My amazing, gorgeous rescue Staffie was put to sleep 2 weeks ago. I am devastated, and think of him all the time. Every minute in my day is punctuated by the bits that are missing, i.e. him.
The only thing that helps me is that a) he was 15 so had a good innings, b) he was a rescue from Battersea, and he had a really good life, despite his beginnings, and c) he was in so much pain over the last weekend he was literally shuddering and crying, the only way he calmed down was when I stroked his eyebrows :( I slept on the floor next to him in his bed in the sitting room for the last 2 nights. This guy had a sky-high pain threshold so he must have been suffering so much...
when I took him to the vet on the monday - she sedated him and gave us 10 mins alone while the sedative kicked in. She put a duvet on the floor and me and Fred lay on the duvet and I hugged him tight. It was the first time in days he wasn't in pain, despite copious pain killers. We lay head next to head and his poor head was wet with my tears when she came back in... (oh god, crying again....) (It was his back - but I chose, with a dog of 15, not to let them operate and poke around with him as the best case scenario - say a slipped disk - was 6 weeks rest with no moving - 15 year staffie anyone?)
I miss him every minute of every day, but I'm also feeling bereft. I need a dog in my life and i don't know what to do? If I rescued again, I would definitely treat the new rescue as a individual, and not compare them, but it somehow feels unfaithful?
Can anyone with experience of this situation give me some advice?
I know my wonderful big-hearted dog would approve of me rescuing another dog, as I did him, but ( can't get past the guilt - but at the same time I don't think I can handle life without a canine friend :(
If anyone is interested, my ex-DP (we are still v good mates) made the most fantastic facebook page to celebrate his life.
www.facebook.com/SlimRedFred
I defy anyone not to find him unbelievably cute
I'd really love to hear from anyone who's been through similar - what did you do?
Thanks for reading
Threesteps x
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The doghouse
My beautiful staff :(
25 replies
threestepsforward · 08/03/2014 00:49
OP posts:
everlong ·
08/03/2014 20:00
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