Had to escort one of my buddies over the rainbow bridge today

My little buddy MacGyver, the sweetest creature on the planet has crossed the rainbow bridge. He was a 13 1/2 year old Shi Tzu that has been in severely declining health as of late. About a year and a half ago, he became diabetic. With treatment he was largely fine but developed cataracts and went blind. He was still super happy though, and aside from not being good at finding his way to go potty, was fine. Then in the fall of 2021, we noticed he was wheezing a bit and brought him to the vet where he was diagnosed with a collapsing trachea. It would definitely cut into his longevity but was not an imminent danger. He had then had pneumonia 4 times since January, most recently being treated at the end of June. At that point the vet was advising that he was not handling the pneumonia well and he was suffering the effects of an enlarged heart from his respiratory ailments and we might want to start preparing to say goodbye.

About 10 days ago MacGyver started developing symptoms of pneumonia and we, reluctantly, knew that we would only be keeping him alive for our own selfish reasons and it was time for him to rest. Damn if that wasn’t the hardest decision I’ve ever made. So we made arrangements for a vet that’s affiliated with our normal vet to come to our house and help put our buddy to sleep. MacGyver had a great last few days with us, filled with lots of extra cuddles and treats despite his wheezing. Today the vet came over and helped our buddy across the rainbow bridge and my wife and I cried like babies. He went so peacefully and I would highly recommend this service to anyone considering it. Even still MacGyver and his brother (not by birth) Sebastian were my first dogs and I’ve never had to say goodbye like this before. This has been very rough but I’ve been remembering the good times, and looking at lots of pictures of my sweet little boy and I am sooooo grateful for the time we’ve had together. Thanks for listening to me and be sure to give your fur babies a little extra love tonight.

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Posts: 5671 | Location: Upstate NY | Registered: February 28, 2002

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Serenity now!

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