CockersOnline Forum
Cocker Specific Discussion => General Cocker Spaniel Discussion => Topic started by: Charlottemfoster on May 09, 2019, 03:36:14 PM
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I’m devastated my faithful cocker Oliver is no longer here. He was nearly 11 and had been pretty healthy all is life apart from an eye problem, which he’d been on drops for the last year. A few months ago I got up and he was not himself, he wouldn’t get out of his bed not even when I got his lead out, he just looked at me sorrowfully. I picked him up and carried him outside where he came to and had a few wee s then wanted to go back inside to his bed. Over the next day he seemed a little better, but still not himself, I’d walked him just to the bottom of our street and back and patted him and he’d yelped when he looked up at me! Anyway the next morning (Monday) I took him to our vets, were he was looked over, and the vet thought maybe it was his back (twisted it or something) he gave him an injection and put him on metacam for a week. The day after he seemed a lot better and I carried on with the metacam, and tried to stop him jumping on sofa and going up stairs (easier said than done). Well he seemed fine eating normally and drinking normally, I just took him short walks down the avenue. A week later took him back to vets for routine eye assessment, and he was fine. Then a week later he started limping with his back left leg/foot. So back to vets, he checked his paws/leg and thought that it may have been a torn ligament. So he gave me more metacam for a month. He picked up a little having spurts of energy then lots of sleeping, which I put down to The metacam. Then he went bad again 7 days later so back to vets, where he was booked in for an x ray on his leg following week. So carried on with the metacam, then two days later noticed a pink sore above his paw on left leg, so back to vets were they said it looked like an infection and put him on antibiotics, still carried on with metacam. He seemed a little better, the next couple of days, but had started drinking a lot of water, on the Monday he hardly ate, which was hard because the metacam had to be in his food and the antibiotics too. He had a little chicken on Monday tea, then was sick a hour later. The during the night he was sick again (more of a dark brown /black bile liquid. Did not look good. I couldn’t get him out of his basket in the morning so took him to vets first thing, were they said he should have his bloods tested, which they did, a few hours later they phoned to tell me, he had pancreatius, High liver Levels High Glucose and High kidney levels and advised to get him to pet hospital as quick as possible. So I drove him to hospital, where he was put on a drip to get his fluids up. I left him and they phoned me later to say he’d got diabetes and they’d done an ultrasound on his liver which showed a lot of scarring, their main aim then was to carry on with the fluids to stabilise him, then to start to stable his diabetes. Then he would have to have a biopsy of his liver! I phoned later that night he was still on a drip and no change. They phoned back 2am to say if they started with trying to stable his diabetes he would be in hospital 5 to 8 days. Then we had the prospect of the liver scarring maybe being cancer! We made the decision to put him to sleep, which I keep asking myself was we right! I feel all this last few months it may have been his liver in the first place, not his leg/foot, maybe I should have asked for blood tests who knows, just feel devastated, the house is so quiet and everything is reminding me of him, he was so close to me and he followed me everywhere. Sorry for such a long post but felt I had to write this down.
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:bigarmhug: :bigarmhug: :bigarmhug: Hello, and welcome to the forum. Your pain is jumping off the page, I am so sorry for your loss. It may be little comfort, but in you shoes, we would have made the same choice. We have had to do it and it is the worst decision ever. The loss of a family member is always hard, and they leave such a gap when it is their time to go. It does get better, I promise, but please be kind to yourself, and take comfort that the choices you made were correct, and guided by the vet. Hindsight gives you 20:20 vision, you can 'what if' and 'if only' until the cows come home, but you made a choice for your boy to free him from pain. Take care.
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I am so sorry to hear about Oliver. Having lost pets in the past I understand how painful and utterly heartbreaking it is. Like ejp said it will get better and time is a great healer.
As they say in Italy...abbracci.x
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I am so very sorry for your loss and the very sad circumstances, I do not know how to comfort you but just to say I am sure your boy loved you and the life you gave him over the years, and in the end that is what we want to give them a loving and happy life, where we know that they loved us as much as we continue to love them.
To so many of us here the sadness is relived so often - we feel your pain and understand your loss.
Sending my deepest sympathy
Run free little man.
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so sorry to hear about Oliver, the pain of losing a loved special cocker is hard, but in your heart you know you did the right thing for your boy, you were there for him , thinking what was best for him. take care of your self, the pain does ease, but it takes time, :luv:
Run free Oliver :luv:
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So sorry for your loss. Having to say goodbye to a beloved companion is a heartbreaking experience and is only really understood by us pet lovers so although we can‘t take your pain away, I hope that sharing it with people who empathise will offer you some grain of comfort.
