Post by pitbulllady on Jul 3, 2005 22:19:47 GMT -5
My 12 1/2 year old Catahoula, my FIRST Catahoula, passed away today. She had been the picture of health and then the night before last, as I was getting ready for bed, she had a violent seizure in her crate where she slept. She'd never had a seizure before, but being that she had been stressed over thunderstorms in the area, I wasn't that concerned. ANY animal or human can experience a seizure is stressed badly enough. She came out of it about 20 minutes later, like nothing had happened. The next day she was fine-went out to do her "business" as usual that morning, running around rolling in the grass as though the seizure had simply not occured. Last night, though, she began having them again, and this time I knew it was serious because she never seemed to get over one before another would hit. I could not reach the vet at all. By this morning, I knew she was dying. She was completely "out of it", and did not seem to know me. She went outside on a leash for a few minutes, then headed for her crate indoors. She lay down to sleep, and never woke up.
That's always the worst part about having animals-they don't live long enough. It seems like no time at all before they're gone. In a way, I'm grateful for how Hannah died; she did not suffer a long illness, like most old dogs do. She never had to experience arthritis or congestive heart failure, or blindness, or any of the other problems that go along with old age. She never become incontinent, so her dignity remained intact. I did not have to watch her health go downhill over a period of months, or years, being able to do little about it exept forestall the inevitable, and I did not have to make that final decision that dog owners hate so much-the decision to have a vet end the suffering. She was just gone, just like that. I don't know what triggered the seizures-probably a heart attack or a stroke, to take her that quickly, with no other signs of illness.
But it won't make me feel much better that there will be one less bowl to fill tonight.
pitbulllady
That's always the worst part about having animals-they don't live long enough. It seems like no time at all before they're gone. In a way, I'm grateful for how Hannah died; she did not suffer a long illness, like most old dogs do. She never had to experience arthritis or congestive heart failure, or blindness, or any of the other problems that go along with old age. She never become incontinent, so her dignity remained intact. I did not have to watch her health go downhill over a period of months, or years, being able to do little about it exept forestall the inevitable, and I did not have to make that final decision that dog owners hate so much-the decision to have a vet end the suffering. She was just gone, just like that. I don't know what triggered the seizures-probably a heart attack or a stroke, to take her that quickly, with no other signs of illness.
But it won't make me feel much better that there will be one less bowl to fill tonight.
pitbulllady
It's always so painful when a pet passes. *hugs* I'll pray for you. 
