Take care of those doggies.....and kitties too

[imaginethat]

What's the most extreme you've gone to taking care of your pet?

[TeeBubbaDee]

I had a long and involved one, but decided I just don't want to go there. So here are a few that are easier, and less stressful, to explain. Guess I could start with spending 2 days and quite a few bucks running electric lines down the steps of our deck so I could install lights on each step. The lights made it easier for Barney to go out and pee when his eyesight started failing. Or the 3:00 AM micro surgery on Bubba's eye when he got in a fight with a raccoon. (worth every penny!!) Taking Mingo off my sister's hands for about 6 months when he had a mite problem she couldn't deal with. How about hanging IV bags off the light above the dining room table so we could try to jump start Oy's kidneys when he went into kidney failure. There's more, but what I'm saying is you do what you have to do for family.

[Snagg]

Our oldest GSD, "Pepper Anne", developed bad hip dysplasia in the final year of her life - Couldn't walk anymore, yet she was almost pain-free, still bright, alert and playful. She dearly loved going for walks around the neighborhood, so we bought one of those bicycle trailers, the kind for taking toddlers for a ride, and I removed the seat and built a plywood deck that extended out the back of it. I would fasten it to my bicycle, load her into it and take her for spins throughout the area. (I swear, if she could have, she would have done that quarter-rotational hand wave that Queen Elizabeth uses when she's in a parade.) She had eye markings that remarkably resembled the  eyes in Egyptian heiroglyphics, so we called the trailer "Cleopatra's royal barge".

I also spent the last seven months of her life sleeping downstairs next to her, so that whenever she needed to do her business, I'd pick her up (117 lbs), take her outside and if necessary shield her from snow or rain while she did her duty. She very rarely had an accident inside, and was very conscientious about letting us know when she had the urge. A stroke took her last February, and we still miss her terribly. She was a very, very good girl....

[TeeBubbaDee]

Barney used to love pigs ears as a treat until one day he decided he didn't like them anymore. (never did figure that one out) Anyway, I started buying a ham, cutting off just enough of so we could have 2 or 3 meals, and the rest I put in the dehydrator and made hammy treats for him. Barney loved his hammy treats!!!

[flippr 2.0]

[Lifesighs]

When our Newfie Lulu could hardly get up any more it was too hard for my husband to think about letting her go to rainbow bridge, he insisted we could help her get better. He got up every night at 2 am to help her outside so she wouldn't wet herself. He did this for months, Lulu would be so humiliated if she had an accident, he finally had to admit she wasn't going to get better. When we took her to the vet he was very brave, it was me who sobbed for hours later. We seem to be practical for each other when we least expect it. I still get a little teary when I think of Lulu.

[Karin M Fichtner]

My time is coming. Rocky is 13 now, so it's downhill all the way from here. So far, stiffness in his hindquarters is the only thing that's bothering him. He doesn't like the stairs much anymore. I pray when
he goes, he doesn't have to suffer long. He deserves much better. I can't think about losing him without getting choked up. You guys are gonna have a blubbering idiot on your hands when Rocky dies. Just warning you.;-)

[LoveLife&Laughter]

~1969

I lived a block away from the Old Erie Canal in Pittsford, NY.  One beautiful Spring morning I took my one-eyed St. Bernard for a walk along the canal, as usual.  There was snow still on the ground but the ice had finally broken up in the barge canal.  They drain the canal for winter but the water is still ~8' deep. Beiny (short for Hals und Beinbruch) got too close to the edge and fell in where the canal walls are ~6' vertical drop to the water.  I tried to egg her on ~50' to where the canal wall was a 45 degrees and she could scramble up, but after a few minutes of struggling it was obvious she was going down.

Two ~12 year old boys happened along and I got long branches and instructed them to stay with me where I could grab the branches if necessary, stripped down to my shorts, and jumped in.  The boys stayed overhead at the ready as I hauled 125 lbs of wet dog over to the 45 degree incline and she scrambled up. I needed the boys help to clamber up.

I was in the water about 5 minutes, but that's all it takes.  I don't think I could have taken much more.  The dog deserted me, ran home.  I got dressed which is very hard when you are shaking like a wet frozen blue leaf.  When I got home I got yelled at, "Why is the dog all wet!"  No respect…