Have you ever had the perfect dog?
I was given a purebred Kelpie (no papers) by a close friend when he was 10 weeks old. He was a dark chocolate brown and so serene I named him Nelson after Nelson Mandela. Although he was a working breed he never dug holes or barked madly or chased inappropriate things as he grew into a beautiful natured dog.
We had chickens that he would round up gently and put back into their enclosure and although he was much larger (25kg) he always let the little fluffy dogs boss him around without a growl or even a nasty look. I must admit he had a couple of issues when he was younger which resulted in emergency vet visits. He jumped at a high metal fence at a neighbours dogs an sliced his jaw open and another time he impaled himseld on a metal post. Both times after some stitching and pain relief he was back to normal in a few days and since those early vet visits has only ever been to the vet yearly for annual vaccinations.
I took him to obedience classes and he excelled at everything. We made it to the top class after only 6 months which was a record at that obedience school and even joined the super dog team that went around to shows and demonstrated obedience and also agility.
All that was years ago now and my Nelson is now 14yo and just recently started to have a bit of arthritic pain. Nelson has been to the vet and been having Pentosan injections (a course of 4, one each week) and after the first two I was seeing a great improvement in his movement but last week after number 3 he started to get lame and hobble around.
Last night he collapsed and couldn't get up so we headed to the vet and he was given an injection of Temgesic (an opioid) for the pain and sent home with Tramal for the pain and Rimadyl. He had a quiet night and had a Tramal this morning but he doesn't want to move off his bed. I don't want him to suffer but I also don't want to give up on him.
Hopefully I can keep him pain free over the Easter break and assess his quality of life. It has happened so quick I am not ready for him to go but I know I would never be ready.
If you have the time Nelson would appreciate prayers, and if you can spare a few more so would I that I can be strong if this is truly the end.
Jenny
Update-
I helped Nelson to his final sleep yesterday and he has gone to meet Buddy.
I was given a purebred Kelpie (no papers) by a close friend when he was 10 weeks old. He was a dark chocolate brown and so serene I named him Nelson after Nelson Mandela. Although he was a working breed he never dug holes or barked madly or chased inappropriate things as he grew into a beautiful natured dog.
We had chickens that he would round up gently and put back into their enclosure and although he was much larger (25kg) he always let the little fluffy dogs boss him around without a growl or even a nasty look. I must admit he had a couple of issues when he was younger which resulted in emergency vet visits. He jumped at a high metal fence at a neighbours dogs an sliced his jaw open and another time he impaled himseld on a metal post. Both times after some stitching and pain relief he was back to normal in a few days and since those early vet visits has only ever been to the vet yearly for annual vaccinations.
I took him to obedience classes and he excelled at everything. We made it to the top class after only 6 months which was a record at that obedience school and even joined the super dog team that went around to shows and demonstrated obedience and also agility.
All that was years ago now and my Nelson is now 14yo and just recently started to have a bit of arthritic pain. Nelson has been to the vet and been having Pentosan injections (a course of 4, one each week) and after the first two I was seeing a great improvement in his movement but last week after number 3 he started to get lame and hobble around.
Last night he collapsed and couldn't get up so we headed to the vet and he was given an injection of Temgesic (an opioid) for the pain and sent home with Tramal for the pain and Rimadyl. He had a quiet night and had a Tramal this morning but he doesn't want to move off his bed. I don't want him to suffer but I also don't want to give up on him.
Hopefully I can keep him pain free over the Easter break and assess his quality of life. It has happened so quick I am not ready for him to go but I know I would never be ready.
If you have the time Nelson would appreciate prayers, and if you can spare a few more so would I that I can be strong if this is truly the end.
Jenny
Update-
I helped Nelson to his final sleep yesterday and he has gone to meet Buddy.
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