Had to put one of my Labs down

Curiousdish · 10-14-2006, 09:21 AM

My heart goes out to you. I lost my two poochies this past year, Casey in March at 13 yrs and Digby this past September at 17 yrs.... Life's just not the same.....If you would like to chat sometime drop me a line.....

**pitc9** · 10-14-2006, 10:12 AM

I'm so sorry for the great loss you've suffered, everyone here at Pet Talk feels the same about our animals, they are our lives so we understand the pain you are going through. Please know that she is free of pain now and is running free!
RIP Josephine you will be missed.

**lovemylabs** · 10-14-2006, 08:45 PM

thanks for the thoughts. really appreciate it. dealing with Josephine's loss is still pretty rough. wed night when i got the follow-up call from the vet saying that she wasn't going to make it, i knew driving back in to see her would be the last time. and then seeing her lying there really struggling was extremely difficult. she looked up at me a couple times and her ears went back when she recognized me. but i think she knew it was almost over. her breathing was difficult and she was very weak.

according to the vet surgeon, even with some type of plasma-treatment to help with blood clotting her chances would have been less than 20%. i didn't want to put Josephine thru any more suffering. she had already been thru enough already so i decided to have her put to sleep.

right now dealing with all kinds of emotions-- grief, sadness, guilt, anger.

in addition to the tremedous grief, i still am having a difficult time understanding WHY this bloat happened. i never could get a comprehensive explanation from any vet. Josephine went 9+ years w/o any bloating problems. and then it came out of nowhere.

**Dorothy39** · 10-14-2006, 10:49 PM

Your story of Josephine is so sad for me to read.

And, I am so sorry too, that I can't welcome you to Pet Talk under happy circumstances.

So many of us here are griving the loss of a Pet~ So Please stay awhile and tell us more about Josephine and Napoleone.

Rest in Peace Dear Josephine~ {{HUGS}}} for You lovemylabs

**lovemylabs** · 10-15-2006, 12:01 AM

Originally Posted by Dorothy39

Your story of Josephine is so sad for me to read.

And, I am so sorry too, that I can't welcome you to Pet Talk under happy circumstances.

So many of us here are griving the loss of a Pet~ So Please stay awhile and tell us more about Josephine and Napoleone.

Rest in Peace Dear Josephine~ {{HUGS}}} for You lovemylabs

thanks. Josephine was indeed a very special dog. Loyal, very friendly and obedient--i could not have asked for a better dog, despite her unfortunate illness. sometimes she did have a problem with digging(esp. when younger) and separation anxiety when i was away. maybe that contributed to her condition and stomach problem.

Being a lab-mix, she was slightly smaller in size(55 lbs), but still looked like a pure bred. all black with some white on her chest. i always felt she could have been on the box for milk bone dog biscuits..lol. a perfect lab face.

Luckily, i have some really great pictures of her over the years w/Napoleone but they're not stored in my computer... just actual photos. i have an old scanner, but i need to figure out how to get them uploaded and posted. not really sure how to do that.

i would like to get them posted sometime.

**Pam** · 10-15-2006, 12:14 AM

I am glad you have stopped by again. It is a pain that is hard to describe, isn't it? Some people who don't have pets think there is something wrong with those of us who grieve like a member of the family has just died. Well they are a member of the family. When my Whitney died I dragged myself into work the next day because I knew that no one would understand if I took a day off just to have some down time to cry. It was so hard.

Originally Posted by lovemylabs

in addition to the tremedous grief, i still am having a difficult time understanding WHY this bloat happened. i never could get a comprehensive explanation from any vet. Josephine went 9+ years w/o any bloating problems. and then it came out of nowhere.

At the time that I lost Whitney and, years later, when my daughter lost Dale I searched for information on bloat. There is a wealth of it out there on the internet, so when you feel up to it you might want to read a little. No one can predict which dog will succumb to bloat although certain breeds are more at risk. One of the breeders where I bought one of my dogs (not the one who died) said that there may be a hereditary component to it although who really knows. My Whitney was 8 years old and Dale was 2 so I don't think there is a hard and fast rule about age, although I have read that as a dog grows older they are more at risk. Some breeders of dogs at risk prefer that prospective buyers of their dogs feed a raw diet while some don't. Please don't feel guilty. It was Josephine's time. She knew you loved her and you were there at the very end. She felt that love. Whitney and Dale have surely met up with her at the Bridge.

**lovemylabs** · 10-15-2006, 03:57 AM

I have heard also about the hereditary factor concerning bloat. Strangely though, the mother dog of Josephine(whose name was Joker, a friend of mine's dog) never had bloat. Back in '96 when Joker had a litter of pups, Napoleon and Josephine were the 2 that i picked out and named. Joker was more of a salt-and-pepper sheperd-type dog and looked somewhat different from the black lab features of her offspring. Unfortunately, Joker developed her own health problems- a cancerous tumor near her hind leg that eventually had to be amputated. Soon after, around 2003 she had to be put down. I can't help but conclude there was most likely some bad-gene connection between Josephine and her mother, Joker. But both dogs had incredible playful energy and a unique personality. You would never suspect that health problems were on the horizon for either dog. But now they are re-united and running free together, anxiously awaiting Napoleone to re-join them.