Jasper died today...
Discussion
We woke up this morning having enjoyed the first night that our new baby has slept through without a feed. We roused her and she was immediately wide-eyed and happy. My wife and I laughed at this small but significant achievement in her young life. I then went downstairs, drew the curtains and opened the hallway door so as to let outside our five year old Labrador, “J”. There’s recently been a dearth of rabbits in the garden and he has an uncontrollable urge to patrol the perimeters of the lawn each day.
Two weeks ago he had a slight seizure and vet diagnosed him with an irregular heart-beat. Being thoroughly healthy in all other respects, as you would expect of a dog his age, the vet recommended a course of medicine to encourage regular heart-beats. Without going into all the details, he said that although “J” had strong blood pressure, if there was any deterioration a pacemaker was the only option. What made this news difficult for us to take in was that when we brought him home, he looked as exuberant as ever, despite our attempts to keep him calm. The only sign of any underlying problem was the shaved areas of fur on his chest where the heart monitor had been strapped.
So this morning as I walked into the hallway, where “J” was curled up on his bed by the radiator, it was only the fact that he didn’t immediately raise an eyelid to my presence that alerted me. On any other day he would be straight up, wagging his tail, and looking to be let out the back door. As I knelt down next to him, I instantly knew that he had gone.
We have reassured ourselves that his passing was peaceful, and that he slipped away in his sleep, content in the knowledge that the previous evening he had been curled up in the armchair in the lounge, from which he is normally banned.
Notwithstanding our warning call two weeks ago, we were totally unprepared for this sudden loss. Despite his all over body hair, “J” was a dearly loved member of our family. He was incredibly loyal and gentle. Sometimes clumsy and always hungry. His infectious love of life was as constant as his companionship. We will sorely miss him.
Two weeks ago he had a slight seizure and vet diagnosed him with an irregular heart-beat. Being thoroughly healthy in all other respects, as you would expect of a dog his age, the vet recommended a course of medicine to encourage regular heart-beats. Without going into all the details, he said that although “J” had strong blood pressure, if there was any deterioration a pacemaker was the only option. What made this news difficult for us to take in was that when we brought him home, he looked as exuberant as ever, despite our attempts to keep him calm. The only sign of any underlying problem was the shaved areas of fur on his chest where the heart monitor had been strapped.
So this morning as I walked into the hallway, where “J” was curled up on his bed by the radiator, it was only the fact that he didn’t immediately raise an eyelid to my presence that alerted me. On any other day he would be straight up, wagging his tail, and looking to be let out the back door. As I knelt down next to him, I instantly knew that he had gone.
We have reassured ourselves that his passing was peaceful, and that he slipped away in his sleep, content in the knowledge that the previous evening he had been curled up in the armchair in the lounge, from which he is normally banned.
Notwithstanding our warning call two weeks ago, we were totally unprepared for this sudden loss. Despite his all over body hair, “J” was a dearly loved member of our family. He was incredibly loyal and gentle. Sometimes clumsy and always hungry. His infectious love of life was as constant as his companionship. We will sorely miss him.
ad with all the dogs running up the massive hill and stuffing their faces! Cy,
Bad news,
I know a bit of what your experiencing, since we lost a cross/lab, only a month ago
after being told several years ago, of 'a heart murmur' which we promptly discounted as
V£t speak for a blank cheque again.
she went downhill rapidly over a very short period, culminating in a home visit,
and the vet putting her to sleep, here at home.
anyway sorry about you news
Bad news,
I know a bit of what your experiencing, since we lost a cross/lab, only a month ago
after being told several years ago, of 'a heart murmur' which we promptly discounted as
V£t speak for a blank cheque again.
she went downhill rapidly over a very short period, culminating in a home visit,
and the vet putting her to sleep, here at home.
anyway sorry about you news
Our yellow lab is just over five and I can't imagine life without him. As has been said, I'm sure he passed away peacefully and without pain to the big doggy heaven in the sky Worse thing I had to do was take my old golden "lots" to the vets....he know what he was going for......
