For those that cared... Final update from this thread: http://www.gofuckyourself.com/showthread.php?t=736905
Old Sully finally passed away yesterday morning, peacefully at the vet's. He had one last hurrah the night before though. I gave him a bath as it has been rainy here lately, he was pretty grimy from the dirt and the leaves etc. After his bath I took him out to the back yard on the grass while I went in and cleaned some things. When I went back out to get him later I found he had wandered off.
I walked for over 2 hours during that night (Wednesday night), from about 2 to 4 am looking around the neighborhood for him, but caught no sight of him. I thought "how far could he get?", seeing how his hind legs aren't all that strong. Part of me wondered if maybe he had crawled off somewhere to die.
He ended up being gone from me for about 14 hours total before the humane society called me back and said they think they had a match. I raced down there and sure enough, there he was. He sure seemed happy to see me when his cage door was opened. I took him home and fed him a nice supper which he ate with gusto, with his pain medication mixed in it. Later on I got a call and it was the woman who found him and reported him to the Humane Society. She told me where she found him... the little bugger had made it a good third to a half-mile away from my house! On his legs and at his age that is an incredible feat. I of course thanked her profusely.
He had a pretty good day on Thursday, although it was still quite wet outside. When I brought him in for the final time that evening he was a bit on the soggy side. I gave him some of his favorite treats (some pizza crusts) and his regular dog food, after which he fell asleep.
I awoke at about 1:30 am to the faint sounds of him making noises down the basement. I went down and there he was, laying down and yelping for me. It didn't take long for me to figure out that this was it, and the remainder of that night would be his last hours.
I covered him with a blanket and put one under his head, sat down there with him until morning, petting him, giving him more of his medicine, shooting some water into his mouth with a syringe, and I brushed and cleaned him up a bit. Come morning I wrapped him up in a blanket, carried him to the car and drove him to the vet. He got his final needles at just before 10 am with me right by his side.
Let me just say, no amount of talking here or to others, nor any of the mental preparation I did over the past year even remotely prepared me for how hard this was for me. The ONLY thing that kept me going and gave me the strength to follow through was in focusing on what his needs are, not mine. By putting him first I was able to say goodbye rather than keeping him longer and making him suffer more.
RIP my boy. You were one hell of a dog, no one could ask for better.
First pic taken in 2002, second pic was taken late 90's.
If I am hard to reach for the next little while I apologize, I will get back to everyone who emails or messages me soon though.
Thanks all, for the previous support and understanding in that other thread.
Old Sully finally passed away yesterday morning, peacefully at the vet's. He had one last hurrah the night before though. I gave him a bath as it has been rainy here lately, he was pretty grimy from the dirt and the leaves etc. After his bath I took him out to the back yard on the grass while I went in and cleaned some things. When I went back out to get him later I found he had wandered off.
I walked for over 2 hours during that night (Wednesday night), from about 2 to 4 am looking around the neighborhood for him, but caught no sight of him. I thought "how far could he get?", seeing how his hind legs aren't all that strong. Part of me wondered if maybe he had crawled off somewhere to die.
He ended up being gone from me for about 14 hours total before the humane society called me back and said they think they had a match. I raced down there and sure enough, there he was. He sure seemed happy to see me when his cage door was opened. I took him home and fed him a nice supper which he ate with gusto, with his pain medication mixed in it. Later on I got a call and it was the woman who found him and reported him to the Humane Society. She told me where she found him... the little bugger had made it a good third to a half-mile away from my house! On his legs and at his age that is an incredible feat. I of course thanked her profusely.
He had a pretty good day on Thursday, although it was still quite wet outside. When I brought him in for the final time that evening he was a bit on the soggy side. I gave him some of his favorite treats (some pizza crusts) and his regular dog food, after which he fell asleep.
I awoke at about 1:30 am to the faint sounds of him making noises down the basement. I went down and there he was, laying down and yelping for me. It didn't take long for me to figure out that this was it, and the remainder of that night would be his last hours.
I covered him with a blanket and put one under his head, sat down there with him until morning, petting him, giving him more of his medicine, shooting some water into his mouth with a syringe, and I brushed and cleaned him up a bit. Come morning I wrapped him up in a blanket, carried him to the car and drove him to the vet. He got his final needles at just before 10 am with me right by his side.
Let me just say, no amount of talking here or to others, nor any of the mental preparation I did over the past year even remotely prepared me for how hard this was for me. The ONLY thing that kept me going and gave me the strength to follow through was in focusing on what his needs are, not mine. By putting him first I was able to say goodbye rather than keeping him longer and making him suffer more.
RIP my boy. You were one hell of a dog, no one could ask for better.
First pic taken in 2002, second pic was taken late 90's.
If I am hard to reach for the next little while I apologize, I will get back to everyone who emails or messages me soon though.
Thanks all, for the previous support and understanding in that other thread.
GFY Hall of Famer 
AIM: GrouchyGfy
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