Ok, so I figure it’s time I finally get back to writing about Pooch…
On October 29th, 2009, we had to make the agonizing decision to euthanize Pooch, following a couple of months of a roller coaster ride when it came to his health. Here’s how his year went in a nutshell:
Over the course of this past year, Pooch had been slowing down quite a bit in general, a combination of age and an increased frequency of his arthritis acting up. Since Rocky died in March, he seemed to slow down even more. He and Rocky weren’t exactly best buds, so I doubt it was grief, but you never know – that was still the one other dog always around with him and now he was suddenly gone. He’d hike up Mt. Fonkert with me less and less, and in fact, wouldn’t do it at all the last several months. The last major hike I had Pooch on away from home was up Cameron’s Cone back in May. He actually kicked my ass on that climb, but he paid the price for days afterwards, and I never got him up on a hike like that again.
In August he was hit by a car. One of our neighbors, who insists on always driving through here at reckless speeds, came around the curve too fast as we were all hiking up the road to where my Jeep was parked. Apparently it never occurs to the jackass that people might actually be walking that road (it’s a gravel road in the mountains, there are no sidewalks), even though he walks it himself with his wife, and the road goes right through the middle of our property. Luckily Karen was right there to quickly pick up Marisa and get to the side of the road quick, or else he might have hit her, too. Pooch saw the car and had turned around to run away, and the jackass (I say this instead of revealing his name, but I’m not sure why I’m extending him that courtesy) hit his brakes, but it was too late – he skidded on the gravel and still struck Pooch on the rear end. Thank god he was braking and Pooch was running away, or else the outcome could have been much worse. As it was, Pooch promptly ran away after the hit, and we had to go chase him down to see if he was OK. He seemed fine, but we still took him to the vet the next day. They couldn’t x-ray him, as they have to put him under for that, and at his age/condition, they were worried he wouldn’t wake up. They checked him out otherwise, though, as he seemed fine. They gave us a stronger painkiller to give him, though (he was taking painkillers a couple times per day to combat the arthritis pain), as they figured he’d probably be a little more sore.
Digression: For those who think I’m being too hard on the driver, that my remarks are too emotionally charged, I assure you I’m not. Even after that incident, he still blasts through here like a bat out of hell. Just last week I was out for a walk and he came speeding down the road, a road that was layered with ICE. The guy is just reckless. Also, he never once checked back with us to see how Pooch was, and on top of that, he told our other neighbors that he “almost” hit Pooch. Lying fucker! Why lie about that? Anyhoo, back to the main thrust of the post….
Within a month or so of this incident, Pooch started going downhill pretty rapidly. It didn’t seem to be anything injury-related that we could tell, but he basically stopped eating, didn’t drink much, slept all the time, etc. He became grotesquely skinny, like a walking skeleton. We took him to the vet, and they told his kidneys were shutting down. We gave him a dialysis treatment over the course of three days, and he seemed to get a lot better. After a week or so, though, he got worse again. And he wouldn’t eat the prescription dog food we bought for him, and the vet said we couldn’t give him regular dog food or much protein at all, as it was too hard on the kidneys. We brought him back to the vet for another treatment, and then had to decide whether to put him to sleep or not, as the vet didn’t think he would really get better. This was September 29th, and we were prepared to let him go the following day.
Something just didn’t seem right, though. Why were his kidneys not working? It didn’t seem to be related to the accident, so what could it be? I started searching the Internet about kidney problem causes, special diets, etc. It was the damn new painkiller we were giving him, Derramax. Be careful with this one, folks (it’s also used on humans. I found out my next-door neighbor had some problems with this drug, too), as it works great for some, but will destroy the kidneys for others. I also found some great real-food suggestion for a special kidney diet, including several safe meats (turns out the blanket no-protein advice we got wasn’t exactly accurate, it’s only certain proteins, and that nitrogen was really the key thing to watch). We decided to hold off on putting him down, take him off the damn Deramaxx, and get him on a new diet.
Success!!! Wow, what a rebound that was. He started eating again (of course! he was getting what every dog dreams of – people food!), putting some weight back on, and even got some playful energy back! Within a few weeks you could hardly even tell he was ever sick.
Then it happened… We got some bad weather the weekend of October 24th, and his arthritis seemed to act up something fierce. He was shivering in pain, we were out of his old painkiller (Tramadol), and sure as hell weren’t going to give him any Deramaxx. So we took him to the vet that Sunday to get some new pills. While we were there, we had the vet take a look at this hump he had on his back, near his spine and back towards the rear end. He’d had this hump a little while, but it seemed to grow a lot quicker since the accident. The vet didn’t focus on it back in September, as they were more worried about his kidneys. I said that we should check it out now, though, since we got his kidney problem under control. She pushed around on it pretty good, trying to get grasp of what it was, but said that she’d need an x-ray and/or MRI to really get a feel for what it was, and that again was a risk because he might not wake up. She said if it didn’t seem to be bothering him, which it didn’t, we should probably just leave it alone for now. So we did.
