A5 Sweet 16
Well-known member
Well, my day started off unexpectedly & abnormally bad today. Buzz was breathing strange, kind of short & quick. Something definitely wrong. Made an appointment to take him to the vet. Dropped daughter off at school. Got home & he was lying on the floor, drooling, unable to move. Threw him in the truck & got him to the vet. He died about 15 minutes later. Best buddy & pheasant machine, gone. Didn’t even make 7 years. I’ve never known a sweeter, happier dog. He was happy 1000% of the time & didn’t have a mean bone in his body. Not one.
I’m not ready to reflect. It’s too painful. We hunted this past weekend, pretty successfully, although yesterday I could tell he wasn’t quite himself. He really, REALLY knew how to hunt pheasants. Now, right or wrong, I’m beating myself up. The vet showed me an x-ray of his chest. Lungs full of fluid. They weren’t sure if it was puss or what. But it did a good job killing him. Temp was 105. They figure it was an infection caused by a “migrating foreign body”, a grass awn, sticker, or something.
Buzz had had 2 “foreign body” episodes in the past. Once got a cattail (the pointy very end part of the stick) jammed down his throat. Months later a little piece was working its way out the back of his neck & caused a huge abscess. Major surgery to find the piece, get it out, clean him up & get him stitched up. Looked like Frankenstein.
About a year ago he developed another big lump on his side. The day before I was going to take him to the vet, it ruptured. More surgery to remove the mass. They sent it to Iowa State, but nobody ever found anything in it. What do you do but hope it came out when the rupture occurred?
Tuesday before Thanksgiving (so just 2 weeks ago) he obviously wasn’t feeling well when I got home from work. Temp 104. Gave him an aspirin. Later that evening it was 103. In the morning it was 101. He seemed to feel fine, although a bit tentative on stairs & not eating as much as usual. Since the fever was gone, I figured any infection must have cleared up & that since he was almost 7, the hunting is starting to make him a little stiff in the morning. Maybe he’d strained something.
Nope, he had an infection, I guess in his lungs. Killing him. And I did nothing until it was too late. So what’s a guy to do? Take the dog to the vet every time he has the sniffles? I’m telling myself that if he truly had an infection caused by a “thing” in his lung, what are they gonna do? Operate inside his lung? Doubtful. Maybe he was a goner no matter what I did or when I did it. Don’t know. But it sure frickin’ hurts. So, so sorry, Buzzy.
We had 5 weekends left of the season. Our favorite part of the season. Factor in vacation over the holidays….we probably had at least a dozen hunts left. Wondering whether I’ll go out at all. What would be the point? With my last dog, he was only 11, but I could see it coming. Had a backup puppy who turned into one hell of a dog. This sudden & unexpected shit sucks ass.
I’m not ready to reflect. It’s too painful. We hunted this past weekend, pretty successfully, although yesterday I could tell he wasn’t quite himself. He really, REALLY knew how to hunt pheasants. Now, right or wrong, I’m beating myself up. The vet showed me an x-ray of his chest. Lungs full of fluid. They weren’t sure if it was puss or what. But it did a good job killing him. Temp was 105. They figure it was an infection caused by a “migrating foreign body”, a grass awn, sticker, or something.
Buzz had had 2 “foreign body” episodes in the past. Once got a cattail (the pointy very end part of the stick) jammed down his throat. Months later a little piece was working its way out the back of his neck & caused a huge abscess. Major surgery to find the piece, get it out, clean him up & get him stitched up. Looked like Frankenstein.
About a year ago he developed another big lump on his side. The day before I was going to take him to the vet, it ruptured. More surgery to remove the mass. They sent it to Iowa State, but nobody ever found anything in it. What do you do but hope it came out when the rupture occurred?
Tuesday before Thanksgiving (so just 2 weeks ago) he obviously wasn’t feeling well when I got home from work. Temp 104. Gave him an aspirin. Later that evening it was 103. In the morning it was 101. He seemed to feel fine, although a bit tentative on stairs & not eating as much as usual. Since the fever was gone, I figured any infection must have cleared up & that since he was almost 7, the hunting is starting to make him a little stiff in the morning. Maybe he’d strained something.
Nope, he had an infection, I guess in his lungs. Killing him. And I did nothing until it was too late. So what’s a guy to do? Take the dog to the vet every time he has the sniffles? I’m telling myself that if he truly had an infection caused by a “thing” in his lung, what are they gonna do? Operate inside his lung? Doubtful. Maybe he was a goner no matter what I did or when I did it. Don’t know. But it sure frickin’ hurts. So, so sorry, Buzzy.
We had 5 weekends left of the season. Our favorite part of the season. Factor in vacation over the holidays….we probably had at least a dozen hunts left. Wondering whether I’ll go out at all. What would be the point? With my last dog, he was only 11, but I could see it coming. Had a backup puppy who turned into one hell of a dog. This sudden & unexpected shit sucks ass.
