I had to bury my dog tonight.
When I came home from work her breathing was labored and she couldn't lay down because she couldn't get enough air if she did. She's had a heart valve condition for the past six months or so that causes her blood to not get enough oxygen and so she would get out of breath easily anyway. Around 8pm she went into the bedroom and I checked on her, she was still standing and panting. She wouldn't take food, water, or even a piece of ice. Around 9pm I checked again, she had crawled under the bed to her favorite sleeping place and wasn't responding. When I investigated further she wasn't breathing. I got her all the way out and she was already getting cool in the extremities, she had probably been dead 30 minutes. I'm glad she isn't suffering any more. I think she was just exhausted and couldn't fight for air any longer.
I went outside and dug a grave in the backyard, it was like a scene from a horror movie with me digging a grave and with the thunder and lighting filling the sky as a storm approached. I'll miss her even more tomorrow, when I'm not greeted when I come home. |