My sister's dog Cowboy went to the Bridge today. Last week he started having trouble standing up, so she took him to the vet on Thursday. She said he had arthritis in his back and knees (we knew he had arthritis...he's been on supplements for at least a year or two), and he was hypothyroid, which caused him to gain weight and lose muscle, so he was basically weak and in pain. Put him on Rimadyl and Tramadol, and he was supposed to start thyroid meds today..
But he was getting worse all weekend, and today he could barely move, he hasn't been eating or drinking well at all, hasn't peed in two days, etc. So she took him to the vet again, and she said his back end was totally paralyzed and the only thing to do would be basically exploratory surgery to see what was causing that, but there was no guarantee that would help anything, and he has a heart murmur so he could very well die on the table. She wasn't recommending surgery, and my sister didn't want to put him through it anyway, so they decided to let him go.
She got him from the SPCA almost 6 years ago, where they guessed he was about 4.. Vets thought he was older though, mine said he was probably closer to 12 (about a year ago)..so who really knows. Somewhere between 10 and 13, probably. He was a big guy, around 80 pounds usually.
She and her husband and their 4 year old are just crushed... I feel so bad for them.
Run free, pretty boy.
^This was on our big family camping trip 2 years ago.
