I had to make the heart wrenching decision today to put my first "baby" to sleep. We got Rocky in college on Valentine's Day 1998. He has been my constant companion ever since my other baby was born. Then he had to go live with my parents because we were afraid for him to be around Angelo. So, he's been at my parents for about a year and a half, but we basically see him almost every day. We are over there a lot.
While we were at Canton yesterday, my dad said that Rocky had been throwing up and he could tell he was really sick. My mom called us this morning and basically said we need to come over and "say goodbye" to Rocky because she really didn't think he was going to make it much longer. We went over and I could tell he was sick. He would just go lay out in the grass. He looked weak and skinny. He was having trouble going to the bathroom. He layed on the kitchen floor and I talked to him and told him I loved him and I cried and cried. And I'm crying now as I write this. I think I'll finish up later...
OK, I'm back. We ended up leaving my parents house so Angelo could take a nap. My mom called around 6:30 and said that she had called the vet and was going to meet him up at the vet office with Rocky. When I got there it's like Rocky was a different dog. He never moved. Never lifted his head when I walked in, just layed there. The vet thought he had had a stroke. He was running all sorts of tests, giving him fluids and shots and my mom and I were just watching him get worse. He was very dehydrated and you could see his ribs. I took the muzzle off so he could breathe better. He started panting really hard and was just shaking his back legs. The vet, at this point, thought he was dying. Then it would stop. The vet thinks he was having mini seizures. Then Rocky started throwing up something awful, brown and slimey. After that he never moved again. He had no pupil dialation. It was then that the vet said he would recommend putting him to sleep. After what I had just witnessed, I had to agree. I didn't want my baby to suffer. I loved on him and whispered in his ear how much I loved him and then he went to play in doggie heaven. (sniff, sniff)
When I came home I was still crying. Angelo met me at the door saying, "I sorry mommy." I just told him Rocky was really sick and I was really sad. He would say, "Mommy sad." and "Be happy mommy" for the next two days. Even though Rocky hadn't lived with me lately, I still felt like he was my dog. He had a good life. We had a good life with him in it. RIP my sweet puppy. I love you bunches.
I took this picture the day he died. I'm so glad I did. Under the pain in those eyes is my sweet doggy.
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