On Monday we had to do the worst possible thing ever and have our beloved old Westie Charlie put to sleep. He’d had doggy dementia for about 6 months but physically he was extremely fit and people were always surprised to find out he was 15. Recently he started getting a bit aggressive so 2 weeks ago we took him to a vet in Warwick who gave him some tablets which seemed to help and he was more like our old Charlie again. She said from the symptoms that it may be a brain tumour and I think that probably was the case as he deteriorated rapidly over Friday night and Saturday. He started barking continuously and pacing up and down. He didn’t seem to be in pain, just really really agitated. The only way to calm him was to walk him and Roger & I spent most of the weekend slowly walking round and round the meadows where we were moored for the Riverside Festival. Everyone was very kind and on Monday the staff at the local vets were brilliant, but it was still our worse day ever. The boat now feels empty and Chico is moping around too. It will be so strange to be cruising without him sitting on the roof hatch, which has been his spot for as long as we’ve been boating.
Life does go on and I’ll continue with the blog when we leave Stratford and carry on down the River Avon tomorrow.
1 comment:
Hi, sorry to read the news about Charlie. But the old boy had a good innings. Plus he obviously ruled the roost, the old ones always do.
We have a similar sort of problem here with Abbey a 12 year old wire haired fox terrier. She is very forgetful, sometimes she will just stop and stare off into the distance without moving. Which is a bit strange for an old girl with cataracts but like Charlie, she is otherwise fit and well.
An hour or so later she seems to return to this planet and begins to play with Poppy our other WHFT (aged 3). Abbey is number 26 in the list of re-homed dogs. We take in the ones that no one else will take on. The rewards are great, but the time shared can sometimes be a bit too short.
There is something special about older dogs, maybe its that the depend on us more as they get older.
Take care, again we are sorry for your loss give Chico a hug from us, we found that dogs grieve for a companion just like us.
MMPA
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