[Dailydrool] To Vicki and Cleo -- when to let our babies go

[via Dailydrool]

Oh Vicki, my eyes and heart are full reading your post.  I am so sorry  you 
and your dear girl are going through this.  I'm keeping both of  you in my 
prayers, and hope you can still enjoy the sweetness of your moments  
together.  
 
You asked when it's time to let her go.  If only we never had to face  
this.  If only there were an easy answer.  
 
I share with you what my wise and wonderful vet said when my precious  
Blueberry was struggling.  "She will let you know when it's time."   And she 
did.  Other vets (including the specialists) very early on had said  she needed 
to go.  But -- like your Cleo -- she stayed "perky and sassy and  loved her 
walks".  Like Cleo, her only symptom was weight loss/not  eating.  When 
these vets' training told them to say it was time, she  made it clear it 
wasn't, and I had a long period of loving, quality time with  her.    
 
Now if there were any sign of pain, that would be different.  But she  
snuggled next to me and kissed me and looked into my eyes all the time, and she  
was happy, and she was Blueberry.  So we kept going.  
 
For eating, one thing that really helped her -- the vet recommended an  
antacid liquid, I can't remember the name, but it was bought over the counter 
at  the human drugstore, but it had to be a certain one (because some aren't 
good  for dogs), not Maalox or Pepto-Bismol, the vet could tell you.  My vet 
said  sometimes dogs don't eat because their illness causes nausea, and 
this made her  feel better long enough to get some food down.  I also spoon fed 
her baby  food (she liked the sweetest ones); and I even gave her dishes of 
Ensure to  drink, since she could drink well, and I figured this was 
getting some nutrition  in.  The vet said to just give her anything she wanted, 
even human food, so  I made chicken soup (after she wouldn't eat other treats 
like hamburg and  rice).  And I took her to McDonald's for her favorite 
cheeseburgers.  
 
And then, one morning, she looked at me, and her eyes were telling me that  
it was time.  There was no question.  I didn't know what it would look  
like, but I recognized it instantly.  While I waited for our 5:00 p.m.  
appointment, she lay next to me on the couch, cuddled in my arms, and then she  
took her trip to the Bridge all by herself, to spare me.  
 
I'm sorry I can't offer words that will comfort you, or magic  solutions.  
But just remember that everything we do, we do out of greatest  love for our 
furbabies, so whatever your heart is telling you at the time --  follow it. 
 Then you won't have regrets.  
 
You're both in the hearts of all of your Daily Drool family.  
 
Love, 
Beth H. (Duchess ATB and Blueberry ATB)  _hinchliffe at aol.com_ 
(mailto:hinchliffe at aol.com)   
"You have gone ahead and nothing is the same,
Leaving pawprints on my heart that will always remain."  From the  Tibetan 
"Prayers on the Wind" 
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