed his stomach swelling. He had a big chest and was overweight to begin with.
Now I am beside myself. I feel tremendous guilt about leaving him at the house, while I ran out. I should of went with my gut feeling. I should've taken him in the morning somewhere. Anywhere. I just thought well he probably just tired. He didn't cry,moan, or walk around like he was in pain. He laid down put his head up, drank some water and put his head down like he always did. I never thought he was going to die.
I am not sure if anyone else has any input as to what it could be, but anything would be appreciative.
I just don't know how to get over the overwhelming feeling of grief and guilt that I have. I had Jake for the last 10 years. I had him before my husband and children came along. I spoiled him before I met my husband, and we spoiled him after we met. He went through 4 states with us as we moved around. I feel so empty with out him here