I haven’t posted in a long time on this blog. Egghead Junior just requested that I do so, and I do have something to say. In February of 2010, when I was running out of steam on posting here, we got Sadie, and I wrote about her a couple of times.
She is the sweetest doofus of a dog. We adore her, and now we’re going to lose her. She has a tumor in her right shoulder that will likely metastasize into her lungs.
Because of the steel plates holding her pelvis together, she has a funny peg-leg way of running, and so we probably didn’t notice that she was limping on her front leg until last Thursday. We saw it in the morning, and in the afternoon when I took the dogs for their walk she was really struggling. But she’s a game dog, always up for whatever’s happening, so she was trying. I cut the walk short. We thought she must have hurt her leg jumping off the porch on last week.
The next morning A took her to the vet, where they x-rayed her and saw the tumor. Apparently it is not unusual for animals who have endured some sort of trauma (like being hit by a car) to get this kind of tumor.
The day after that, the dogs saw a coyote out in the field below the house and as usual went bananas. A and I at first hesitated to let them out, but then we thought, what the heck, why take away the thrilling experience of being a dog from her? She and Buster went tearing out in the normal way, Buster out front, Sadie gamely lolloping along behind. This time she ran out of steam partway down the field. She stood for a few moments, her head low between her shoulders. And then she laid down. A and I watched from the house in sorrow. Then he walked out to get her, prepared to carry her back if necessary. She saw her favorite person coming and got up to meet him.
She’s on pain medication, which seems to be making her comfortable, better today than yesterday. We’re going to do our very best to prevent her from being in pain. We always wait just a tad too long to make the difficult decision to put our pets down, and we’d like to avoid that this time.
We have been able to give her a second window on life, and she has given us great joy.
I am so sorry to hear your Sadie is approaching the end – but so glad you gave her that second leash on life. It is never easy to say good-bye to our four-legged friends. ~ Kat B.
Then you have both done your jobs. I know it is not easy to lose them but in the short time they are with us they provide us with a lifetime of memories. God Bless!
Sadie – what a beautiful, happy dog! You would have never known her past if you saw her living in the lap of luxury with you and A in the country. She will be missed. Sending love.
What a lucky dog to be loved by you and the rest of your family. I’m sorry your time together is being cut short. No doubt, the memories will be with you forever. Love to you all.