On Friday, when I came home after running errands, I found Jessie on the floor in a pool of blood and urine. Luckily my friend, Tamela was with me, and I kept my head on straight. I carried Jessie outside, then set her down to see if she could walk, which she did. Then she went to the bathroom and I noticed blood coming out. So I scooped her up and drive straight to the vet's office. The vet wanted me to leave her there while they did some tests.

Then I came home and worried myself sick, and waited for my sister-n-law and her kids to get here, who came for a visit this weekend. Jennifer, my SIL, arrived around 5pm, and then I paced waiting for the vet, who finally called at 6:30pm and said I could come get her. They gave me 4 different scenarios they were testing for.

One-- Worst case scenario-- tumor in the stomach or bladder. Two-- stones in the bladder. Three-- a blood clotting problem. Four-- a urinary tract infection.

On Friday, they ruled out 4, then on Saturday they ruled out 3-- which leaves up with 2 bad ones. The only way to test for 1 and 2 is to do an ultrasound, which her vet couldn't do-- they would have to refer us somewhere else for that. They said to call them on Monday and I can get more info. So, she's home, and Scott and I have been watching to make sure she isn't bleeding anymore, and I haven't seen any. She's not eating very much, and has been refusing her meds (Scott and I held her down this morning to try get it in her).

I talked to Scott last night-- and we are trying to decide what to do. My father says "She's almost 13, she's had a good life, let her go." But if the ultrasound reveals it's stones, maybe they can be treated with meds. I just don't know-- I can't make a decision without more information. Please pray for Scott and I, and Jessie, and the kids-- as we try to figure this out. I feel like I need some sort of resolution this week; we are leaving Saturday for 10 days and I can't leave Jessie with my friend, who's watching her while we are gone, like this.

Update----------------------------------------------------------------------

Yesterday was a rough day. I called the Vet Specialist, who said is was $350 for the ultrasound. OUCH! After weighing all the pros and cons, we decided not to have the ultrasound, because they vet basically said it didn't matter what it said, she'd have to have surgery either way, and she may not come out of it.

We had pretty much made our decision to let Jessie go, with the exception of me having chest pains and hysterically crying. Then something happened. Jessie seemed to perk up. I went and got her a can of food, and she promptly gobbled it up. I took her back to the vet and had them look at her teeth. They said two of them look bad, but they can't really do anything about them, because again- it would require her being asleep. So, they gave me an antibiotic and some pain pills. She seems to be doing ok today-- I'm keeping an eye out for more blood in her urine, but I haven't seen any. The vet said maybe she passed the stones, if that's what it is. We are going to continue to keep an eye on her and see how she does. I want to give her a couple more days to see if she turns around.

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Forgiveness is love in its most noble form. -Anonymous

For her meds......get some angel food cake. Pull off a small piece, put the pill in the middle and squish the cake around it. You could probably do this with bread also. I spoil my Dixie daily with the cake.

I'm sorry, but I have to agree with your dad. It hurts like heck. DH had to take our precious Border Collie, Tinker, to be put down when DD was only 2 days old. I wanted to go with DH so bad but he wouldn't let me. Then DH had to take our other precious Bassett, Barney, to be put down just a year later. Our pets were 13 and 11. Tinker's body was just worn out and his kidneys shut down. Barney had cancer for which we chose not to treat for the previous 2 yrs., however, we didn't let him suffer.

I know the decision making isn't easy. You do what's best for the pet by not considering your feelings.

When I saw the post about a Beagle, I was going to call my DH over (hoping there was a picture) but then read it and was glad i didn't. We have a beagle who is the center of our family. I can't imagine what you are going through. It is so hard when they are sick. Our's is spoiled rotten and it would be awful.

I don't have any advice for you but I am going to say a prayer for you all. Hope that you get some better news on Monday or can at least use what you learn to make the right decision.

Recently I just had an ultrasound done on my 13 year old shih tzu. It was just a little over $100. and I was happy I did it. They can give you the results right while they are doing the test. My vet also didn't do the test so I went to a horse hospital that does dogs too. I always ask my vet what would he do if it was his dog. Helps me make decisions. I hope for the best for your dog.

OK--I was a pug owner for 15 years! She was with me before my husband and I got married and was my first baby!! My DH always said if I ever had to choose between him and her, I would choose her hands down. ((He may have been right, too! )

When we finally had to put her to sleep (she was almost 16), she was completely blind (she had been this way for almost a year), couldn't hear (had ear problems her whole life) but her kidneys were failing and she had a tumor in her leg and she was getting to the point that she couldn't stand. Out of pure selfishness, I kept her alive way too long. I let her suffer for too long and I have to live with that. I hated letting her go. Just writing this brings tears to my eyes! I still miss her.

But....I think you situation is a bit different. If this were me with my dog (and let me say...it has been almost 3 years and I still have not gotten another dog!), if the test costs $100 to $200 (if you can afford it--or the vet will let you pay until you can pay it off), you won't regret having it done. Like you said, it could be something simple that can be treated with medicine or something that is not THAT serious. If it's something that is life threatening, you will have to decide then what you want to do. But, at that time you will be well-informed on her health situation.

As you stated, your dog HAS had a full life but before I would "end it", I would have to see what the problem was. No....exploratory surgery or something like that but yes....an ultrasound, I would probably do it.

Good luck and you and your family are in my prayers! It's a hard decision dealing with a pet. They are family members, too.

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Mom to a beautiful 15 year old DD and my handsome little man who's 6!

~~~GO DALE JR!!~~~

I took my 12 year old cat to the vets last wednesday because he was having a n ashma attack and they wouldent give me any medicine until they saw him, plus he was due his physical in 2 weeks. Took him to the vets. they wanted to keep him for a couple of hours to give him an I.V.,do some exrays and blood work. came back 2 hours later, saw the vet and he said he was in good shape, the only thing that came out in the blood wark was a little dehydrated. His exray showed that he had Ashma , as we knew. The vet put him on prednszone and sent us home. the bill was 290.00. the next day which was last thursday my cat died at home while i was not home. The vet wanted to do an atoupsy on him. I dont know what that would of cost. I said no because he was 12 years old. I really think they should of done the atoupsy on there expense seeing he was seen the day before. I was willing to pay anything to save my cat and did but it didnt matter the next day he was dead and nothing was going to save him. I know first hand how you feel and hope everything turns out o.k.

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When you don`t know what to do-Walk fast and look worried.

Sending my prayers to you and your family! I am hoping for the best for all of you! Please keep us informed.

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We're off to never never land

Update at top.

Holly

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Forgiveness is love in its most noble form. -Anonymous

haynes94 - just wanted to let you know that I'm thinking of you. I know this is incredibly hard!