Bye Angus, I'll Miss You

[RickFLM4]

Last night, my wife and I said goodbye to my best friend, Angus. It was a very difficult decision but he was starting to suffer more bad days than good days and pills were only doing so much. He had a brain tumor and / or dementia. (We aren’t certain because we didn’t get the CT Scan that would have confirmed or ruled out an terminal brain tumor, with dementia the alternative diagnosis. We thought he might have been suffering from both.)

Angus was happy and friendly his entire life but had a rough past 2 years. In July 2016, he almost lost his eye but with a lot of care and surgery, we were able to save his eye, but not his sight out of it. Last September, as some of you know, we lost our other dog, Patches, who was Angus’ lifelong companion. Soon after that he started showing behavioral changes and losing weight. He stopped eating on his own so we (mostly my wife) started hand feeding him 3x / day but he continued to lose weight even with a higher calorie intake. He once was an obese 26 lbs. before trimming down to a fit 18 lbs. He was 12.7 lbs. last night. He was walking in circles most of the time, showed increasing signs of anxiety, was up 2-3x per night (on good nights) and was wearing a wrap to avoid accidents almost all day and all night. Some pills helped manage his conditions but they were band aids on a gushing wound. His body was shutting down. So we reached the point where we felt we couldn’t force him to stay with us any longer. It was time to reunite with Patches. Our only comfort is the thought of them happily reuniting.

We have a puppy we got in January but honestly as much as I like him, I haven't connected with him the same way yet. We were extremely close with 2 dogs we lost within about 6 mos. of each other. It sucks.

[minn19]

Very sorry for your (and wife's) loss, my wife and I just put our 15 plus year old Border Collie/German Shepherd mix down about a month ago. We completely get how you feel. It definitely does suck.

[kscarrol]

Rick, so sorry to hear about Angus! It has a tough stretch for you and your wife. Hopefully you'll connect with the new puppy!

[tranquility]

I'm sorry for your loss. Really sad when a pet goes, they are family.

[Lucky John]

Rick, I am so sorry for your loss. Hopefully you can find peace in knowing they are both together. Take time to let yourself grieve.
God bless, John

[Teeone]

Sorry for your loss. Been through it myself. Remember the good times.

[bosstones]

Sorry to hear it, Rick. At least Angus lived a good, happy life and is no longer in duress. Dogs are family. Remember the good times, the bond you had, and the joy it brought Angus.

[Mr Carrots]

Man that sucks, sorry to read about your loss

He had a sweet little yoda face and looked like a great little guy

[No one]

Sorry about your loss. A nice-looking dog even though I'm not a dog lover.

I'd suggest to accept the inevitable and focus on your new puppy: establish the connection soon to take the most and best out of it. Don't lose time looking back.

[MKSixer]

So sorry about the loss of your family member. Ours is 12 and slowing down a bit. I bet he was a great friend and companion.

[irishbimmer]

What a cute pal you had and how lucky you are to have had him! No wonder you are missing him. My current dogs are a male miniature schnauzer liver colored (he follows me everywhere) and a female black mini. Both great dogs but the male starting to age and I am dreading the time I have to say good-bye.
I feel for you and hope that you let the new one into your heart soon.

[irishbimmer]

P.S. The walking in circles thing is a sign that he had a doggie stroke, although dogs do not have the same type of strokes as humans.

[HyeWarrior]

Sorry for you loss buddy.

Losing a pet is never easy, no matter how many times you’ve experienced it in a lifetime

[Mingwan]

I honestly thought this was going to be a thread about you going vegan based on the title.

RIP little man.

[wrickem]

They're never around long enough, and it's always hard to lose them when their time comes. You all were lucky to have had each other. I'm sorry for your loss.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by irishbimmer

P.S. The walking in circles thing is a sign that he had a doggie stroke, although dogs do not have the same type of strokes as humans.

The circles can also be symptoms of dimentia (canine cognitive dysfunction) or a brain tumor, particularly when combined with other symptoms. It’s difficult to diagnose a dog since he can’t speak, but he didn’t have some of the other symptoms of stroke, like head tilting, eye movements or passing out. It’s certainly possible but we and vets suspect a tumor or dimentia, although he never had a seizure which is common for some types of brain tumors.

For anyone with an older dog googling “canine cognitive dysfunction” provides a useful read. The only way to diagnose it is to rule out everything else, but if it does look like your older dog is showing the symptoms and nothing else is diagnosed, there is a pill to help treat it and mitigate the symptoms (supposedly also reversing in some cases). Like anything, the earlier it is caught the more impactful the treatment but it wasn’t even something we knew about 6 months ago. Some brain tumors can be operable or treatable, but generally not in an older dog who has deteriorated (and also had a mild heart condition in Angus’ case). So in Angus’ case confirming or ruling out a brain tumor by putting him through a CT scan would not have provided more than confirmation with no treatment options.

[nyalpine90]

R.I.P Angus

[Clark_Kent]

Very sorry for your family’s loss. Dogs are like family for sure.

[twin fed]

I am very sorry for your loss and am going through something very similar. My 15yo Beagle is seriously deteriorating. I took him to the vet a month ago but the vet said he was basically in very good health, just getting old. He has slowed down drastically and I think that he is almost 100% blind. Getting more tests isn't going to help as spending lot's of money to prolong an ending life is something that my wife and I don't want to do. He sleeps about 20+hours a day and every now and then he howls in what seems to be pain but only for about 30 seconds. We know that it is time to let him go but it is hard. He has been with us since he was only a few weeks old.

[RickFLM4]

Originally Posted by twin fed

I am very sorry for your loss and am going through something very similar. My 15yo Beagle is seriously deteriorating. I took him to the vet a month ago but the vet said he was basically in very good health, just getting old. He has slowed down drastically and I think that he is almost 100% blind. Getting more tests isn't going to help as spending lot's of money to prolong an ending life is something that my wife and I don't want to do. He sleeps about 20+hours a day and every now and then he howls in what seems to be pain but only for about 30 seconds. We know that it is time to let him go but it is hard. He has been with us since he was only a few weeks old.

Sorry to hear. It's bad enough when you know what's wrong, but feeling helpless when they are in distress is an awful feeling. I wish you the best.

[DETRoadster]

Really sorry to hear the news. Like you said, he's reunited with Patches now. Take comfort in that.

[twin fed]

Originally Posted by RickFLM4

Sorry to hear. It's bad enough when you know what's wrong, but feeling helpless when they are in distress is an awful feeling. I wish you the best.

Thank you. You are right and so true. We have another dog who is 8 and has lived her entire life with a brother. We are also concerned how she will do. It can be just as hard for other pets in the family as well.