May 2010Monthly Archives

Angel in February 2006

Okay, I can’t do it. I think my husband would probably follow my lead if I said that we have to make the decision to let Angel go. But I can’t. Despite my sore knees from carrying her up and down the stairs for the last couple of weeks… she’s eating again, as long as she has good smelly stuff in her food. And she potties okay outside. And I’ve been giving her water from a water bottle with a rubbery tip. It works really well. She gets more water that way than she does trying to get it out of the bucket or any stone sinks, but we only have water buckets set up for the dogs.

The night before last I had her on the bed with me, and she did well. She slept most of the night and only woke me up twice to potty and get some water.  Once at midnight and once at 5:30 am.  5:30 am is my normal time to get up anyway.  But since it was the weekend I went back to bed.

Last night, however, she didn’t do as good. I put her on my bed and she struggled to get up. I don’t want her falling off, so I’m glad that it’s hard for her to stand up on the bed, she wakes me up easily.  So I got up with her about 3 times between 9pm and midnight.  And she still wouldn’t settle. I took her potty and gave her water too. She didn’t poop though… so, thinking I really had to get some sleep so I could work today, I turned her out of the bedroom and closed the door. I felt really bad. I left the dog door open and she had many dog beds to chose from. I hope she chose one and not the tile floor.  But then again maybe she’s hot and the cool tile feels better for her.

This morning when I woke up there was quite a bit of urine on the tile. Mostly clear.  Did I say earlier that she did test positive for a very minor bladder infection? The vet said they wouldn’t normally treat such a minor infection in a younger dog, but since she’s so old, we are treating it with antibiotics once a day.  So maybe the pills will help.  She also had a high Bilirubin in her blood test… the vet said high normal. Otherwise her bloodwork was all good, kidneys and liver fine. Hrmph.

So we are going day by day and seeing how she is. I just wish she would let us a sleep a bit better at night. She seems to sleep most of the day, but then she fusses at night. Poor girl.  I adore her, I want her to be comfortable. I don’t think she has much quality of life… but she’s not in pain, and she does get happy. My husband took her for a walk yesterday…. she went 2 houses then laid down. He had to carry her home. But she had happy look on her face, and that’s what matters.

Pumpkin Pie

This is our girl Angel. We got her in March of 2002. We didn’t know how old she was, since she was found in the shelter by the local lady doing rescue at the time. Collie rescue. The shelter didn’t know she was a smooth blue collie. We saw her and had to have her, because we already had two smooth blue collies and needed a third.

Yes, we needed a third! We love her to death. But she is getting very old now, and as the days go by she is getting worse bit by bit. She’s very unsteady on her feet. She hasn’t eaten much the last few days and has lost 3 pounds in the last week. She is having a hard time finding the water in the water bowl too. She doesn’t seem to be in pain, but she doesn’t seem to have much of a quality of life anymore, either.

So the husband and I are talking about whether or not it’s time to let her go. It breaks my heart. I will miss her, but I don’t want her to suffer, and I don’t like seeing her wobble so much, and have a hard time drinking and eating. She deserves better than that.

This picture was taken on the 25th of April, Jet’s birthday. And she was a lot spunkier then than she is even now, only a week or so later. My poor baby girl. She’s my pumpkin pie girl, and I really hate having to make this decision.