The Tramadol did nothing. The rest of the day he continued shivering in pain. On Monday it got worse, and now there was a new problem. His left rear leg became like a wet noodle. He didn’t want to put any weight down on it. Over the next couple of days it got worse, and he just drug it behind him. He stopped eating again; not because his kidneys were bothering him, but because he was backed up from not pooping, as he couldn’t support himself in the necessary position with that weak rear leg. I finally decided to haul him outside on Tuesday to just hold him while he did his thing, and poop just dropped out of him the way out; he couldn’t hold it in anymore. Pooch NEVER pooped in the house, so it was obviously bad. He’d finally eat a little bit after that, but not much and only if we hand fed it to him. We’d repeat this routine several times over the next couple of days.
The pills continued to not help at all, and he would just lie on the floor, shivering and panting in pain. We’d shower him with all the love we could, but he was in PAIN. And that leg became totally useless, just something he had to drag behind him whenever he tried to walk, which he didn’t even try much anymore.
Thursday morning we decided we had to take him back in. We’d see if they could test his hump to see if it was causing the problem (I suspected that because it was so close to his spine, it could be pressing a nerve or something), and if it was surgically fixable. If not, then we’d finally have to make the tough call.
I was working from home that day, taking the latter half of the day off for the appointment. He had to go outside right before my last conference call, so I just carried him outside to relieve himself, and left him to lay out there (it was very nice day) while I did my call. After the call, I went to go get him, and saw he wasn’t out front anymore. I called upstairs to Karen to see if she had gotten him and brought him upstairs. She said that she hadn’t. That’s odd… Where could be? It’s not like he went off for a hike!
I went back out and looked for tracks. Thank god for the snow that was still left. At the end of the driveway I spotted his tracks heading down the road toward the creek. It was easy to follow, as there was a dragging track from his one bum foot, leaving a solid line to follow. I walk over to the creek, and there he is just lying down in it, shivering (that water was COLD!). I think he went over to get a drink, maybe lie in it a bit, but then couldn’t get up, as he wasn’t one to just lie around in a creek for much time (Rocky was – that dog would lie in the middle of a creek for 20 minutes in January!). So I went in and picked him up, as we had to get to the vet. I was surprised he had dragged himself all the way over there, as we couldn’t even get him all the way to the driveway the past few days. I think maybe he knew it was his last day….
When we got to the vet, I had Karen wait out in the car with the kids, as two of them were napping anyway. I told her that if the decision was to put him down, I’d come back out and get them. I carried Pooch in alone.
As you already know, the prognosis from the vet wasn’t particularly good. She said that she’d need a CT and or an MRI to determine what the hump was, and those run $700 and $1200, respectively. Also, he’d have to be put under, which he might not even wake up from. Then there were the various possibilities of what it was – cancer, benign cyst, hematoma or lipoma, etc. Even if it were one of the more benign things, it didn’t mean anything good for Pooch. She said that if had grown into the spine enough to be causing this problem, surgery probably wouldn’t fix it. They might remove the mass, but the damage to the spine/nerves was done. He wouldn’t get the function of that leg back, and the other rear leg, which was getting a bit weaker, too, would likely also lose function. And of course, he might not survive the surgery anyway.
It just seemed like too much to put him through, especially since it might not even really help him, and that we’d really be doing it more for us than him, as we couldn’t stand the thought of losing him. I had to do what was right for him. I went back to the car and told Karen and the girls to come inside….
It was the most awful experience of my life (I just started crying again as I typed those words…). Losing somebody is hard anyway, but to be there with them and making the conscious choice to kill them is heart-wrenching. “I’m going to miss you, Pooch, because I’m about to have this doctor give you a lethal dose of drugs.” Before they give the lethal dose of anesthesia, they first push a strong sedative. I’ll never forget that look when they gave him that sedative – all of the sudden his eyes went glassy and his head dropped 1-2 inches. That image is tattooed on my brain and plays out in my head every single day. On the upside, though, his painful shivering and panting stopped. After that they pushed the anesthesia and he just went to sleep. Overall it’s actually very peaceful, and I’m glad he could go out that way instead of being in pain until his last breath.
We brought him home, and a couple of days later, after we had some more thaw of the snow, we dug a grave and buried him right next to Rocky.
As you first leave La Veta, you’re riding along these rolling pasture lands with ranches, looking out at the Spanish Peaks on one side, Mt. Mestas on the other, and the Sangre de Cristo mountains looming off in the distance. It’s simply delightful. As you progress, you start to see the famous “stonewalls” that the ride gets its namesake from. The Cuchara River also winds its way to and away from the road from time to time.
As you move further along, you begin to see the first views of Cuchara Mountain Resort, pictured here on the left. At one time this was a functioning ski area, a popular winter recreation spot for area residents. The depth of snow required to operate it as a ski area is no longer a reliable constant in recent years, though, so ski operations have closed down. You can still go ski if you like, but you won’t be getting a lift ride up. Beautiful area, though, and still a great place to go for hiking, XC skiing, etc. Those are the Sangre de Cristos looming behind it.
