Well – this past
fortnight has been extremely sad and Kirby and I are still in shock.
Our nine year old
German Short-haired Pointer, Ari, was absolutely fine a few weeks’ ago. He
played, ate, and was the silly larrikin he always was.
Then about a fortnight
ago he refused his dinner, which he had never done before. Breakfast and dinner
time were the best times of day for him!
I took him to the vet
and it seemed he had a bit of a stomach bug. I offered him chicken and rice (as
per the vet’s instructions) when we got back home and he ate that down quite happily.
Over the next few days he returned to his normal self.
Then early last week
he wouldn’t eat again and I took him back to the vet. The vet took blood and
tested it, and everything was fine. He did have a yeast infection in his ears
and it seemed he also got something in his eye – so we started treating both of
those things.
Ari ate the next day
and we planned to take him to the vet for a check-up later in the week.
The results were not
what we what we ever thought we would hear. Ari had lung cancer.
Kirby and I went to
see him. He could barely walk, and just wanted to lie down. He knew we were
there, but didn’t wag his tail – he just didn’t have the energy. He couldn’t
lift his head, and so I sat down on the floor and lifted his head onto my lap
and patted him. Kirby sat down on the other side of Ari and stroked his head.
The vet came in and
Kirby went to stand up, but the vet sat down on the floor with us – which was
lovely for her to do. She explained it all. He had a large amount of tumours in
his lungs, which was why he couldn’t breathe properly, and there was no
treatment because of the stage of the cancer. We could have had him go for more
scans (more invasive) to make sure it was cancer – but the vet said she was 99%
sure it was. The tumours were the shape of cancerous tumours.
We were given time
alone with Ari to talk about what we would do, but really there was only one
thing we could do. He was in so much pain – it wasn’t fair to keep him going
any longer.
The vet came back in
and Kirby and I held Ari and patted him as the vet gave him the injection to
put him to sleep. He stopped breathing and slipped away from us.
Just as I wrote that
last paragraph I felt that tightening in my chest that happens when somebody
tells you bad news.
This is just a bad dream…surely?
5 comments:
I am so sorry! He was such a beautiful boy and he is gone too soon. He was lucky enough to have parents that cared enough to help him cross the rainbow bridge. Thinking about you lots!
Oh Kate, I am so sorry. :( :( :( Sending hugs. ((()))
Thank you both so much. It's getting a little easier in terms of I don't think I see him in the back yard or running down the side of the house so much anymore, but I miss him so much...he was a larrikin! xx
Kate, I've only just seen this. I'm so sorry, I know how much it will hurt. Only a few days ago Fb reminded me that six years ago our cat died (though like you, I only had a few minutes notice). It brought the tears again. They leave a hole in our lives, our beloved pets. But I'm always glad we've had that time with us. And I'm glad that Ari didn't have prolonged suffering.
Thank you Mali - I'm sorry about your cat... It is so tough to lose them, but I said to someone the other day that I would rather have all this pain and have had Ari in our lives than never to have had him to avoid the pain. I read somewhere recently that our pets take a bit of our hearts with them and leave a bit of theirs with us...I like that - I find it very comforting xx
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