Your babies are precious!
This has been a very sad weekend for us. When I got home from work on Friday, Ashe (my miniature schnauzer) didn’t make a sound and seemed a bit disoriented. As the evening progressed he started making intermittent rattling and gurgling sounds and I knew he was dying. I laid on the floor in my sewing room with him as he had chosen to lie under my ironing board. At one point he felt a little wet and I figured his bladder had spontaneously emptied. He stood up a couple of times but I was able to get him to lie back down and after 3 a.m. he did not stir. His breathing was steady although he was still rattling every once in a while but he seemed to be sleeping somewhat peacefully.
When the vets office opened I scooped Ashe up, wrapped him in a towel and off we went. He was barely able to raise his head and was as limp as a dishrag. The vet listened to his lungs and felt a very enlarged kidney which, other than the one time of being a little wet he had not voided in nearly a day. The vet looked at us and said it was time to let him go. Charles (my DH) completely lost it, sobbing and his knees gave way and I barely got him into the chair. I told the vet how Ashe had always been there for DH through the loss of his mother, his job, the stroke, inpatient rehab and the vet kept saying, “I know” so apparently DH has told him more than once what Ashe meant to him. The vet gave us a chance to say goodbye. He said he starts with a muscle relaxer and that it might sting and I told him I didn’t think Ashe would even feel it, and he didn’t. DH said he couldn’t stay until the end so he stayed until the muscle relaxer took effect and then I stayed for the final injection as he peacefully slipped away.
Ashe had been ill for quite some time and actually about 2 years ago the vet said he had a 50-50 chance of making it 6 months so we got lots of borrowed time. But he had been losing a lot of weight (even though eating heartily) and I could count his little ribs. He was almost completely blind and kept getting an ulcer in one eye due to a complication of the diabetes. It was time to release him into the hands of the Lord.
Tramp our other dog (who was a rescue dog that got passed on to us when another friend lost their farm) stayed in my lap a long time on Saturday, I guess he was just offering comfort. He misses Ashe I think.
Then Sunday a friend's dog died very suddenly ... the put him outside to do his thing and he didn't come back in so they began to look for him and he was lying dead on the ground. I think that must be even harder than losing my Ashe because at least I knew it was coming.
Anyway, enough sadness ... I love yorkies and that is what I was actually looking for when we found Ashe and DH fell in love with this little tiny thing attacking his rope toy. It was love at first site with those two.