September 2002 Archives

Info... pet loss grief support

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The Candle Ceremony for pets who have gone to the Rainbow Bridge and for pets with special needs has been online for almost ten years now, since its beginning at Prodigy Online back in 1993.

Ed Williams does a wonderful job of running the Petloss.com website. Archived on the site are over 60,000 names of Rainbow Bridge residents and special needs pets, and links to many, many resources for grief support for those of us who have recently lost a special friend, or who wish to help support someone who is dealing with loss. Poems and stories are collected on the site as well.

The Candle Ceremony takes place in the site's chatroom, and offline all over the world as well, at 10:00pm Eastern time. I will be lighting a candle for Jake (and General, Hobbes, Pinkie, Cyler, Umbro, Ira and Otto ... we've lost way too many special friends this summer) tonight.

Thank you

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Thank you all for your love, support and caring. It is really helping me more than you can imagine. Can I share one of Jake's last photos with you all? My husband took it at the end of June in our back yard.


jakeandmom.jpg

Saying goodbye...

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Jake stopped responding to his medications. Last night he didn't want to walk; his back legs which were fine up until now were starting to go. They say your pet will tell you when they are ready to go. I never fully believed it until today... this morning when Jake told me in no uncertain terms that he was ready to move on.

Thanks to all of you for your caring, concern and love. And light a candle for Jake... he is now free from pain and running on all four legs again at the Rainbow Bridge.

Update... Jake's vet appointment

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Thanks to those who left hugs in yesterday's comments :)

Jake is still somewhat wobbly but is able to get around unassisted, except for getting up into the van. He is a lot lighter than in his 4-legged athlete days but still kind of heavy to be lifting!

The vet suggested that we keep Jake on a daily dose of prednisone, but lower the amount from 30mg to 20mg. That amount may need to be adjusted to find the lowest dose that will keep him comfortable and mobile. At a later date, we may try again to wean him off the medication or switch him to a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. But at this time, the benefits of the prednisone do outweigh the downside of the possible side effects.

We're to return to the vet in a week, unless something very bad or very good happens in the meantime. Jake thanks you for your interest and concern.

Update... again with Jake

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:(

As we tried to wean Jake off the medications, the same cycle of worsening lameness has repeated itself. He went back on a daily dose last night and was at least somewhat mobile this morning. He has a doctor's appointment on Saturday morning.

I realized I didn't talk about the preliminary diagnoses and medications in the Sept. 18 entry, so if you are interested, there's...

Info... growing old pains

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Growing old is tough on everyone :(

Since Labor Day weekend, Jake has had some difficulties getting around. It started out with a slight limp in front on that Saturday. I know it sounds odd to say that a 3-legged dog is limping. But if you live with a 3-legged dog, you soon get to know what constitutes his/her normal walking or running gait. By Monday night he was dragging his front paw and refusing to bear weight on it, and could barely move without considerable assistance.

We were very worried indeed by the time we arrived at the vet early Tuesday morning. After a full day at the vet clinic, where he received IV fluids and medications, his spirits were much improved but he still needed much assistance getting around. Much to our relief (and a bit of surprise, too), after taking the night's doses of medications and a good night's sleep, Jake was much more mobile on Wednesday morning and was even able to go down the three steps from kitchen to back yard unassisted.

And he's still hanging in there with us :) Sorry we didn't blog about it as it happened... but sometimes it won't work out that way.

9/11

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We didn't take our website or our lives down for the day... our remembrances and honoring of 9/11 heroes and victims will happen as part of an almost-normal fall day, spent at work and then at home, with life going on... God Bless America.

In keeping with our usual blog subject... please consider taking a moment to also remember and honor the search and rescue dogs of 9/11/01.

About this Archive

This page is an archive of entries from September 2002 listed from newest to oldest.

August 2002 is the previous archive.

October 2002 is the next archive.

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