My Beloved Sky passed away today.

[Tangie]

Today was a wonderful morning, until we realized my dog was sick. It happened so unexpectedly. It seems like everything goes wrong to me. We brought him to the Emergency vet and did very thorough exams, and they said there was nothing they could do. He had a tumor tucked away and it burst. He had internal bleeding. He was also so old{15 years for a lab mix!}, so his intestines were failing. I am heart-broken. I'm going through the 'guilty' faze....I feel like I could have been nicer to him, since I was a slightly strict owner with him. I cared for him, but I rarely spent too much time with him because he was really old and unresponsive, and he really only wanted to spend time with my Dad. I just wish I could have said Good-bye one last time. And strange enough, I don't have many pictures of him. I really only have memories. I know time will heal things because I went through this recently with Tangie. I think the thing that's bothering me the most is that it was so unexpected, and that the vets hadn't noticed this until it was too late.

He was such a good dog, and sometimes I took him for granted because I have had him so long. When I was little, we found him in a kill shelter. He was to be euthanized the next day. We adopted him{they said he was a girl}, and we found out he was a boy! The name Skylar turned to Sky. He would hate it if I left for the school bus when I was little, and he would race along the fence to try and catch the vehicle. Without fail, he would wait for us when it was time for school to be dismissed. He would protect us from strangers, and protect the little chickens we had. It was so cute, seeing him have a dozen or so chicks perched on his back. He did look like a momma chicken, so. xD. He was our loyal companion until the end, comforting us during several moves, and when his best friend died 4 years ago. The past few years, he has had a sore life getting on in years, and he didn't really like moving around or going for walks. We discovered it wasn't because of too much pain, but he didn't have much stamina any more and he was lazy. All he wanted to do was eat. He was a pig, and that sometimes annoyed me. lol. I loved him though, and I'm not too touchy touchy with my animals. He has been getting on with years, and I feel bad that i took such an awesome, loyal dog, for granted. He has taught me to not ever do that again. But it is too late. Maybe he really is in heaven, reuniting with his best friend, Lily.

 

[weco]

Sorry for your loss, it is always hard when you lose a pet, but usually the pain is worse when the companion has been around as long as Sky.....

 

[Tangie]

Thanks, Weco.
I wasn't as close to him as the others were, but it still really hurts.
And I guess I feel guilty about that as well.

 

[Terry57]

I am so sorry for your loss of the handsome Sky. It is so hard , especially when it happens so quickly. You are in my thoughts.

 

[Tangie]

Thanks, Terry!
I'm coping with it quite well already, and although I miss him, I am not crying 24/7. Which I feel bad about. I mean, I had him for so long....sometimes I think I should be more upset. But in a way, we were expecting that he would die soon because he was so old. But dying of a ruptured tumor. The vet he was only truly suffering for several hours. Those type of tumors grow extremely quickly, and unless you take ultrasounds every s3 to 6 months, they'll go unnoticed. There's a 50-50 chance of it being benign.

I feel that we could have saved him...if we went a few hours earlier....but it only looked like he was just feeling down and sick. Only when he didn't eat{he was a pig}, we knew something was very wrong.
But even if we had saved him, he would have had other problems due to old age.
unfortunately, this is what we have to deal with, if we choose to have pets. xc

 

[JerseyWendy]

My heartfelt condolences to the loss of Sky. What a stunning boy he was!!

Please don't riddle yourself with guilt. There is no doubt in my mind that Sky knew he was loved by you. He lived a good, long life for his big size - not that that makes it any easier.

He will be forever in your heart.

HUGS to you.

 

[Tangie]

Thanks Jersey Wendy. 83
Y'all make me feel so much better, just knowing that I have people on here that care and are supportive.
After my dad told me about what exactly happened, I felt a lot better. I thought that we could've done emergency surgery. And since we didn't, we didn't give him the best chance of living. But I discovered that although it was possible, the vet said that 98% of chance, he wouldn't make it through, and if he did, and if the tumor was cancerous{which most likely was, being 50-50}, he would only live 6-8 weeks.
But I'll always wonder if maybe he did make it through, and the tumor wasn't.
But even if it wasn't, he would still have a rough life because of his old age, and his organs would start failing even more.
I feel sorry for my dad especially, since he has been the one bringing all of the animals to the vets, and making the choice that they have to be put to sleep.
I am so sorry for blabbering. D8