Wednesday, June 24, 2009

He's gone.

My big, beautiful, Mama's boy, Booker, the Gordon Setter is gone.

He had severe heart troubles three weeks ago which warranted a trip to CSU Veterinary Hospital. No one really knew what was wrong with him or why his heart was doing this. The most common cause is cancer but they couldn't find any definite tumors. There was a flurry of guesses and tests and it was an emotional roller coaster for Furry Husband and I.

We brought Booker home on heart meds and he had a really good three weeks. Really good. We spoiled him rotten... and when I say rotten, I mean rotten! You could see Booker thinking, "I dunno what I did, but this is so cool. I am golden!"

He felt good up until this weekend.


He began acting depressed and stopped eating. It wasn't obvious ... he just acted... I dunno.... restrained. He followed me everywhere, tail wagging but he just wasn't right - there was no sparkle - he wasn't his exuberant self.

We pulled blood and urine on Monday. Booker was scheduled to see a vet at CSU Tuesday afternoon.

Monday night Booker was uncomfortable - on the bed, off the bed, on the bed, off the bed.... moaning and panting and he just couldn't get comfortable. But he was up and wagging. I put him in his kennel (right next to our bed and used as a nightstand) so we could try and get some sleep. It's painful to have a 75lb dog jump up on you, pop an ovary and then jump off only to repeat it over and over again.

At 5am I got up and opened his kennel only to find he could no longer stand. We pulled him out of his kennel and moved him into the living room. It was a repeat of the Saturday night three weeks ago when he first collapsed. He couldn't move he was so weak and his gums were pale as pale can be.

There was no sense in prolonging this for him. We called our vet who came to our home to put Booker down. No one at CSU Vet Hospital knew why it was happening, the fact he kept overcoming the heart meds (we'd had the dosage adjusted once before after another mild collapsing episode) told us something was really, really wrong.

It was a very sad day for us yesterday. We were sort of lost... we went to the Humane Society because we just had this big, gaping 75lb hole in our hearts... but of course none of the dogs there was Booker and we'd much rather bring a dog home when we can be happy about it vs. being so, so, sad.

We stopped at The Rio Grande - a place famous for margaritas. I downed three and then we stopped at the feed store where lo and behold was one, lone, solitary kitten someone brought in for a new home.... screaming it's little fool head off. We took the "grief kitten" home.

*head hitting desk*

New rule. No drunken adoptions of grief kittens.

This morning under more sober light, we decided we can not keep this little grief kitten. We have six, count them SIX cats already and I am well on my way to crazy cat lady land.


My friend Karen told me she was thinking about getting a kitty when we went to the Ballpark Flea Market together. I called her today and told her about our little grief kitten. She's going out of town this weekend but wants him when she gets back. I was given strict instructions: "Do NOT name my cat and do NOT get too attached!"


We are o.k. We are sad. Awful sad and we will miss that big ol' dawg. There will never be another like him.




9 comments:

Cheryl said...

Oh Shanster! I'm so sorry....I had a feeling, when I saw no new posts for this week. Margarits sound like a great idea. And the kitten, I'm glad you were able to give it a new home even if it wasn't yours.
Maybe think of it this way, a psychic once told me I had a lot of pet guardian angels around me - I've had a lot of pets. And now, Booker is your doggie guardian angel. Sorry if this is a way out there new agey type of thought, but he just might be. He might even be there right now thinking, what're they so sad about! I'm right here!

Shanster said...

Thanks - there are no way out there thoughts cuz who knows what happens? Yup - he is certainly in our hearts and thoughts and we had a lot of "remember when Booker..." moments yesterday which were kinda nice. So odd how fast 9 1/2 years fly by...

Heather said...

I am so sorry, there isn't much I really know to say in situations like this, but I know that you appreciated every day you had with him and he was a very lucky pup.

Foxxy said...

I'm so sorry to hear about Booker. I'm glad his last weeks were filled with an overabundance of the love he got for 9.5 years. You may have a lot of cats, but you can't be "Crazy Cat Lady".. You are too entertaining. You can be "Eccentric Cat Lady" I'm planning to be Eccentric Bunny Lady. 8D I hope you feel better soon.

Anonymous said...

Oh no! I'm so sorry about your loss. I'm preparing myself for when Pacha passes. Anyway, he had a fantastic life with you guys, and I'm sure you spoiled him rotten the many years you had him.

Glad you found a new home for the kitty.
Hope you feel cheerier soon!

Shanster said...

Thanks guys - it's very sad and at the same time, I'm so grateful he had a really happy 3 weeks where we could spoil him to pieces and I got to love on him at every turn... we will be o.k.

Time heals all wounds... isn't that the saying?

DebH said...

oh...I cry for you too..sorry for your loss and the feelings that go with it. We had a dog who was with my children growing up and lived to be 15. She was old and deaf and we babied her always, but in the end it was still an awful shock. I too went out and called the first place I could find who had a cute new puppy to fill her shoes..but alas...not the same dog and definitely was response I should have thought better of. We still have that dog and he still hasn't learned much, but he does have an exceptional life! We still laugh about trying to replace that priceless and amazing dog! At least there is some humor in it!!

mugwump said...

I'm so sorry to hear about your dog. When you feel like it could you talk about the Gorden Setter breed
in general and your life with your dog?
I have always been a fan but don't know any personally.

Shanster said...

Sure - I need to dig out my "official" pictures from when I was showing him and scan them ... it could be cathartic!