Home
My daughter has a 10 year old German Shepard. She grew up in our home when my daughter was starting law school. She would come running down the stairs as a pup and jump into my lap. She loved visiting us on the islands and I would run her with my dog for about an hour as we hiked around the islands, and they loved to play in the water.
This morning Frieda was having big problems. My daughter called my wife, and her husband is at work......she told her to take her to the vet. They get to the vet and Frieda has a 106 fever. They tell my daughter it will be 17 hundred dollars to do kidney function tests, blood work, and to do xrays. She calls my wife, and then I am handed the phone. I tell her that Frieda has been struggling on our walks, and that a German Shepard at 10 years old has less than a couple years and that those will not be quality years. Do the kidney and blood work, but the xrays make no sense because when you are done you will be looking at 4k to try to save a ten year old dog, and she should probably be put down. She tells me she cannot get her husband on his cell. I tell her to call the company, because you must have his input. She gets him, and he says he wants the tests, but if they are going to put her down, he wants to leave work to be with her. Meanwhile........the four year old and the two year old are watching their mother cry in the car, having to make the first real adult decision ultimately by herself.
It is very sad, but at the same time it is a very powerful moment which will be frozen in time for my grandchildren, daughter, and my wife and I. The loss of an animal in your family is always traumatic, but it is simply the nature of life, and in each moment we experience, it should be cherished and understood. I will await this afternoon for more phone calls, but from this pain will come knowledge and wisdom...........a new pup, and eventually more pain.....life goes on.......
This morning Frieda was having big problems. My daughter called my wife, and her husband is at work......she told her to take her to the vet. They get to the vet and Frieda has a 106 fever. They tell my daughter it will be 17 hundred dollars to do kidney function tests, blood work, and to do xrays. She calls my wife, and then I am handed the phone. I tell her that Frieda has been struggling on our walks, and that a German Shepard at 10 years old has less than a couple years and that those will not be quality years. Do the kidney and blood work, but the xrays make no sense because when you are done you will be looking at 4k to try to save a ten year old dog, and she should probably be put down. She tells me she cannot get her husband on his cell. I tell her to call the company, because you must have his input. She gets him, and he says he wants the tests, but if they are going to put her down, he wants to leave work to be with her. Meanwhile........the four year old and the two year old are watching their mother cry in the car, having to make the first real adult decision ultimately by herself.
It is very sad, but at the same time it is a very powerful moment which will be frozen in time for my grandchildren, daughter, and my wife and I. The loss of an animal in your family is always traumatic, but it is simply the nature of life, and in each moment we experience, it should be cherished and understood. I will await this afternoon for more phone calls, but from this pain will come knowledge and wisdom...........a new pup, and eventually more pain.....life goes on.......
