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#1
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ANZ Sam-I-Am, CGC (10/29/89-6/15/04)
I sent Sam to the Bridge last night, about the very last thing I thought
I'd be doing on such a lovely evening. He was fine when I got home from work, and fine when I left for the barn. Apparently, he was fine until about 7pm, when he collapsed. My roommate thought he'd had a stroke, or a seizure, but when I got home his gums were white and he was still breathing in huge ragged gasps. He looked a tiny bit more "with it" when we got to the Vet School, but it was pretty obvious he was in too much pain to even be excited about the car ride or nervous about the vet. (But when we urged him to his feet, he made a beeline for the exit door. Some things never change!) The vet started to talk about ruptured tumors, and I said "That sounds like hemangiosarcoma." I think I surprised him a bit, hemangio isn't that common a problem. But I learned a bit about it when Noah died, so the more usual symptoms weren't unfamiliar to me. They took Sam to ICU, and drew blood. And a "belly tap", which was full of blood that shouldn't have been there. They pumped him full of fluids, just to get his blood pressure in the measurable range. There was a dark shading on/in his spleen on the radiographs. Clotting time was normal. If Sam had hemangio (and it was the odds-on favorite), surgery and chemo would buy him six months. Maybe. A 14-year old high-strung, active dog shouldn't have to go through that. So I made the other decision. At least he had the courtesy to wait for me to be there with him. I'll say this for my dogs, when they're ready to leave this world they don't linger (unlike my cats). Full tilt boogie at 6:45, gone by 11. Sam is why I'm "allergic" to puppies, but also why I adore obnoxious adolescent dawgs. I dragged him to obedience class when he was 6 months old, he dragged me to obedience class (and agility class, and clicker training class, and seminars, and show-n-gos, and fun matches) for the next 4 years. The world is a safer place now for dirty underwear and plastic baggies. I can go back to leaving the laundry basket on the floor. And the trash cans. And I can remove my watch and set it down without finding bits of its little crystal carcass in Sam's crate. I won't have to flush Sam out from under the dinner table, or eat with hot dogbreath steaming up my leg. ANZ Sam-I-Am -- half ACD, all dog. MHH |
#2
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on 2004-06-16 at 08:14 wrote:
At least he had the courtesy to wait for me to be there with him. I'll say this for my dogs, when they're ready to leave this world they don't linger (unlike my cats). Full tilt boogie at 6:45, gone by 11. aw, hell. i'm so sorry. i really don't know which is harder. losing them that quickly is an awful shock, but a drawn-out death is just as difficult in it's own way. either way, it really, really sucks. Sam is why I'm "allergic" to puppies, but also why I adore obnoxious adolescent dawgs. I dragged him to obedience class when he was 6 months old, he dragged me to obedience class (and agility class, and clicker training class, and seminars, and show-n-gos, and fun matches) for the next 4 years. The world is a safer place now for dirty underwear and plastic baggies. I can go back to leaving the laundry basket on the floor. And the trash cans. And I can remove my watch and set it down without finding bits of its little crystal carcass in Sam's crate. I won't have to flush Sam out from under the dinner table, or eat with hot dogbreath steaming up my leg. that certainly puts it in perspective. the next time i feel like whining about my bratty dog, i'll consider the alternative. ANZ Sam-I-Am -- half ACD, all dog. goodbye, Sam-I-Am. -- shelly (perfectly foul wench) and elliott and harriet http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette |
#3
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on 2004-06-16 at 08:14 wrote:
At least he had the courtesy to wait for me to be there with him. I'll say this for my dogs, when they're ready to leave this world they don't linger (unlike my cats). Full tilt boogie at 6:45, gone by 11. aw, hell. i'm so sorry. i really don't know which is harder. losing them that quickly is an awful shock, but a drawn-out death is just as difficult in it's own way. either way, it really, really sucks. Sam is why I'm "allergic" to puppies, but also why I adore obnoxious adolescent dawgs. I dragged him to obedience class when he was 6 months old, he dragged me to obedience class (and agility class, and clicker training class, and seminars, and show-n-gos, and fun matches) for the next 4 years. The world is a safer place now for dirty underwear and plastic baggies. I can go back to leaving the laundry basket on the floor. And the trash cans. And I can remove my watch and set it down without finding bits of its little crystal carcass in Sam's crate. I won't have to flush Sam out from under the dinner table, or eat with hot dogbreath steaming up my leg. that certainly puts it in perspective. the next time i feel like whining about my bratty dog, i'll consider the alternative. ANZ Sam-I-Am -- half ACD, all dog. goodbye, Sam-I-Am. -- shelly (perfectly foul wench) and elliott and harriet http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette |
#4
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on 2004-06-16 at 08:14 wrote:
At least he had the courtesy to wait for me to be there with him. I'll say this for my dogs, when they're ready to leave this world they don't linger (unlike my cats). Full tilt boogie at 6:45, gone by 11. aw, hell. i'm so sorry. i really don't know which is harder. losing them that quickly is an awful shock, but a drawn-out death is just as difficult in it's own way. either way, it really, really sucks. Sam is why I'm "allergic" to puppies, but also why I adore obnoxious adolescent dawgs. I dragged him to obedience class when he was 6 months old, he dragged me to obedience class (and agility class, and clicker training class, and seminars, and show-n-gos, and fun matches) for the next 4 years. The world is a safer place now for dirty underwear and plastic baggies. I can go back to leaving the laundry basket on the floor. And the trash cans. And I can remove my watch and set it down without finding bits of its little crystal carcass in Sam's crate. I won't have to flush Sam out from under the dinner table, or eat with hot dogbreath steaming up my leg. that certainly puts it in perspective. the next time i feel like whining about my bratty dog, i'll consider the alternative. ANZ Sam-I-Am -- half ACD, all dog. goodbye, Sam-I-Am. -- shelly (perfectly foul wench) and elliott and harriet http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette |
#5
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Mary H Healey wrote in news:40D047D2.5060307
@iastate.edu: ANZ Sam-I-Am -- half ACD, all dog. All friend. My thoughts are with you Mary. Marcel |
#6
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Mary H Healey wrote in news:40D047D2.5060307
@iastate.edu: ANZ Sam-I-Am -- half ACD, all dog. All friend. My thoughts are with you Mary. Marcel |
#7
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Mary H Healey wrote in news:40D047D2.5060307
@iastate.edu: ANZ Sam-I-Am -- half ACD, all dog. All friend. My thoughts are with you Mary. Marcel |
#8
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on 2004-06-16 at 08:31 wrote:
it's own way. sigh is anyone missing an apostrophe? i seem to've picked up a stray somewhere along the way. if not, does anyone need one? free to good home! -- shelly (perfectly foul wench) and elliott and harriet http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette |
#9
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on 2004-06-16 at 08:31 wrote:
it's own way. sigh is anyone missing an apostrophe? i seem to've picked up a stray somewhere along the way. if not, does anyone need one? free to good home! -- shelly (perfectly foul wench) and elliott and harriet http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette |
#10
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on 2004-06-16 at 08:31 wrote:
it's own way. sigh is anyone missing an apostrophe? i seem to've picked up a stray somewhere along the way. if not, does anyone need one? free to good home! -- shelly (perfectly foul wench) and elliott and harriet http://home.bluemarble.net/~scouvrette |
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