Saturday night we discovered our precious little disabled sheltie, Sadie, despite the whirlpools, and physical therapy she received every day, had developed blood clots in her hind legs and kidneys, and her left leg was gangrenous. We had no choice.

We were criticized for not putting her to sleep when she went down. But she fought back from near death and we were willing to do anything we could for her as long as she wanted to stay with us. For two happy years everything went fine...and so many times she was so close to getting up again. She was so brave, and so cheerful, and then this happened to her and none of us had a choice.

We miss her so.

I am so sorry for your loss

I lost my baby girl two weeks ago suddenly due to complications with her pregnancy. I don't know what is worse losing them without warning or having to watch them deteriorate. With her puppies to take care of I have had to go on regardless of the grief I have felt and it has gotten a little better.

It is always so hard to lose any pet, but when you are extra close to them it is devistating. I hope you can be comforted that Sadie is now in a place where she can be whole again. I am not sure if you believe in eternal life, but I do and I know I will see my Niko again and you will be with Sadie again some day.

I hope my words have brought some comfort as others have done for me. She looks like she was a very sweet dog.

Lisa
"Niko's Mom"

Lisa,

Thanks so much for the kind words of support...I do believe in eternal life, and I know that Sadie is being cared for by her grandmother, who we lost in Feb, and guarded by our precious Mack , who died last Sept. And I will see them all again.


I'm so sorry about your Niko...it's unbearable, whether they go suddenly or slowly.

I'll try to post some pictures of Sadie. She was my little tough girl...fierce and fearless, but sweet as she could be.

Thanks again,
Mack and Sadie's mom
Dayna

First of all let me say that I feel very angry that anyone should "criticize" someone for not making the decision to let their pet go sooner. Of all the nerve......How can a Gaurdian of one of Gods great creatures be expected to know just when the right time is when you love something so much!?!? The love one has for their furry friend is nothing short of miraculous if one were to sit and ponder the thought. Obviously whoever criticized you did not and I hope that they have no animal in their care. I can't imagine piecing together in the same sentence such callous words.

You did what you did out of love. You gave your friend every opportunity...every fighting chance but together the battle was lost and the the Minister of Doom came and took your Baby.

I salute you folks for your valiant efforts.

Be kind to yourselves.
Distance yourself from those that you speak of in your post, they will diminish your chance for a decent reprieve from the sickening grief you no doubt feel.

Write much and come here often.

I will be thinking of you.

Dayna, I think that you are a remarkable person for doing all that you did for Sadie. What you did for her speaks in volumns of the love that you had for her. I'm sorry for your loss and the pain that you are in. Take care k9pal

I'm so sorry that you had to let your sweet Sadie go, but she is in a place where there is no pain. I'm not sure I could be as strong as you. As far as people criticizing, ignore them.

You are with people who care, and love companion animals in the forum, this is the best place for you to let your feelings out.

Take Care

First I want to thank you all for your support and comfort...since my magnificent Mack died in Sept of last year the kind hearts of this forum have been a godsend to me.

I actually have some respect for the people who had the courage to ask me if we were keeping Sadie with us for our sake or hers. The answer was it was Sadie's choice. Had she not wanted to stay with us she certainly would have died from complications of the embolism in her spine that impaired her use of her hind legs.

The people who really disgusted me were the ones whose facial expressions and body language betrayed distaste for Sadie's condition. "Oh, you have a crippled dog " their expression said. No...we have one more day with this spirited, loving, happy little being who just happens to need a little help to get around.

Our time ran out, but I don't regret one minute or begrudge one dime. Sadie was a blessing and a joy every minute of her life. I just hope we deserved her devotion.

Mack and Sadie's mom,
Dayna

Dayna,

I am so sorry for your loss of your most precious fur baby Sadie. She was so fortunate to be in such a loving family.

