Sad News

So I'm having a great early afternoon after getting some great rest and having a wonderful day yesterday.... then the phone rings...

Is it any wonder why I cringe when the phone rings? I don't get calls very often and usually when I do they're not for anything exciting. Usually must know news, sad news...

Like today. Our family golden retriever is 14 years old, if not more, and has suffered horrible arthritis at least the past two. He's been on a diet of baby aspirin to relieve the pain, but his morning he just didn't want to get up. I guess he finally did (info from later call), but my mom called to say if I wanted a chance to say good bye I'd have to come over soon.

Well, of course, I love our animals and I feel a twinge of guilt that I haven't seen our family animals a lot lately, but I haven't seen the family humans either. So I decide I'll go over tomorrow morning, visit with him for a little bit, and then go get my required drug test for school (they're yearly things). It's not that I'm cold... I will be sad if he has to be put down, but I've had a few years to adjust to the idea and I've never viewed death as a bad thing... that's a whole other topic...

My mom calls me back to tell me that he has an appointment with the vet for tomorrow afternoon, hoping they can put him on some different medication. Personally, I'm thinking added expense of delaying the inevitable, but sometimes it's worth it. I did it with my ferret until he showed me he was ready to go. Well, I've see that look in our dog's eyes sometimes... the look that says life isn't fun anymore. That's the sad part to me. Quality of life is a big deal to me with pets and people. In the interest of not alienating anyone and getting too personal, I'll leave it at that.

Now I may have to go with the dog for his visit, which is something I'm not really looking forward to. Partly because I have other things that must get done and partly because I don't want to be the bearer of bad news to my mom. And our poor cat... he'd be the only animal left in the house. He was devastated when my ferret died. (yes, he was, believe me) And I'm afraid he won't know what to do with Brutis gone. My mom says she won't let them put him down until Friday, no matter the outcome. I know she's hoping another drug will buy him time and I understand that urge. However, I'm thinking they're won't be anything else that isn't overly expensive....

But what do I know... I spent about $2500 giving my ferret an extra year of life and we enjoyed that last year.

Okay, now I'm gonna get emotional,
Jennifer