Very sick dog :(

[Rizon]

Last Tuesday our 14 year old dog Sparky’s kidney’s failed. She has some function left, but the vets feel she’s got 25% or less of her kidneys left. Since she wasn’t in pain, they (and my wife and I) felt it was too early to give up on her yet. Plus they believe she could have a quality life if she pulls through and possibly live another 6-9 months with frequent fluid injections, although she was given a 20% chance to live. Her BUN/Phosphorus/Creatine levels were very high, but they did improve when she was last tested on Friday, though she still has a ways to go to get back to normal ranges.

We were able to take her home and keep her Saturday afternoon and night, in hopes that being home will improve her spirits (she’s very depressed). She did perk up a bit while being at home which was a good sign. She’s not wanting to eat, but we were able to inject some substance into her mouth which she was able to keep down and seemed to energize her some. She’s also urinating which is another good sign. We took her back to the hospital this morning as planned, to keep her on fluids today and possibly tomorrow. If she doesn’t get better by early next week we’ll have to let her go.

She was in great health, even for her age, up until last week. We figured with how healthy she was that she’d live as long as her mother (17 ½ years), maybe even a couple years longer. The vets don’t believe she got into anything, and that it was a combination of age and possibly a bad gene (she had a sister from her litter that died from kidney failure when she was a pup).

My wife and I don’t have any kids, so this is the closest thing to having a child for us. I’ve had her for almost half my life so it’s a little hard to say goodbye to her just yet. She’s a really good dog that was very feisty, playful, intelligent (she learned new tricks very fast, even up to this day), and never gave me any problems with temperament or training. We are even able to walk her without a leash because she’d always stick right by us and never run off.

Here’s the last two pictures we even took of her while she was healthy, and another one right after the Raiders lost the superbowl. We were all rooting against the Raiders, but she seemed upset after they lost, so we determined she was a closet Raiders fan, but we didn’t love her any less for it.

[MrBug708]

Tough man, I feel for you. Cherish what you have with her while you can. She looks like a Pomeranian but looks about 1/5 raccoon as well

(Side note, that last pictures looks like it's from 1973 with the clothes and couch)

[Flasch186]

oh no, im so sorry. I know exactly what it feels like when your babies are sick. Im pulling for ya.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

Tough man, I feel for you. Cherish what you have with her while you can. She looks like a Pomeranian but looks about 1/5 raccoon as well

(Side note, that last pictures looks like it's from 1973 with the clothes and couch)

Haha, yeah it kinda does look 70s. There is wood paneling in that room too (which IS from the 70s).

Sparky is 3/4 Pom and 1/4 Sheltie (we get "is that some sort of fox?" alot). You can't really see it in these pics, but you can in THIS THREAD, but she does look alot like a red fox. She's got the Pom attitude, but not the Pom yappiness.

[BYU 14]

I feel bad for you Rizon, Pets become such an important part of the family, wishing you the best.

[Shepp]

I definately feel for you on this. Our 21 year old cat, that my wife had had long since before we were married, died back in February. She had a history of kidney problems and it got to the point where she just refused to eat. In hind site we probably should have had her put to sleep because the last few days were pretty tough and she seemed to be in quite a bit of pain. But on the other hand it was hard to let go.

[MizzouRah]

Animals become a part of the family just as easy as kids do. I'm pulling for Sparky too!!!

[Rizon]

The vet just called and said my little buddy had just passed away.

At least she went out on her own and we didn't have to make the difficult decision to put her down, and we tried everything we could for her.

[Eaglesfan27]

Sorry to hear about your loss, but like you said you did everything possible and didn't have to make that hard decision.

[molson]

Sorry to hear that man....But the good definitely outweighs the pain at the end.

[Neuqua]

You got some great years out of that relationship, celebrate.

[dickysty]

Rizon,

I'm really sorry for your loss.

I just went through the same thing with Maddie my lab, it's been almost a month, well a month this Thursday.

Your next few days are going to be rough, I mean I felt like shit it was awful.

I miss that hell out of that damn derg, I really do.

If it's any help just remember you gave Sparky 14 wonderful years and that's a lot more than a lot of dogs get.

Really, just look through a few dog rescue sites and it will break your heart, just the sheer number of pets that have been given away for countless reason.

I'll be thinking about you guys, hang tough.

[Swaggs]

The absolute worst thing about owning pets is that their life spans are just a fraction of ours. Keep in mind that you treated yours well during its life time and make sure that you try to make the next few days or weeks as good as possible.

[MizzouRah]

Originally Posted by Rizon

The vet just called and said my little buddy had just passed away.

At least she went out on her own and we didn't have to make the difficult decision to put her down, and we tried everything we could for her.

[Swaggs]

Didn't read all the way down before posting.

Very sorry for your loss.

[PurdueBrad]

Rizon,

I'm very sorry for your loss, good luck to you and your family.

[kingnebwsu]

Sorry to hear that man

Try to focus on the good times as you get through this hard time.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Sorry for your loss, I know how hard it can be.