I can understand how the comments from people were hurtful. But your reply to them was perfect. Despite Sadie's disablity she still had a zest for life. The reason I can relate is because my lab/whippet mix Abby had leg problems. She was such a bouncy dog all of her life and developed arthritis in her hips/legs. In her later years she still played and went for walks. When Abby turned 11 I adopted Lizzy who I wrote about in my other post. Abby made sure Lizzy knew she was the boss..she would bark at her if she got out of line. LOL! Abby's legs began to give out on her and I would just pick her up when she needed a hand. People told me I should just put her down. I said Abby's not ready to go yet and she'll tell me when she's ready. She lived a long life and went to Heaven at 17.

We know our pet's better then anyone else...so don't be bothered by people's rude comment's.

May the happy memories with Sadie comfort you through your pain.

Nancy

Dear myhrtisbrkn,

I am so sorry for your loss. No one should criticize you for trying to save Sadie. You really sound like you put in a lot of time and effort to help her, and that gave Sadie the chance for even more love. You're a great person for being so devoted and loving to her, and I wish that I could be half of the caring person you are. You sacrificed your own energy and emotions to help her, and that takes a lot of courage and patience.

Please take care and I hope you may heal soon.

-Daisysmom13

Dear myhrtisbrkn, While you may have had to endure the criticism of the clueless, let me tell you that your Sadie felt how much you loved her and couldn't bear to be without her throughout. Now that is worth much more than the words of those who dont know better. You did your best, more than your best, be proud that your love was there and that your devotion was at Sadie's level rather than at the level of the critics. My heart goes to you, you were bigger than life about Sadie.

myhrtisbrkn,
I'm, so so sorry for your loss. People that don't have a true heart for animals can never understand. I hate to be harsh but sometimes I wonder if people like that have a heart at all for anything but themselves. So sad. Just know that we do understand. I'm so sorry that Sadie had to leave. I know the devastation that you are feeling from the loss of my own precious Sadie. Maybe they are somewhere playing together.

Take care
John

Dear Dayna,
I am so sorry for your loss, I am so partial to Shelties, we had one growing up, Alfie, who I hold dear in my heart, and my sister has raised three, and has a new baby right now, they are such wonderful dogs, don't even respond to people that don't understand, you know you did what was right when it was right for your Sadie, only you knew her situation, its none of anyone else's business. I am exceptionally sensitive because I work with kids who are disabled, and I'll tell you sometimes you get the weirdest response from people that don't understand, these are all kids that are children; sisters, brothers, grandchildren or step-children, people can't get over the label, and see them as just as worthy as typical kids. I am sure its the same with pets with disabilies, well good for you for caring and loving your Sadie and giving her all she deserved, we have all seen the dogs with three legs, are they any less worthy than those with four, but many people don't see it that way. I just am thankful for people like you that are out there to be blessed with the care of those dear dogs souls who need them. Don't let others who are losers ever hurt your feelings, your Sadie sounds like a dear girl...can you post a picture of her too? I'd love to see her face, anyway I guess I'll stop my ranting now, it just really kills me when people can be so insensitive and rude.
God Bless you, and prayers for your pain right now, Tory, Hrudey, Frank and Auggie's Momma.

I know this is a slghtly older post but it was the first time I saw it so hope no one minds me replying.

People ae SO IGNORANT! When you spoke of the criticism for not putting her down it reminded me of the @#%&@ emergency room doctor who treated my Miss Kitty in her last hour here. We had spent all day at the regular vets giving her supportive care, as they put it there, to give her every chance. See, this cat had come through SO MUCH and was still here despite so many odds. Yes, it was clear that HER will was involved or theres no way she'd have made it through half of what she did.

However, that being said, I have in a way been forced to rethink at least part of how I was viewing things. Certain things have happened and come up along the way since her passing and I've gotten a few clues that while she did indeed very much want to stick around and all that, at least some degree of that was likely NOT purely that she wanted to stick around for HERSELF but quite likely for me. No, not just for me per se, but also because of wanting to be with me and continue our relationship as always. She was very much mommy's girl and had SO MUCH LOVE for me. I think she didn't want to leave me alone. I also think that she might well have left sooner but I kept on finding solutions to things. Not that that was a bad thing or anything but looking back on it, it is almost funny in a way. Here she would come down with this massive ailment that of COURSE there would be no surviving it - and there I'd go, finding yet another way to make things work out again. And I do think she was more than happy to go along with it but it may well have been far more for me and for my sake than purely for her own. Now should someone deny another being the opportunity to live for love's sake? No, I definitely do not think so. But towards the end, that was pretty much ALL she had left. And yes, thats a LOT! But she was missing so many of the individually personally enriching things in her life - being able to run, being able to hear well, being able to see well. And thus, while I think she was living for love's sake, she was also missing out. And when she would more or less try to make a graceful exit, well here would come mommy with a Great Plan for a solution again!

