Friday, December 23, 2005

My Old Friend


My Old Friend.



A few cuddles together. Our old boy is very unwell. Poor old Copper has cancer of the salivary gland. A large tumor has grown on his neck. Imparing his swallowing. He has been moping about the place for a couple of weeks. The vet said today its a $4000. surgery which may not be successful anyways. So we will be saying good bye to our old friend tommorrow. The vet says he doubts he would make it through the holidays when I asked if we could hold of on the inevitable for the sake of a happy Christmas. No point dragging out his suffering. Then all of a sudden tonight Copper got up and had a lively, alert half an hour. Looking like his old self. Making our decision seem so cruel. He still has this large mass on his neck and is still wobbly on his legs. These decisions are so difficult. He has has a long, happy life with us. He is almost 15, pretty old for a dog. I pray tonight for lessening of his suffering, myself and family's broken hearts and for courage in tommorows final visit to the vet.
Doggy heaven will be all the richer, this time tommorrow.


Puppy love and kisses.

UPDATE:

Thanks to all of our blogland friends who offered kind comments and support on this post. When we got up this morning Copper was feeling even more spritely. We took him to the vets anyways and Dr.B. Suggested we leave him on the anti -imflammatories, thru the holidays and see how he does. If the tumor shrinks a bit more them he may be able to take the tumor out safely, with out involving as much facial nerve damage. Its incredible to see him back to being perky after he seemed to be on his deathbed. Part of me just wanted to say , just do it, put him down, because I don't want to go through this torture again of making this decision and saying good bye. But Keith and my son , want to give him this extra time as long as he isn't suffering. So we postpone the inevitable and at least our christmas wont be spent in mourning. Thanks again for all your kind thoughts.

13 comments:

BarbaraMG said...

I am so sorry. What a good old dog he has been.
Here is a site that helped me when I had to put down my kitty.
http://www.petloss.com/
(((hugs)))

Anonymous said...

Goodbye old pal, you have been a faithful friend and always happy to see us arrive. You thought that we had made the five hour journey for the sole purpose of taking you a walk.
We will miss you lovely old face at the window next time we draw up to the house. If there is a doggy heaven, you will be rolling in stinky salmon for your eternal life. love grandma & granddad

carol said...

I am going to really miss him, I love Copper with all my heart. He is a good doggie who has had a long wonderful life with the most loving family. His time has come, we will never forget him. Good bye Copper, it won't be the same without you, love auntie Carolxoxoxoxoxo

gal artist said...

I am so sorry about Copper.

I don't know how my hubby and I are going to handle it when we lose one of our Springers.

May God's blessings be on you and your's this Christmas.

Walker said...

I'm sorry to hear about your puppy.
It's a hard choice to make.
My Sammy was 19 when I made that choice and I felt like a traitor when I took him to the vet, but it had to be done. I still have his dog tags on my key chain.

Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year

Karen said...

Oh, sweetie! I'm so sorry about your sweet dog. May he rest in peace. *BIG HUGS*

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry to read about your beloved pet. It's a difficult decision to make, but the right one. He sounds like he was a wonderful companion through the years.

Merry Christmas to you and your family, Susan.

Anonymous said...

the best to you, the family, and Copper for Christmas and the holidays.

Anonymous said...

I'm so sorry about Copper. He's a beautiful dog inside and out, I can tell.

The mountains are beautiful!

I hope you have the best Christmas ever, Merry Christmas!

Politically Homeless said...

Your dog is quite the fighter. Merry Christmas to you and your family.

David said...

I am so close to facing the same thing with my sweet dog, so I understand your pain at making that decision. I hope you got to spend Chritmas Day with him.

gal artist said...

Oh that is good news, I hope he pulls through this.

ellen said...

What a difficult time of year to have to deal with an already heartbreaking situation! I'm so sorry. Copper may be rallying to allow you a less stressful Christmas; pets can have uncanny instincts and huge consideration in this regard. I know that your heart will tell you the right course of action to take. God bless.