R.I.P. Cricket

I had to put my dachshund, Cricket, to sleep yesterday. She was 15 years old. She was a very healthy dog for most of her long life. She would occasionally get a skin rash in the fall (allergies), her back legs were getting arthritic and her eyesight became poor in the last few years, but for the most part she remained a spry and intelligent, if somewhat aloof, old lady.

She had been eating smaller and smaller quantities for months, but earlier this week Cricket stopped eating almost entirely. My mom took her to the vet on Thursday, and again on Friday. They kept her for observation overnight. On Saturday the vet told us that her examination had revealed that Cricket had severe kidney disease that was untreatable. We were given a prognosis that most likely she only had a few weeks left.

I didn’t want her to suffer and I certainly didn’t want her to starve to death, so I made the decision to have her put to sleep. It was especially tough to do since she did not seem in the least bit sick. She was feisty and alert when they brought her to us. She sniffed at the baby’s head excitedly and she wanted to be held. She acted like she wanted to go home.

I think the vet lied to me about the lethal injection. She first administered a sedative which was supposed to make the process more humane, but Cricket let out an alarming groan that I’d never heard before from her. The vet said that was a “snore.” When the poison was injected in her, she went fast, but she stared at me the whole time. That was bad.

This was the second dog I had to euthanize because of old age in the last three years. I hope I don’t have to do this again any time soon.

Bloody Playdate

I took my dogs to a French Bulldog playdate for the first time since last March. Beren really enjoys these. Cricket’s just along for the ride.

Frenchies play really well together. They’re not into fighting and they don’t bark too much. There were about 30 of these little piggies romping around having fun and everyone seemed to be getting along. One precocious piebald grabbed a water bottle and enticed the others to chase him from one playroom to another. Beren joined in on this and I tried to keep sight of him but he was blending in with the other brindles.

The pack darted behind a fake tree but I could see his butt and rear legs. All of a sudden someone said, “Whose dog is this?”

Uh, oh, I thought. What did he do?

I hurried over and Beren was lying on the floor with a mouth full of blood!

Luckily, it looked worse than it was. Somehow he had cut his tongue. I never found out how. I’ve never heard of a dog biting its own tongue, so either another dog bit his tongue, or he got hold of the plastic bottle and it had cracked.

Beren is fine, but that was quite a scare.

The Best and Worst

Stolen from Captain Picard’s blog:

Though all presents are given with good intentions, what are the best presents and the most pointless Christmas presents you have ever had?

The best present I got wasn’t for me, it was for my dog. A co-worker got me a feeding toy that had a recording device in it. Every time my puppy hit the ball with his nose he was rewarded with a treat and the sound of my voice praising him. He eventually destroyed the recorder, but he had great fun and I loved watching him play with it.

The worst presents I got were from my father’s side of the family, unfortunately. For some reason almost every year one or more of them would give me a board game. I hated that because I was an only child and my parents had no intention of playing the board games with me so every year I was given something that was going to end up in the garbage.

SIGH!

Beren (Hopefully) On Animal Planet

Beren would like to do this every day!

Beren got a free massage this morning at Scout NYC, where he and some other dogs were filmed for "Doga," an Animal Planet show that will air on August 14, 2005.

Beren Gets His Nails Clipped

Beren at Biscuits & Bath.

Mon Dieu! Who has disturbed my sleep?

This is Beren, my French Bulldog. He is twenty months old. He is cute, but he has a major flatulence problem. Whew!