Our dog Sadie has been suffering increasingly from debilitating pain in her right front shoulder during the past few months. We’ve had her on several increasingly strong arthritis medications with no obvious beneficial effect.
Irene took Sadie in to the vet on Thursday. We had already talked about the possibility of cancer and decided that, if she was diagnosed with it, we wouldn’t prolong her pain unnecessarily. Unfortunately, the examination showed a large growth in Sadie’s shoulder joint which hadn’t been there two months ago. The vet diagnosed bone cancer with a poor prognosis- it was growing quite rapidly. Irene was there at the vet alone- I was at work. She made the decision we had already agreed to,
and had Sadie euthanized.
I wasn’t as close to Sadie as Irene was, but the dog was definitely part of our family. I miss the hand-lick ritual- every time I let Sadie in to the house or came home from work, she would bump her head on my hand and lick it. It was like she was saying thank you for bringing her in to the house. I’ll miss that.
Farewell, Sadie- you run freely and without pain forever in our hearts.
Very sorry to hear about Sadie. It is probably the hardest thing to go through, losing a member of the family, whether it be cat, dog or human.
I still think you should get another one though 🙂
Thanks, Shane…yeah, it’s tough. Unfortunately, it’s an unavoidable part of sharing your home with critters.
As for getting another dog…no 🙂 I appreciate the sentiment, but we’ve had a dog now for nearly 14 years. I really like dogs, but I think it would be best for us to not have another. The cats are more my “friends”, I guess.