Triumphrat

lanwanman · 06-23-2007, 03:14 AM

The family dog died tonight. Went in for a bit of minor surgery to remove an abcess on her head yesterday and was dead by 10:00 this evening. Massive internal bleeding and a platelet count almost too low to register. The emergency vet did her best but she was just too far gone with whatever underlying condition caused the problem.

The boys took it hard, they had been with her since she was a pup and even I shed a tear although it's only been 3 years that she was around me.

She was a sweet buff Cocker Spaniel. She will be missed.

Wombat · 06-23-2007, 03:19 AM

Condolences Mike,
It is always hard when you lose any member of the family, even the furry ones.

Jhumphrey · 06-23-2007, 05:12 AM

Very same thing happened to our Cocker Spaniel 13 years ago. I appeared that she got some type of blood borne pathogen while getting groomed, several other dogs whom were groomed at the same shop also died.

ruscook · 06-23-2007, 06:44 AM

really sorry to hear about your family member Mike, we recently lost our 8.5yr old german shepherd (she'd had a chronic auto-immune skin disease for the last 6 yrs). Very hard on us and particularly my 13yr old daughter as we had to make the decision to put her down.

Our other dog also took it hard as he'd only know us as a two dog family all his life and really struggled on his own in the day (howling a lot of the time when left on his own)

We just got a 6yr old greyhound from the NSW Greyhound Adoption Program. Her owner had just died unexpectedly so it seemed we needed to help each other....

Never easy losing any kind of friend. I hope you have some great memories for all the family to share.

Russ

Nochicanes · 06-23-2007, 10:57 AM

I've had a couple of Cocker's and they both had platelet problems with rapid onset. Closest we could come to figuring it out was a spleen infection that was causing destruction of platelets but I think there has to be some inheritable problem with certain lineages of this breed.

With all the inbreeding it's impossible to tell, you've got some people breeding obvious problem animals together. Animal looks great but has these fundamental problems.

Bummer really, great dogs....

DaveM · 06-23-2007, 11:13 AM

I'm sorry to hear that too Mike.

I also had my Cocker Spaniel pass away on me a few years ago she was 8 years old and one of my best friends.
She was Roan coloured, it gives me a lump in my throat talking about her now and that was back in 2001!

It was different circumstances and it's a long story I won't bore you with but it is always sad.

They are such a gentle loving bread Cocker Spaniels especially with children.

My condolences you you and your family Mike.

DaveM

MA0458 · 06-23-2007, 12:52 PM

Sorry to hear that Mike.

lanwanman · 06-23-2007, 05:23 PM

Thanks all, from my family.

The original vet (the one that did the abcess work) called this morning to express her shock at what happened. She is as upset as we are and (as a scientist) puzzled as to the whys of the death. Her surmise is that her immune system was in a weakened state (although she came through her spay procedure back in January with no problems at all) due to some underlying condition and the shock of the anesthetic and surgery just pushed her system over the edge. Our biggest shock is just how quickly it happened. At 5 she was seemingly fine. By 6 when the boys went to pick her up the vet told them to take her to the hospital immediately because she had begun vomiting blood and her platelt count was extremely low. When we got to the hospital she could be heard barking from the back and the vet seemed, not optimistic, but realistic in stating that she might get better with treatment although the next 24 hours would be critical. By 9 the vet was calling to tell us that it did not look very good and when we got the final call telling us that it was imminent we arrived at the hospital too late for any last real moments with her. She was already too far gone and the only thing left was to OK the drugs to stop her heart. Man I hated to make that decision. We all went to one of the rooms and sat with her body for a bit, had a cry and then filled out the paperwork to finalize the billing and to have her cremated and delivered to our vet for us to bring home.

Dave, as long as she remains in your heart she will live on.

road dog · 06-23-2007, 07:10 PM

From one animal lover to another... I'm very sorry to hear about your loss. We're down to 3 dogs (and 5 cats) as we lost our beloved Chow dog named Bubba, about three weeks ago. It was tough, no doubt. However, we've had much tougher losses in the past, due to the fact that Bubba preferred to live outdoors and gallantly guard our backyard.

All our current pets have been adopted from the animal shelter or found half starved on the streets. I love to see people give an animal in need a good home. There are way too many of them being destroyed because of irresponsible owners that view their pets merely as objects. If and when you're ready, please consider adopting another dog to be a member of your family. IMO mixed breeds tend to be much healthier, and homeless animals tend to be much more grateful.

Here's a pic of our latest animal acquisition. I brought him home about 6 months ago. He's is the spunkiest and smartest little dog we could ever hope for. We named him Scooter.

Bundyon_Jen · 06-23-2007, 07:29 PM

Awwh mike,
Loss of a pet is like loosing a member of the family!!!
And making the choice to put down an animal is really hard.. I had to put down 2 of my horses, both made me cry for weeks..
I've got 2 dogs now and hate to think of loosing them but they are both old, so ya never know...
the suddeness of all this and how it happened would be distressing for you and all your families..
big huggs to you all in your time of sadness
Jen