Rest in Peace,Chewie, horrible accident.

BeachRiding · #1 22nd Aug 2006, 11:08 AM

Chewie was my Boston Terrier dog, and we loved him dearly. He had one eye enucleated(taken out) last year due to glacoma and had gone downhill since then. He was very unhealthy with a bad case of Cushings disease. We didn't have the heart to put him down...

Someone once told me on here, 'better a month to early than a day to late'.
I urge everyone to follow,think about that statement, then you won't have to go through a similar horror that I went through yesterday.

might be graphic for some:

My sister was playing ball with Chewie, he was obsessive over toys and loved great big basketballs, yet he is only a small dog. Now with cushings disease muscles weaken, he used to be nice and toned but now had a pot-belly, I never thought that the muscle would weaken elsewhere.

Anyway, my sister threw him the ball and he bulldozed it around happily, until he ran into a tree. He let out a big yelp and then stopped playing. My sister felt bad so called for him to come back, he acted confused. So she went over to him to find his last eye hanging out of its socket and bleeding. She screamed and yelled for someone and went into shock. I was awakened and went outside. My mom was holding chewie (proud of her, she normally faints at a drop of blood) and my sister was frantically trying to call the vet. I told her to stop as she was having a hard time so I called my dad home, and he called the vet (he lives 1 minute from work

).

(at first we couldn't get through, so asked my dad to get the gun... luckily it didn't come to that)

Chewie seemed to be in shock also, his vision was now completely gone. I started shaking as blood was dripping on the floor, and then we ran to the car and drove to the vet.The 20 minute drive felt like hours as I held my beloved dog in my arms. blood kept driping on my hand, and then I remembered, why didn't we put him down earlier? Why did it have to come to this? All of us talked about puting him down, but no one had the guts to do it.

We ran into emergency, they gave him a tranquilizer and he started snoring, as bostons do. Then the last injection went in, he took his final breath.

Amazingly I was happy it was over. So, Rest In Peace, chewie, you are with god now. You can see again with two brand new eyes, hear again with two brand new ears, and finally be free of pain.

So everyone, if you are thinking of putting your animal down due to lack of life quality, It's BETTER a month too early, than a DAY too late.

martini55 · #2 22nd Aug 2006, 11:14 AM

How awful, I am so sorry for your loss. No one could have even thought of that happening though so don't beat yourself up about it. [[[ hugs ]]]

Horse100 · #3 22nd Aug 2006, 11:16 AM

Aww hun that's terrible - i wish there was something i could say to make the pain dissappear. It must be so hard for you.

*Hugs and good NR vibes*

teabiscuit · #4 22nd Aug 2006, 11:17 AM

RIP Chewie
xxx

Afellpony · #5 22nd Aug 2006, 11:21 AM

I'm so sorry to hear the news about your dog. RIP Chewy

JOJOBA · #6 22nd Aug 2006, 11:29 AM

That's awful, poor dog.
Hope you're okay.

xxx

joey_olop · #7 22nd Aug 2006, 11:36 AM

Poor Chewie, RIP little one

BeachRiding · #8 22nd Aug 2006, 11:37 AM

Thanks guys.

Jojoba- I am actually numb to it. I have been having so many family problems, deaths in my family,and animal deaths/emergencies lately that nothing fazes me anymore. I think I am going to end up in the looney ben if this keeps up! Otherwise,it was his time to go, I am happy he is painfree now.

NoviceNic · #9 22nd Aug 2006, 11:41 AM

Willie love that was an accident and no-one could of known that was going to happen. A minute befire he was happily playing ball in the garden with a decent quality of life. So dont beat yourself up about waiting too long over THE decision. Have fun in heaven Chewie. And yes you will have all the bones any dog could ask for.

becs · #10 22nd Aug 2006, 12:19 PM

So sorry to hear your sad story.

I agree with Novice Nic - don't feel guilty. It's easy to say " a month too early... etc" but not so easy to judge that month in reality. How many of us feel good about putting animals down when they okay? It's just as hard.

Quote:

I have been having so many family problems, deaths in my family,and animal deaths/emergencies lately that nothing fazes me anymore. I think I am going to end up in the looney ben if this keeps up!

