Post by rubylottie14 on Apr 26, 2013 6:29:26 GMT -5
I took Ruby to the vets on Tuesday and let her go.
She was very ill, and had been repeatedly throwing up mucus - big soggy lumps as well as 'liquid' which was glutionous, as well as some of her food. This has been going on now every day, up to 12 times a day, for 3 weeks.
Her hips, ribs and spine were getting more and more prominent, her spine so much so that it was digging into Fran when she was holding her to be fed. Her eyes were bloodshot from days of reguritation. We had perservered with the vertical feeding for many days and had held her for 30 mins in an upright position after feeding to help the food to travel from her oesophagus to her stomach since her muscles weren't working any more. Without this vertical feeding the food would have remained there to be reguritated minutes after feeding.
Ruby was looking increasingly fragile and ill and just wanted to be left alone to lie on the sofa. It was clear from her eyes that she was suffering and miserable. She was no longer greeting my visitors or the feeding helpers as she used to do and although she wanted to go for a walk she was too exhausted to enjoy them.
When she was being held to be fed and especially after feeding, she kept looking at me and then the sofa to tell me that she wanted to lie down. It got really difficult to carry on with holding her in the vertical position because it was so obvious that she didn't want to be held like this and just wanted to lie down. It became clear after several days of this feeding routine that she was increaasingly uncomfortable being held like this.
She was unable to keep down either of the medications that had been prescribed for her which meant that her stomach acid would damage her oesophagus since the medication to protect and heal it was being reguritated as well as the medication to reduce the amount of stomach acid produced.
I decided that we'd given it our best shot but the quality of her life was not acceptable.
Her breath was stinking from the mucus and food particles that were getting trapped in her distended oesophagus. Bacteria was multiplying in there. It would have been very uncomfortable for her to have mucus and food hanging around in her oesophagus and the presence of this in there would also have further distorted the tube thus increasing the occurance of food and mucus being trapped in it. A vicious circle. There were several times when having been held for 30 minutes in the vertical position after feeding (also fed in vertical position), 3-4 hours later she would reguritate some of that food, so it had been trapped in there for that length of time despite her being held for the maximum amount of time prescribed.
She threw up even more than previously on Monday evening and she was smelling even more strongly from her mouth. She'd managed to get to Lottie's bowl and eat a few mouthfuls of food - she was desperate to eat kibble rather than the liquidised food she'd been having for 11 days - and it was pitiful to see her so wanting this and not being able to have it. She would never be able to eat solid food again for the rest of her life. She couldn't have the treats she so loved and she was thorougly miserable and the weight was dropping off her despite me being able to get a reasonable amount of food to stay down.
I decided that she had no quality of life and that I wasn't going to let her suffer any more.
When I talked to the vet he told me that I was doing the right thing and had handled the whole illness very well in trying everything we could possibly do. For me it's not just getting the food down it's how the dog feels and whether they are enjoying life. Ruby wasn't and hadn't been for 3 weeks. The vet wasn't saying this to me to make me feel better by the way - I know this practice very well and have gone through euthanasia now with 4 dogs with these vets and they do not say these things unless they mean it.
Ruby died almost immediately and she looked beautiful and peaceful (again I'm not talking myself into this belief to make myself feel better) it was genuinely like this.
My sweet princess is now no longer feeling so ill and can rest, knowing that she was truly loved by me and will always be truly loved by me and in my heart forever.
God bless you Ruby, my first female greyhound.
I will be posting tribute photos withint the next few days.
She was very ill, and had been repeatedly throwing up mucus - big soggy lumps as well as 'liquid' which was glutionous, as well as some of her food. This has been going on now every day, up to 12 times a day, for 3 weeks.
Her hips, ribs and spine were getting more and more prominent, her spine so much so that it was digging into Fran when she was holding her to be fed. Her eyes were bloodshot from days of reguritation. We had perservered with the vertical feeding for many days and had held her for 30 mins in an upright position after feeding to help the food to travel from her oesophagus to her stomach since her muscles weren't working any more. Without this vertical feeding the food would have remained there to be reguritated minutes after feeding.
Ruby was looking increasingly fragile and ill and just wanted to be left alone to lie on the sofa. It was clear from her eyes that she was suffering and miserable. She was no longer greeting my visitors or the feeding helpers as she used to do and although she wanted to go for a walk she was too exhausted to enjoy them.
When she was being held to be fed and especially after feeding, she kept looking at me and then the sofa to tell me that she wanted to lie down. It got really difficult to carry on with holding her in the vertical position because it was so obvious that she didn't want to be held like this and just wanted to lie down. It became clear after several days of this feeding routine that she was increaasingly uncomfortable being held like this.
She was unable to keep down either of the medications that had been prescribed for her which meant that her stomach acid would damage her oesophagus since the medication to protect and heal it was being reguritated as well as the medication to reduce the amount of stomach acid produced.
I decided that we'd given it our best shot but the quality of her life was not acceptable.
Her breath was stinking from the mucus and food particles that were getting trapped in her distended oesophagus. Bacteria was multiplying in there. It would have been very uncomfortable for her to have mucus and food hanging around in her oesophagus and the presence of this in there would also have further distorted the tube thus increasing the occurance of food and mucus being trapped in it. A vicious circle. There were several times when having been held for 30 minutes in the vertical position after feeding (also fed in vertical position), 3-4 hours later she would reguritate some of that food, so it had been trapped in there for that length of time despite her being held for the maximum amount of time prescribed.
She threw up even more than previously on Monday evening and she was smelling even more strongly from her mouth. She'd managed to get to Lottie's bowl and eat a few mouthfuls of food - she was desperate to eat kibble rather than the liquidised food she'd been having for 11 days - and it was pitiful to see her so wanting this and not being able to have it. She would never be able to eat solid food again for the rest of her life. She couldn't have the treats she so loved and she was thorougly miserable and the weight was dropping off her despite me being able to get a reasonable amount of food to stay down.
I decided that she had no quality of life and that I wasn't going to let her suffer any more.
When I talked to the vet he told me that I was doing the right thing and had handled the whole illness very well in trying everything we could possibly do. For me it's not just getting the food down it's how the dog feels and whether they are enjoying life. Ruby wasn't and hadn't been for 3 weeks. The vet wasn't saying this to me to make me feel better by the way - I know this practice very well and have gone through euthanasia now with 4 dogs with these vets and they do not say these things unless they mean it.
Ruby died almost immediately and she looked beautiful and peaceful (again I'm not talking myself into this belief to make myself feel better) it was genuinely like this.
My sweet princess is now no longer feeling so ill and can rest, knowing that she was truly loved by me and will always be truly loved by me and in my heart forever.
God bless you Ruby, my first female greyhound.
I will be posting tribute photos withint the next few days.