Bridge

Those of you that have followed my blog may have noticed that Kearney's personality had been changing a bit.  Last week when I took him to the vet, we determined that he had a brain tumor.  I opted not to do the definitive test of an MRI based on the empirical evidence.  He was blind, or nearly so, in his right eye, he had skeletal remodeling in his skull and his personality was changing.  My vet did not offer much hope beyond "maybe it will stop here". 

This week, I have observed him getting more and more stressed when he was not right by me.  He would leave a small pool of drool at the door every time he was outside.  His personality continued to change as he forgot how to do things (like sit). 

Today, my kind, gentle, lovely-tempered guy tried to attack Lowri when she walked by.  Fortunately, he was in a crate at the time.  I took him back to the vet.  She was shocked at the speed this had progressed and commented on the visible remodeling in his skull in the last six days.  In keeping with my desire to be the best possible steward to my dogs, I chose to put him down to stop any suffering on his part.

I stood with him and held him as the sedation took effect.  I talked to him and told him what a good boy he was as he crossed the bridge.  I stood and petted him until I knew he was not suffering anymore.

Thank you all for sharing his life with me...TM