April is a pretty bad month, too many bad things happen. Not just to us, some are national or local tragedies but there are also family things. Today in 2001 is when we lost Mom, we lost our puppy last week, there have been bad tornadic outbreaks in April in the past, Waco, Oklahoma City...
In other words, I Do Not Like April!
Maggie is still mopey but she is better. I had to go to work Friday, so we had to leave her by herself. I put her out in the garage like normal, but I gave her several milkbones instead of the usual one she gets in the morning. She was very clingy and I spent a lot of time petting her before I had to leave. She was ok when Bill got home, but he said she was quieter than normal and not playful like she usually is. We took her for a short walk yesterday afternoon, I think she enjoyed it. Now that the area behind us is all built up, there are no grassy areas so we now have to carry a plastic bag to pick up anything she may leave! While on the walk, there was what can only be described as a swarm of little girls playing in the front yard of one house. I'm not sure who was more excited, the dog or the girls! Talk about a happy dog, I think every single one of them had to hug Maggie. Which Maggie loved, by the way. Yesterday morning, we woke up at 5:30 when Maggie was making whining noises at the baby gate that keeps her from coming into our room - we moved it down the hall from where it was because it was at the top end of the hallway. We had to have it at the top end of the hall because Frasier would have spent all night standing at the block if it was close to our room in hopes of making enough noise to wake me up. Maggie wasn't making a lot of noise, but it was about 30 minutes later than she is used to eating. Bill got up and fed her and he stayed up. I didn't get up for about another hour. It was strange walking into the living room because Frasier would always greet me.
Today, I took Maggie with me when I went to buy something at Otter's store. They allow dogs in the store as long as they don't make a mess. Maggie had never been there before, the first part of the drive goes right by the vet's and she knows that particular direction. She perked up once she realized we were not turning in! She seemed to enjoy her shopping experience, especially when all the males who work there melted as soon as they saw her! She was happy to see Otter for a few minutes. I also went to my office, I wanted to take the trash cans out for pick up tomorrow and Maggie Moo went with me then too. She was very interested in the spot in the back seat where Frasier usually sat when we took him anywhere. She sniffed it quite a bit, then she went to the other side of the back seat and curled up looking sad. After a minute, she came back up to the front seat where she usually sits and sat there for the rest of the trip. She was happy to get home, I couldn't tell for sure but she might have looked for him when we came in the door. I gave her a belly rub and petted her for a while, I saw the first puppy smile and got the first puppy purr that she's done in several days. She's still pretty clingy but she is better. Me too, although slowly.
We were pretty sure that the time was coming this time last week, but we weren't expecting it to be quite that soon. But last Wednesday when Bill let them in when he got home, Frasier went into the living room and laid down. And he didn't get back up, at all. Not even for a treat. I cooked some chicken breast and he wanted to, but it was obvious that he was having a lot of stiffness so I actually brought it to him in the living room and gave him his treat from my hand. Otter had been over to do laundry and she was aware of it, she was part of the discussion we had. I covered him with blanket and he seemed to like the warmth. I had called the vet to order more anti-inflammatory medication and was going to pick it up Thursday after work. Thursday morning, I was afraid that I would find him gone overnight so Bill actually was the one who checked on him first. He was still with us, but he hadn't moved. Maggie was curled up with him and she did not want to leave his side. She did leave for food, but he didn't want to get up. We got him to a standing position carefully and he was able to go outside, but he didn't want to eat. I got him to eat a few bites from my hand and we pretty much knew at that point that it was time. He wouldn't eat much, I soaked a few bites of bread in raw egg and he liked that. Then I gave him another egg which he really seemed to enjoy. He did not want his morning milk bone, but he ate a few of the smaller treats that Maggie usually gets. He found a spot in the dog yard that he liked and he laid down. He refused to get up, so I got him a pain pill and fed it to him in a bite of cheese. He had gotten water when he first got up and he was able to relieve himself but he was pretty shaky. Bill suggested I see about taking him for a walk when I got home, but we also decided to call the vet and make a late appointment to at least get him looked at but we knew what we were probably going to have to do.
