"If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die, I want to go where they went."
- Will Rogers (1879-1935)
Jon Katz wrote an article at Slate about having to put your dog down. When I read it, I recalled what a difficult experience it was for Elisabeth and me with our Basset hound, Gordon.
Gordon actually belonged to our son, Hayden. When he moved to San Francisco, he couldn't take him, so he gave him to us. I'm glad he did. We'd go for a walk each afternoon, and every child on our block would run out to hug him. "Gordy, Gordy," they'd say, and he'd roll over and let them fall on top of him, always glad to see them. Never in a hurry, he'd stop to sniff every bush and wrap his leash around every mailbox.
He loved to get into the garbage when we were away from the house, opening the cabinet door to get to it. He would "bury" his rawhide bones under our sofa cushions, and when I had my friends over for poker, he would sleep under the table and pass gas.
Then he got sick. It was cancer, so ironic since I was still recovering from it myself. The vet removed the tumor and after it healed, he appeared to be his old self for awhile. Then the tumor reappeared. We were told that Gordon would soon die and would suffer. Despite that, we decided we wanted to keep him with us a little longer.
Several weeks later Gordon didn't come to us when we got out of bed. We found him still in his basket. He'd eaten no food, was throwing up and you could see the pain in his eyes.
On the way to the vet's, Gordon lay between us, hardly moving. When we got there the doc explained what would happen and we sat on the floor with our pet as the drug was injected. Gordy raised his head, looked at us, then was still. It seemed he should have nudged our hand for a milkbone one more time, but he didn't.
10 comments:
Hi...I had to put down a dog..due to bone cancer. It was hard. She didn't want to go. I'm crying a bit now as I write this. She was an outdoor dog. My ex-husband is very frugal and didn't want to do cancer treatments or antything..yet this action of putting her down was very emotional for him. We did the right thing..though she was a good dog..a bit agressive and a bit tough. (We lived in the country while married..and he got the place when we divorced.)
I sit here with a tear reading about your sweet Gordon thanks for sharing that
uhm i just wanted to say hey..hi. cause...your page is numba one! yay! feel special? okay...well ill leave u alone.. bye. -casey
We feel your pain my mother and I put our 15year old beagle SUGAR PLUM out
of her misery of cummins disease, several years ago. I felt as if my heart was
ripped out my mom and I both cried. We also had to put mom's cat ROSEMARY
down a few years ago and that was rough too. Your pets become part of the
family and when you lose one it hurts. I also love Basset Hounds Too!
Edna and Timothy Knerr, Bath, PA
What a great story it made me cry! Thank you for sharing!
This was a sad story. I have lost some animals myself, so I hear you. By the way, I think I know the source of that quote. God bless!!
You touched a spot in my heart with this post. My brother and his family had to put their long time family companion to rest 8 days ago. He was 10 years old and had developed diabetes so severe that insulin shots were not getting him in control. He was wasting away and showed all the signs of kidney failure. He had gotten to the point where he could no longer walk more than a few steps. It hurt to see him in so much pain. But, it also hurts to know he's gone.
Rantz, you touched me with this article, it was very sad....Thank you for sharing it with us. I know how hard it is to put your much loved animal to a place of final rest, my cat was very ill, and I had to do the same, and couldn't look her in the eye before they took her away to be put down. I know I did the right thing, but it was a painful experience for me just the same.
What a touching story. Reminds me of another excellent essay on the loss of a dog that CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER wrote for TIME on June 16, just a few weeks after my dad's dog died. You can read it here: http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/from_search/0,10987,1101030616-457373,00.html
Cheese Louise
I understand the loss of an animal I had a similar thing happen to me. Animals may not be the same as people, but boy they are surely a part of your family. WHen I lost my collie I felt like I had lost a sister. So I can deffinitely appreciate your story.
http://journals.aol.com/hotmcdonaldgurl/ManicDigest
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