That's normal in your situation - when bad things come all at once, you end up "hardened" to protect yourself. I went thro' a similar patch years ago - several family members with cancer, pets run over & pony PTS & my surgical complications all in a few months. When a neighbour showed me our kitten run over, I didn't cry - there was none left. But it _does_ get better. Keep busy / to routines, be with optimistic company as much as poss and be kind to yourself. Don't shut yourself away to be sad. Time is a great healer. Thinking of you.

RustyMary · #11 22nd Aug 2006, 12:31 PM

So sorry to hear this news

LMS · #12 22nd Aug 2006, 12:35 PM

Oh dear...my sympathies to you & your family.

Hind sight is always 20/20, don't beat yourself up about Chewie. You were all enjoing a good play and a fluke happened. Now he can play to his heart's content.

Remember all the good things & don't dwell on blaming yourself with the "I should've's".

If I'd have listened to my vet & put Ariel to sleep, I wouldn't be able to enjoy her today. I took a chance just like you did with your dog. I know with Ariel it's like playing russian roulette & she may bleed tomorrow, but right now, she's happy & healthy.

Chewie was happy, if he wasn't, he wouldn't have been chasing that ball.

Chin up! You can pull through, don't give up.

TheHoglet · #13 22nd Aug 2006, 01:23 PM

awww thats so awfull!

RIP chewie
**hugs**

*Solo's Mum* · #14 22nd Aug 2006, 01:30 PM

RIP Chewie

Jess
xx

BeachRiding · #15 22nd Aug 2006, 01:47 PM

LMS- What is wrong with your horse?

Trewsers · #16 22nd Aug 2006, 01:50 PM

So sorry to hear that, how traumatic for you and your family - sending you lots of sympathy vibes. Look after yourself. Trewsersxxxxx

LMS · #17 22nd Aug 2006, 02:22 PM

On Hallowe'en morning 2004 I was greeted with a hemorrhaging Ariel. She suffered a near fatal guttural pouch mycosis.

From my vets experience, when he saw & assessed Ariel, he strongly recommended that I put her down on the spot. There was no way she would survive the trip to the hospital, and if she did, she would definitly not survive the operation that still did not give her a good survival chance.

Every day I asked for one more day because even though all this was going on, my grumpy little mare kept greeting me & making an effort. Last August, I was finally able to trailer her to the vet university, where they were anxious to examine her because GPM recoveries are very rare.

But through the wholeordeal I kept tormenting myself, wondering if I was doing the right thing by giving her one more day. But many around me reminded me that as long as she wanted to live and was not in apparent pain, I was doing the right thing.

So with your dog that's why I'm saying don't beat yourself up about it. Chewie was playing. A sick dog or cat do not feel like chasing things when they are very sick, they retreat & try to stay out of the way.

My cat was PTS last week. He was only 7yrs old and the vet told me quite frankly that, she could hospitalize him and nurse him and do all the tests under the sun & the moon to try & find out why his liver shut down but the outcome was still going to be the same. Compared to Ariel, I knew his time had come.

Would they have found out what was wrong with him 2 weeks ago when I noticed a change in his behaviour? Probably not.

ISH · #18 22nd Aug 2006, 10:54 PM

Oh how awful

RIP Chewie

LindaAd · #19 22nd Aug 2006, 11:40 PM

I'm so sorry about Chewie - that was awful, but much worse for you than for him. You couldn't have known what was going to happen, and he was happy right up to the last minute. So sad when a dog goes.

We lost our poodle a couple of months ago. She had a stroke, and she was completely unconscous; I thought she was gone, but the vet gave her an injection and she recovered. But she was never the same, she was confused, and weak and sometime she couldn't stand ... It would have been better if she'd died straight away.

Linda

equestrian3241 · #20 22nd Aug 2006, 11:44 PM

Wow, that is really good advice for me. My dog Jack (he's an American Eskimo) has really bad arthritis and he can't even come up the stairs anymore and he is always in pain, especially in winter. We are moving to Austin TX and won't be able to take him and no one wants to adopt an artharitic dog so we are thinking about putting him down. I didn't want to because I just can't imagine having to say goodbye to another pet (my first horse that I only had for one year named Koko and cat named Moon had to be put down this past year) but after reading your story I think it is best that we put him to sleep. I don't want him to be in pain. I am so so so so sorry for your loss but I am sure he is in a better place now...
RIP Chewie, Koko and Moon