Saturday, June 29, 2013

And just like that, we're back to where we started

Yesterday was a very hard, emotional roller coaster, question the meaning of life, rage against the universe sort of day.

We took Jack to the vet and left him for some tests. I knew when I went to pick him up and asked if I could pay before they brought him out that something was wrong when the nurse said to hold off on paying because the doctor wanted to talk to me. Oh no.

The good news is: he doesn't have mange. The hair loss and dry skin is an over reaction to something like fleas. Or a side effect of the diabetes. Yeah, diabetes. Not confirmed, but probably. But that wasn't the really bad news. The really bad news is he tested positive for heart worms. The good news is: it's treatable. The bad news is: it costs $3,000-$5,000, up to 8 months of not being able to play with him, take him outside, and keeping him calm and quiet all the time, and he still may not survive the treatment. As horrible as it made us feel, we simply couldn't commit to it.

We called the vet and booked him in to be euthanized.

I stayed home with the kids, mainly because I was really worried about Ian. He took the news incredibly hard. Steve took Jack to the vet. And was gone for a really long time. So long, in fact, that I started getting worried and was about to text him, when he arrived home. His first words to me were, "They couldn't do it."

The vets have adopted Jack.

It's only temporary until they find someone who can take care of him, afford the treatments, and don't have a crazy house. He's got a chance. It's more than we could allow ourselves to hope for. He's such an amazing dog, though, and I'm not surprised that the vets couldn't put him down. He's the most friendly dog I've ever met, and I'm so happy that he's been given a third chance.

When Steve took him last night, I kept asking why he came to us if this was how it ended. We got 3 days with him, and then had no other choice than to put him down. It wasn't fair! When Steve came home with the great news, I finally understood, that's why he came. He's going to get the chance he deserves and a home that can truly care for him.

The moral of the story: vaccinate your pets. Please give them the best chance in life. It's so easy to protect them from things like this, but once it happens, sometimes it's just too late. And if you can't afford to take care of them, give them to someone who can. It's not fair to put them through this much pain and suffering when it can so easily be prevented. 

1 comment:

  1. We didn't need this pain, or such a heartbreaking decision to make after such a short time with Jack. Especially as we had no choice, we simply could not commit to what is required to get him better, and with what appears to be diabetes it is a never ending job that will limit his life severely. This is the best that could have happened for him and the vets obviously grew as attached as us in the very short period they had him. But they have access to resources that we don't in caring for him. I'm still tearing up a bit thinking about him, I wish he had been well, or at least no where near as sick as he was when we got him, we had already committed to over $600 in vet bills to get him back into shape over the next 12 months, but the $1,000's required and having to keep him calm and quite for up to 8 months is just not possible around our house (as anybody that knows us will attest to ... we don't stand still very much! But, we hope Jack will get better and have a good life, he really deserves it as he is such a beautiful nature.

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