Lots of us have gone the awful process before and I imagine the vast majority have plagued themselves afterwards with the question „did I do the right thing?“. The answer is, of course you did! The decision you made was the ultimate show of love for a faithful dog who you couldn‘t bare to see suffer. Once the initial raw pain has eased you‘ll be able to look back and remember all the happy times and when you remember Oliver, the smile will replace the tears. In the meantime, be kind to yourself, you did all you could and nothing else would have prevented the outcome, the important thing is you were there for your boy and he knew that!
Run free at the Bridge dear Oliver! :bigarmhug:
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So sorry for your loss. Having to say goodbye to a beloved companion is a heartbreaking experience and is only really understood by us pet lovers so although we can‘t take your pain away, I hope that sharing it with people who empathise will offer you some grain of comfort.
Lots of us have gone the awful process before and I imagine the vast majority have plagued themselves afterwards with the question „did I do the right thing?“. The answer is, of course you did! The decision you made was the ultimate show of love for a faithful dog who you couldn‘t bare to see suffer. Once the initial raw pain has eased you‘ll be able to look back and remember all the happy times and when you remember Oliver, the smile will replace the tears. In the meantime, be kind to yourself, you did all you could and nothing else would have prevented the outcome, the important thing is you were there for your boy and he knew that!
Run free at the Bridge dear Oliver! :bigarmhug:
Well said, couldn't agree more :luv:
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Thankyou so much for your comments they have been a help. We have been through it before, lost our 1st cocker (Sonny) 20 years ago and Drizzle 12 years ago, just they do become a member of the family and yes they all had lovely and happy life’s while they where here with us.
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So sorry and sad to read about Oliver.Its always so hard but he had suffered enough and you did the right thing for
your dear boy.Run in peace Oliver at rainbow bridge happy dreams.
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I echo everyone’s feelings . You are right to save your little friend from the trauma and pain . For them, quality of life is everything.
It takes time to cope with your own pain. Don’t kick yourself.
Xx
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The last great kindness you can do for a beloved dog is to give them relief from their pain, but it is soooo hard. So sorry for your loss, be kind to yourself :bigarmhug:
Lesley and Dylan
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So so sorry for your loss, I feel your pain, big cyber hugs to you 😢😘
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Thankyou again it’s been a bit harder today. Was tidying up the garden and he was a rascal at burying his toys, found 3 out there all half buried we had so much fun in the garden he was forever by my side, under my feet or pinching things, such a character. I ll try to add his photo if I can figure out, how too.
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So sorry for your loss. Run free sweet boy. This came upon my Facebook page this morning and I thought it was lovely. :bigarmhug: :bigarmhug: :bigarmhug:
(https://i.ibb.co/3rDGkmd/98-D6560-F-62-A7-4-FF3-BEC9-07-DA86-AC985-F.jpg)
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Aww lovely Archie bean
thank you
what a lovely poem
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so sorry for your loss, but I have to say the minute I started reading your information I thought 'Pancreatitis' and I am wondering if the amount of Metacam may have exacerbated the condition it can cause pancreatitis and isn't good for the Liver ….sadly we put a awful lot of trust in vets and sadly they often let us down as I have discovered over a lifetime of dog ownership (cockers) having said that and this is not said to upset you, it is probable the liver condition was a problem, you can only do what you think is best for your dog and no-one should feel bad about that, god knows I have been thro it often enough....your love is always mirrored by the pain you feel when they are gone, but your lovely pooch has just gone back to being unborn, no sad and lonely journey without you.....is totally unaware and is out of pain, a responsibility we take on and have to be up too...
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Yes I also have thought the metacam could have played a part in the pancreatitis/liver problem! But all them weeks ago when he was first unwell, before the metacam it was probably his liver, who knows! We lost Drizzle another blue roan cocker 12 years ago, he was 12 and he’d been having issues with his teeth and gums, turned out his kidneys were failing, he was another sad loss. Just got to think they both had a great life, spoilt rotten and treated as part of the family, they’re just very much missed. The house is so quiet, really never been without a dog for long, so hopefully we’ll be welcoming a new pup (cocker) in the future.
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Yes I feel your loss, I lost my lovely orange roan girl a year ago from kidney failure and Pancreatitis, we struggled for 2 yrs to keep her going ut she died just after her 8th birthday, this is why I say beware of what vets tell you, I actually went thro 8 different vets in that two years because they just didn't have a clue, I spent the time researching the conditions and telling them what was needed etc, yet still forking out for their 'knowledge'....I had the same problem with her sister who is still with me at 9, with Hypothyroidism and Pancreatitis. Even having Topaz I was amazed at how much I missed lovey little dainty loving Ruby, and just a couple of months ago I got my new girl , gold sable Amber, mainly because I knew that Topaz was missing her sister, and she has been brilliant with the new pup, and has perked up considerably.....