It was not a good day at work on Thursday. I left 30 minutes early and Otter got off about 15 minutes early. When I got home, he was up and moving around but not well. He was also acting for the first time like he was hurting. I took both dogs out to the back yard and he wandered around for a few minutes, then he was ready to come in. He gave Maggie a quick groom and then he sat down and stayed there. Bill and Otter got here and we basically just spent the next 45 minutes petting him and talking to him. I took several pictures of him but I haven't uploaded them yet. Otter was able to get Maggie out without getting Frasier's attention. He was happy to see his leash and we got him up, he was able to get to the door and out but it was obviously very difficult for him. We had to lift him into the car and out of it when we got to the vet. He had lost a little weight since the last time I took him in, a few weeks back. The vet examined him and gave him several treats. He said that we could try sterioids, but we would probably be looking at maybe 6 months (probably less) and that it might not work - he really didn't think it would work, actually. He could also tell that the dog was hurting. We spent about 30 or 40 minutes with him, just loving him. And then we did what was the best thing for him, and let him go. The vet uses an iv to anesthetize them before the final shot, so they are as pain-free and relaxed as possible. So we feel ok about the process.
I had one of the worst headaches of my life Thursday night, it was not a migraine but it was on that level and I'm sure it was stress and grief. I went to bed before 9:00 and I think I was awake for at least an hour. I woke up at 2:00 a.m. Friday morning and was unable to go back to sleep. Friday was hard but it was not as hard as Thursday because it was already done and I know without a doubt that we did everything we possibly could for him. We know he had a good life with us, much better than he had with the rescue group that we got him from. We know he was at least 13, but he could well have been a year or two older. We wish that we'd been able to get him when he was younger, but we had 9 great years with him. He was a great dog and there will never be another one like him.
We always had a carpet piece in the garage for the dogs to snooze on, but it eventually got grody and I threw it away. I had an old bath mat which had been in the laundry room and I put it out there for them when we tossed the carpet piece. Frasier had been spending more and more time on the mat and it was very dirty. He was still in control of his bodily functions, but there were a few times when he maybe wasn't able to get up as quickly as he used to and it got dribbled on a few times. Which made Maggie Moo think it was ok to leak there! I tossed it out a few days before we realized it was time with Frasier and I hadn't had time to get anything to replace it yet but I took their blankets out there for them. I bought a bath mat for the guest bathroom when I redecorated it after Otter moved out, but I never really liked it. It's kind of like a covered foam piece and it seemed to get dirty just from the air! I washed it this morning and put it out in the garage for Maggie. It's soft and I think she'll like it. I cleaned up the garage floor several days ago, before Frasier, and I got the spray cleaner out to take care of any spots that might have a smell to make the dogs go back there. There were no more accidents after that and I'm hoping that it's enough. I'll get another bath mat for the guest bathroom, hopefully I can find one that I actually like this time!
Otter will be over here in the morning, the electric company is doing something in the neighborhood and may need to get into our yard. They are the specific reason that we do not allow anyone to work in the yard at all unless there is someone here. The last time we did allow it, they let Maggie Moo out and we were really lucky that a neighbor happened to see her and got her before she wandered too far.
We went to Goldie's for lunch today and had hamburgers. They have really good burgers. We walked over to the store our booth is at and Bill got 3 pachinko machines to bring home. He also downsized the booth to a smaller size. We were going to rearrange the garage a bit, which it does need, but neither of us were in the mood to do that so it's been put off for a few days. Bill mowed the yard this morning. We've mostly been hanging around the house getting stuff done, except for the booth and lunch trip and when Maggie and I were out this morning. We're going to be taking Maggie on more walks than we've been doing lately, the weather was an issue and then Frasier's arthritis issues kept us from walking them much. This week the weather should be mostly good, and we're going to get back to a regular walk schedule.
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