Very sad news about my puppy!!! :( ---- UPDATE
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**DopeyGirl** · 04-13-2005, 02:17 AM

Hey all . . .

I need to ask a few pixies if you can spare some.

Monday afternoon, I received an e-mail from my mother saying that Max, our 12 year old black lab mix, hadn't been eating lately, not even canned food, which she will usually devour. The vet suggested that she might have a toothache, since she hasn't been "dentally sound" for a couple of years (her teeth were getting weaker and she had started to lose a few.) So they had sceduled her an appointment at the vet for Tuesday afternoon. They figured they'd take her in, have her teeth looked at and he'd probably give her some pain meds.

So, they took her to her appointment at 4:30 yesterday afternoon and Dr. Bill looked at her teeth . . . couldn't find anything out of ordinary compared to the last few times he'd checked her out. He said he thought he might run a few more tests and see what might be going on . . . there had to be SOME explanation as to why she wasn't eating.

So, he ran his tests . . . X-rays, all of that stuff . . . he discovered that Max had an enormous amount of fluid surrounding her lungs. There was so much fluid that it was swelling her lungs and putting pressure on her stomach, so she just wasn't hungry and was basically starving herself to death. Then he was able to see, further, that there were 5 or 6 good sized tumors surrounding her heart. He said in order to operate, he would have to drain the fluid then open her up to get the tumors and that it would be a fairly invasive procedure, with no guarantee of an outcome, especially for a dog of her age. So, mom and dad made the executive decision to leave her there with Dr. Bill and have her put to sleep. They are having her cremated and are going to bury the ashes under the apple tree she used to lay under in the back yard.

When mom called me she was upset . . . and I have been crying off and on since. I am not sure if I should tell Emilie (she LOVED Max) . . . if I don't then she is just going to ask where Max is next time we take a trip out there to visit. Any advice on how to break it to a 4 year old?

Thanks for letting me get this all off of my chest . . . I think I just really needed to get it all out . . . and I am starting to feel a little bit better, but it still hurts! She been "my" puppy since I was 16 years old . . . even if I have lived 3000 miles away from home for quite a while!

Mom and Dad brought her home in April 1993 when she was almost 4 months old . . . I was on my way home from a school trip to British Columbia when they picked her up. Then when mom came to pick me up at the school, I got off the bus to find Max there waiting for me. (That's my favorite "Max" memory

Well, that and the fact that she snored louder than my DAD!!!) She will be greatly missed by us all . . . especially her brother and sister, Jake and Cricket.

Here's a photo of Max when she was about 6 years old and then one of her in December (wearing a Cat in the Hat hat that my sister made).

Max - August 1999

Max - December 2004

Thanks in advance for the hugs and pixies!!! DH isn't necessarily a pet lover, so he doesn't really understand why I am so upset! I knew you all would!!!

Annabel · 04-13-2005, 02:37 AM

Oh Sarah, so sorry to hear about your puppy

It's never easy when we lose a pet friend, especially one we've had around for so long. Sending lots of

and

to get you thru this.

Annabel

**LizardCop** · 04-13-2005, 05:04 AM

As for telling Emilie, you have time... Just wait for an appropriate moment to tell her, you'll know when...

**Colexis Mom** · 04-13-2005, 05:22 AM

I'm so sorry Sarah

That's never an easy decision to make, but at least she's not in pain anymore

As for telling Emilie, I'd wait for when the time was right. When we had to put the cat down, Alexa handled it really well actually. We had a little "ceremony" and she would go out and visit the place where we buried him and talk to him for quite a few weeks. I told her that he's still with us, he's just looking down at her know, but can still hear everything she's saying. She still talks to him today sometimes, 2 years later

Stephanie P. · 04-13-2005, 07:25 AM

I'm so sorry! It's so hard when our family pets get sick and pass on. We haven't had to actually deal with telling Stephen that a pet has actually died, but we have a couple of pets that will be passing in the next year or so, so we have just been preparing him for that ahead of time so that it hopefully won't be such a shock when it happens.

Lady · 04-13-2005, 07:59 AM

Oh my (wiping tears) im so sorry for you,
I am such an animal lover, My dogs/cats are like my kids..
I don't know what I would do without them..
But in any case.. If any of them were sick..I would want them to be in a better place..
and it sounds like now your Puppy is..

I heard a nice indian tale once..
When you die and go to heaven, all the pets and animals you have ever loved are sitting there waiting to greet you..
These are my puppies in the picture.. They send you love!

Just keep Max in your heart..

karmic · 04-13-2005, 08:03 AM

So sorry- losing a pet is so hard.

loobyoxlip · 04-13-2005, 08:14 AM

OH, Sarah! I am so sorry

Remember all the great memories you had with Max.

**duck addict** · 04-13-2005, 09:12 AM

wdwlovers · 04-13-2005, 09:19 AM

Oh Sarah, I'm so sorry to hear about Max.

My parents put down our dog last spring and it was so hard to do. Jason and I went with them for the moment. It was so hard and even yet today, I expect to find her waiting at the door when I go to my parents house.

How do you think Emilie will take it? Has she had any experience with death yet? Maybe if you talk to her about Max being really sick and there was no medicine to help him. That's a tough one.

**David's Mom** · 04-13-2005, 09:19 AM

I'm so sorry Sarah.

Tons of Pixies coming your way that it will get better every day that passes.

GATechGal · 04-13-2005, 09:20 AM

I'm so sorry Sarah. We're going through the exact same type of thing right now. There's a great book out there you might want to get when you tell Emilie. It's called "Dog Heaven" and it's really sweet. There's also a "Cat Heaven" too.