I now have a total head case of a black lab, completly different personality, but just as loveable in his own way.....But you never forget the ones that have gone before......
MoJo
I now have a total head case of a black lab, completly different personality, but just as loveable in his own way.....But you never forget the ones that have gone before......
MoJo
Sorry to hear of your loss.
Dogs have always been a part of our family and we recently lost our 14 year old yellow lab Tommy. It came to the point where he was clearly suffering and so the vet paid us a visit and me and my dad buried him near his favourite tree in the Garden.
We're left with our black lab Billy, who's personality has changed a lot since his best mate's passing, he's gone from complete nutcase to being a lot more subdued and for want of a better word 'mature', love him to bits though, it was his 7th birthday last week
.
Sorry again to hear about Jasper's passing, sounds like he was content and happy when he left you and didn't suffer. Labradors are fantastic dogs, loyal to the end.
Dogs have always been a part of our family and we recently lost our 14 year old yellow lab Tommy. It came to the point where he was clearly suffering and so the vet paid us a visit and me and my dad buried him near his favourite tree in the Garden.
We're left with our black lab Billy, who's personality has changed a lot since his best mate's passing, he's gone from complete nutcase to being a lot more subdued and for want of a better word 'mature', love him to bits though, it was his 7th birthday last week
. Sorry again to hear about Jasper's passing, sounds like he was content and happy when he left you and didn't suffer. Labradors are fantastic dogs, loyal to the end.
Unlucky m8 RIP Mr J.
Our dog (bedlington terrier) has been recently diagnosed with heart failure; has a severely enlarged heart and is.......fit as a fiddle?????
Only indication she's poorly is her continuously pissing all over the house due to the diuretics she's on. We've just started putting nappies on her when we go out
I imagine we may wake up to a similar scenario some time soon
Our dog (bedlington terrier) has been recently diagnosed with heart failure; has a severely enlarged heart and is.......fit as a fiddle?????
Only indication she's poorly is her continuously pissing all over the house due to the diuretics she's on. We've just started putting nappies on her when we go out
I imagine we may wake up to a similar scenario some time soon
rich 36 said:
Cy,
Bad news,
I know a bit of what your experiencing, since we lost a cross/lab, only a month ago
after being told several years ago, of 'a heart murmur' which we promptly discounted as
V£t speak for a blank cheque again....
We thought the exact same thing.....she wasn't making it up unfortunately
Sorry to hear the news.
We had a 12 year old rough collie put to sleep a few weeks ago and we still miss her.
Some PHers may remember me wondering what could go wrong with one of our dogs whilst the parents was away this year. They always (theres 3 of them) had self harming issues or generally injured themselves when my parents were away. Unfortunately when they left this year the eldest was fine, when they got back she had had a stroke and was taken to the vets. She was diagnosed with a very advanced cancer of the lymph(?) system. She was put down two months later. She had a few very bad days, getting more and more morose. She had progressively lost her hearing and eyesight. Her condition grew steadily worse until she stopped getting up in the morning. She was helped for a couple of weeks until she really couldn't be helped any longer.
All very sad losing a family member.
We had a 12 year old rough collie put to sleep a few weeks ago and we still miss her.
Some PHers may remember me wondering what could go wrong with one of our dogs whilst the parents was away this year. They always (theres 3 of them) had self harming issues or generally injured themselves when my parents were away. Unfortunately when they left this year the eldest was fine, when they got back she had had a stroke and was taken to the vets. She was diagnosed with a very advanced cancer of the lymph(?) system. She was put down two months later. She had a few very bad days, getting more and more morose. She had progressively lost her hearing and eyesight. Her condition grew steadily worse until she stopped getting up in the morning. She was helped for a couple of weeks until she really couldn't be helped any longer.
All very sad losing a family member.
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