Don't get me wrong here, she was not in pain nor was she actively suffering. She just was losing things important to her over time. Anyways, the thing that struck me was that the day she went, she had in many ways, a mystery condition. Her blood pressure had dropped to 50. She had decided that morning that she no longer needed food. Yet when checked out and blood tested and such, there was nothing in particular that dramatically wrong. She was bottoming out but there was no clear reason why. Thus we had no way of coming up with the new Great Plan to fix things. It was also clear that day though, that she wasn't in any hurry to go anywhere so we all felt it important to give her all possible supportive care so that if SHE chose, she could stick around yet again. I think in many ways, right up through the end of that day, that she was indeed choosing to stick around. I think she easily would have for quite some time. But she was also tired and tired of not being able to do things HER way. Thus what I saw for most of that day, was a dear sweet little kitty simply hanging with us, not particularly making a decision one way or another. It was almost like she was just sitting there all day saying "whatever!" She was not trying to GO but that day, I did not see her fighting to STAY either. She was sorta okay whichever it seemed.

Now, had I realized some of this sooner, would I maybe have encouraged her to go ahead and go weeks or even months earlier? Yeah, maybe I would have. But she didn't let me know that so much of her will to live was for me so I had no way to know that. We loved each other very much and I think we just wanted the best for one another even if it might not have been the best for each of us in other contexts. Should one deny that kind of expression of love? No. And people who want to cut such things short in the name of doing right by the animal - the kind who will criticize others for not doing so I mean - well, I think sometimes they arent so much wanting to put the animal down for the animal's sake but rather for their own sake because THEY cant stand it. And that too is valid and sad but sometimes I think it robs both they and the animal of sharing some of the deepest love.

Anyways, one needs to do what seems right within the context of THEIR relationship with THEIR animal and people just dont have the right to say different decisions should be made because they aren't the ones living it. They aren't the ones in that relationship therefore they are always going to be speaking from a vantage point of ignorance when they say such things.

Oh and I also wanted to mention this - I dont know if you still have her cart or not but there are some places where people donate items like that for pets who's families cannot afford to get them a cart. If you bought her cart from a particular place, often they keep on hand a list of available ones in case someone calls needing to try to get a donated one. So if you still have it and aren't set on keeping it no matter what, you might want to check out some of the need listings on some of the handicapped pets boards. (And if you just need to keep it, for a while or permanently, you aren't terrible and selfish for doing so.)

Devastated,

My husband and I have been discussing to whom to donate the cart. At the moment its between the veterinary reaching hospital who treated her or maybe a sheltie rescue since it might fit another sheltie. We welcome any suggestions.

I certainly take your point about what our babies will endure just to stay with us.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your precious one.

Dayna

Hello,

Please don't hold on to the words of your friend. Many people don't understand keeping our pets comfortable. Please beleive me when I say they will tell you when it's time.

If I could have one more minute with any of my animals without them being in pain I would.

The specialist I took my Aspen to gave me a choice. He said it would not be the wrong thing to do to put her to sleep. He proceeded to tell me that she was comfortable...and not in pain. I just couldn't prepare myself to leave her. I need a little more time together. She is happy to be home and comfortable. She'll let me know when its time.

Pepe Aspen Chevis and Amoco's dad

Pepe's Dad,

I'll be remembering you and Aspen in my prayers. I have a 23 year old cat myself. Fortunately he is doing quite well, but I watch him continually for signs that he is tired.

Thanks for the encouragement,
Dayna