Comments on: (St)wrung Out

By: Focalized Numbness | Parsing Nonsense

Focalized Numbness | Parsing Nonsense — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 00:05:51 +0000

[...] Professional blogs Focalized Numbness Monday, November 02nd, 2009 | Author: Erika This sounds really dumb but I really freaking wish tough decisions weren’t so freaking tough. Wes and I spent all weekend discussing what to do with our beloved Doc Holliday and are no closer to a decision today than we were last week when I wrote about it. [...]

By: Erika

Erika — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 17:00:33 +0000

-Blanche, Beautifully put. He does have a really big heart, silly dog…

By: Blanche

Blanche — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 14:47:19 +0000

No, you, like the rest of us are human. Just like Doc isn’t perfect, neither are the rest of us. I have to agree with Wes, he’ll let you know when he’s had enough. And maybe with his big heart he can go longer than you would go yourself in his position.

Poor guy. And poor you.

By: Erika

Erika — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 05:07:45 +0000

-sparklytosingle, Good points. The hard thing with Doc is that he’s a tank. After his first rock removal surgery, when he had a huge incision and stitches and pain, he still ran around and played and acted like nothing happened. Even now, with his arthritis, he’ll run like nothing’s wrong and then pay for it by limping for days.

By: sparklytosingle

sparklytosingle — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:57:28 +0000

No you are definitely not a bad person. Any compassionate person would find it hard to watch their dog struggle and hurt. But I’m also with Wes on this one. I think dogs let you know when they are done with life, and it’s not right to put them to sleep before that point. As much as it hurts you to watch him struggle – and I hope this doesn’t sound harsh, but it must be said – this isn’t about you. It’s not your life. If your *dog* is not done living his life then you should let him keep living it, even if it’s sad to you that he’s not living the life you’d hoped he would have.

By: Erika

Erika — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 04:18:01 +0000

-SandyPie, The sad thing is, Doc is only two years old! Not even two and a half! We’ve had a tragic odyssey with him. When we brought him home he had severe kennel cough and was on antibiotics for two months. Tons of x-rays and vet bills there.

Then, when he got a little older he started eating everything and we had to have two surgeries for him to get giant objects removed from his stomach.

Then, after we figured out how to keep him safe from himself, he tore his ACL and developed arthritis in his hips. As you can see, way too many problems for a two year old dog!

We will definitely take a wait and see approach with him. We’re giving him until Sunday to show improvement, if he’s still in pain by then we’ll start discussing options. It’s just so hard to make those big decisions for the dogs you love, don’t you think?

By: SandyPie

SandyPie — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:11:23 +0000

My old lady dog was having some problems a few years ago after she’d had surgery to remove basically a tumor befind her front ‘shoulder’ and I started bracing myself for the inevitable that she was going to be gone soon after that, but 4 years later she’s still hanging in there, she’s 13 now. But our other perfectly healthy young australian shepard died suddenly from liver failure, just died. No presick symptoms or anything. So you just never know, but the point I wanted to make is that the old dog is still hanging in there, some days you just gotta give senior dogs a break, and if they don’t go out but twice a day then that’s all they are going to do. (It’s like having and old person living with you.) If they are still getting around when THEY want to and acknowledge you and can play on their choosing, then I think they still have quality of life, it’s just hard to watch them you think they may be hurting. But Cesar says dog live in the moment so don’t feel guilt about not ending it for them. Just wait and see what happens and maybe he just needs a few days of extra rest. Hang in there!

By: Erika

Erika — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:30:10 +0000

-Nancy, You know? That’s an excellent point. It’s really easy to forget that the pregnancy hormones OF MADNESS are not permanent, though they have a way of feeling all-encompassing, don’t they? Thanks for pointing this out :)

By: Nancy

Nancy — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:25:28 +0000

It doesn’t make you a bad person, but in this case, I’m on Wes’ side. It makes the heart hurt, it does, to watch a pet become limited in their day-to-day mobility, but I think it’s compounded even more by all the pregnancy emotions. I know it’s annoying when people constantly chalk it up to hormones, but I think, in this case, it’s really true– I was a sobbing mess during my first pregnancy, and the second time around is no different. A friend recently reminded me that I should not be making any big emotional decisions right now, and so I offer the same reminder to you…