Kevin's Watch

exnihilo wrote:Sad news... they found out she has cancer and they had to put her down today. Thanks for all the sympathetic messages on here, I really appreciate it.

Rachel,

We took Pookie to see the vet this morning at 8:30. She wasn't feeling good at all last night and we were very concerned. We were petting her and Nibbles [a very fat, irritable, and mischevious cat they have] was licking her ears. This morning, Pookie went into the living room, and I saw Nibs in there licking her head, trying to make her feel better.

I had called the vet early to see if I could see her and they wouldn't confirm it, so I called Holly at home (and she didn't mind) and met us there. She took xrays and found a mass under her spine which looked cancerous and pushing against her stomach causing her not to eat and giving her indigestion.

Holly called us and told us and said the prognosis wasn't good. We could have opted for surgery but she did not recommend it based her experience and the likelyhood that she would open Pookie up and then have to put her to sleep on the table. She asked us to call her back when we decided. So we went and prayed and cried and cried and prayed and cried and cried and talked about what was best for Pookie and would not be selfish of us. Then we decided that we needed to go on and do it because she couldn't enjoy her life as it was and leaving her over there today would cause her unnecessary emotional suffering. So we called Holly back and told her we were coming and she wholeheartedly agreed that it was the right thing to do.

so, we took her soft bed and the canvass cover off the dog bed under her big pillow and went to the vets. They brought her in and she was glad to see us. We all got down on the floor and got her to sit on her pillow, while Holly administered the drug through the port she had put in her to give her liquids. I was balling my eyes out and Dad was crying too, petting her, kissing her and telling her he loved her. I was holding her head and crying and talking to her. She passed very peacefully and quickly. Then we brought her home and buried her behind the swingset by the fence (and next to where we planted our cedar tree from Christmas). We put her collar and a chew bone in with her and petted her some more. Then placed a white rose from the ones Dad bought me the other day on her grave and I put a green Easter Egg "stake" at the top of her grave. Me, dad and WTM stood by and Dad said a prayer thanking God for her and telling her we'd see her again. My basic prayer is and was: the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. She was a great gift, Rachel. Thank you for bringing our one and only daughter dog into our life. She was nothing but a joy and pleasure with her unquestioning love and deep devotion and affection for us. I will always think of the "threesome" that we made when no one else was around. It was a very private thing and she lived to be with just me and Dad. We will miss her and her ways more than words can say for a long time. There will be no more because we had the best. Pookie.

love, Mom

exnihilo wrote:I guess what I don't understand is why dogs don't live longer than they do. It isn't fair to have to love them and lose them that way (and I hate what it is doing to my parents). But they say it's better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all. It just doesn't feel that way when you know the loss is getting a whole lot closer.

exnihilo wrote:Creator, I am sorry to hear that, it has to be extra hard to watch your children grieve like that. My condolences.

Thank you all, you are so kind. I really appreciate the group hugs as I have shed some tears today. I think as a memorial to Pookie I will post the contents of an email from my mother (written to my sister, but cc to me) about the situation. You will be able to tell just how much she meant to all of us.

Rachel,

We took Pookie to see the vet this morning at 8:30. She wasn't feeling good at all last night and we were very concerned. We were petting her and Nibbles [a very fat, irritable, and mischevious cat they have] was licking her ears. This morning, Pookie went into the living room, and I saw Nibs in there licking her head, trying to make her feel better.

I had called the vet early to see if I could see her and they wouldn't confirm it, so I called Holly at home (and she didn't mind) and met us there. She took xrays and found a mass under her spine which looked cancerous and pushing against her stomach causing her not to eat and giving her indigestion.

Holly called us and told us and said the prognosis wasn't good. We could have opted for surgery but she did not recommend it based her experience and the likelyhood that she would open Pookie up and then have to put her to sleep on the table. She asked us to call her back when we decided. So we went and prayed and cried and cried and prayed and cried and cried and talked about what was best for Pookie and would not be selfish of us. Then we decided that we needed to go on and do it because she couldn't enjoy her life as it was and leaving her over there today would cause her unnecessary emotional suffering. So we called Holly back and told her we were coming and she wholeheartedly agreed that it was the right thing to do.

so, we took her soft bed and the canvass cover off the dog bed under her big pillow and went to the vets. They brought her in and she was glad to see us. We all got down on the floor and got her to sit on her pillow, while Holly administered the drug through the port she had put in her to give her liquids. I was balling my eyes out and Dad was crying too, petting her, kissing her and telling her he loved her. I was holding her head and crying and talking to her. She passed very peacefully and quickly. Then we brought her home and buried her behind the swingset by the fence (and next to where we planted our cedar tree from Christmas). We put her collar and a chew bone in with her and petted her some more. Then placed a white rose from the ones Dad bought me the other day on her grave and I put a green Easter Egg "stake" at the top of her grave. Me, dad and WTM stood by and Dad said a prayer thanking God for her and telling her we'd see her again. My basic prayer is and was: the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. She was a great gift, Rachel. Thank you for bringing our one and only daughter dog into our life. She was nothing but a joy and pleasure with her unquestioning love and deep devotion and affection for us. I will always think of the "threesome" that we made when no one else was around. It was a very private thing and she lived to be with just me and Dad. We will miss her and her ways more than words can say for a long time. There will be no more because we had the best. Pookie.

love, Mom