April 8, 2006
This all just happened so fast, I’m still in disbelief and do not believe you are gone. You are so special -such a unique dog- you will be so missed. You were such a “needy” dog, love was never enough for you, you always needed more.
We got up this morning (Sat., April 8, 2006) and Sean said that he didn’t seem right-Sean was up before I was. This was around 9:30am. I picked up Randy, he wouldn’t come to me like usual, he just layed down. I took him outside and he layed down again, he would not go to the bathroom, just real lethargic and his heart rate was really fast and so was his breathing, not normal. So, we went to the 24 hour animal hospital.
The vet saw him and said his temp. was 103.6 and his heart rate was over 150-normal is around 120. The vet. said his gums were ‘tacky’ which meant that he was dehydrated. She said the 1st step would be an x-ray of his heart/lungs, if the heart wasn’t enlarged the next step would be blood work. The x-rays were taken and we stayed at the hosp. for several hours for the results, she showed them to us, his heart and lungs were good, so she went ahead and did x-rays of his intestinal tract and internal organs.
The x-ray showed that he had an enlarged liver-which wasn’t good. She recommended blood work at that point and would not have the results back for approximately 4-5 hrs.-so we spent some time with Randy and went home to grab a quick bite for lunch. In the meantime, she suggested an IV with fluids for the dehydration.
She called us about 30 minutes after we got home and said the results were back already and very concerning. A number of things were very serious she said. She went in to alot of big words and what the numbers meant from the blood work that was done and the bottom line was 1 of 2 things-an auto immune disease of “sorts” meaning his red blood cells were destroying his white blood cells-there were several different diseases that it could be, or possibly some type
of general cancer, or liver cancer.
She advised that he needed a blood transfusion right away due to his own blood cells destroying themselves. She said that the next step would be an ultrasound of his liver to determine the extent of a type of cancer. I was, and am, against putting an animal through any kind of suffering, I did not want him to go through a blood transfusion whatsoever-none of what she said was positive at all regarding his condition. The vet felt that due to the results of his blood work he would need a minimum of 3 blood transfusions before anything could be determined regarding the situation with his immune system and that she could not guarantee anything. So, I told Sean I did not want him suffering, no matter what, whether it be from a disease or even being poked and poked for blood transfusions-dogs don’t understand that stuff and we will never know the extent of their pain. Based on what the vet said about his blood work he would likely not make it 24 hrs. without a blood transfusion.
I decided on euthanasia. He passed away about 4:00 p.m. in my arms. The vet said afterwards that I made the right decision and that he is not suffering anymore.
We spent the entire day with Randy in the afternoon -outside in the grass, talking to him-his condition got worse and worse. You could really see him declining, which just validated my decision. His breathing got harder and he could not hold his head up. He kept closing his eyes and couldn’t stand up.
I lost my other little dog, PoohBear, July 28, 2003. She is also, my Eternal Angel. Her story id is “Ref-33547”. Now Randy will be reunited with PoohBear in eternal life.
Randy-dog, there are just no words to describe our emptiness for you-it is unimaginable that you are gone from our everyday lives. We love you more than you will ever know and there will not be one day that you are not in our hearts and on our minds. You became such the “big dog” running with Tanner, you just knew you could catch up to her, and eventually you did. You got to be such a brave little man. You are one of a kind Randy-everyone you knew will miss you so very much.
Every night me and your Daddy cry for you. You are part of us and that will ALWAYS be certain.
We love you and miss you everyday Randy-dog,
| Allison & Sean Predith |