Taffy
 

Came in to post this and saw murd0c's post about Ben :cry:



Late August, 2012, we saw a post on Delta Community Animal Shelter's Facebook page about a little senior Maltepoo that had been surrendered and was looking for a new home. We went to meet her, and Taffy and I immediately clicked. A few days later we were back to complete the adoption process, and made her part of our pack.

https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/...2f&oe=552A6D69

They told us she was 12, but she may have been older. She immediately took her place in the order of things: bossing Daddy around. Sleeping by Daddy's feet on the bed every night. As her cataracts took over and her eyesight failed, she still knew Daddy's scent and her tail would wag like mad when she smelled my hand. She knew her way around the house, could easily find her way up the stairs to the bedroom, and up the little stairs to her spot on the bed, and could always find her way from the back yard to the stairs to come back in after piddles.

https://scontent-a-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/...7a&oe=552E0A4C

A few weeks ago I took her to a new vet for a check-up... he was impressed by how good her overall health was for 14+ (we never knew her exact birthday). His only concern was that she was pretty thin, so he had me up her food intake. In the intervening weeks, she started filling out again nicely and getting around a little better.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...10ad074abc9d62

This morning she did her business and ate her breakfast like always, but by the afternoon she had diarrhea and seemed restless and confused. A quick trip to the vet revealed nothing terribly wrong except a slightly low temperature and minor dehydration. With instructions to keep her warm and some medication for later, she came home to her heating pad and blankie.

A couple hours later, I decided to take a nap and was going to take her upstairs to cuddle in, but found her in her crate, listless and barely responsive. A rush trip back to the vet showed her temperature even lower, and the doctor gave her a shot of antibiotics, but didn't seem too hopeful. He said we could take her to emergency for critical care, but the nearest one he would recommend was in Langley (over half an hour away even with good weather), and said there were still no guarantees.

We decided to forego taking her to emergency, but brought her home to cuddle, to either pull through... or not.

Within fifteen minutes of laying down in Daddy's arms, she was gone. The vet assured us she was in no pain or discomfort, and we're glad that she could spend her last moments surrounded by love.

Good-bye, "Big Dummy"... the house will be strangely quiet without the huge voice you projected out of that tiny body.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-d-a.akamaihd.n...b87f47b4c324be

So sorry for your loss Soundy :(

Taffy looks like she was a beautiful pup.

Sorry for your loss, Soundy.

Sorry for your loss man, RIP Taffy :(

So good of you for you to bring an older dog into your home and giving her some good years at tail end. I'm really sorry about Taffy, glad she got to go in the comfort of your arms knowing she's loved.

So sorry for your loss.....it looks like you have some great memories, cherish those

I'm so sorry for your loss as well Soundy :(

Thanks everyone :QQ:

That's the one thing that makes it a little easier. House sure is quiet this evening though, without her incessant "REP! RUP!" bark informing Daddy it's dinner time, or her higher-pitched "ARK! ARK!" to say she needs to go outside.

it takes a while for the feeling to go away, its those things they always did you took granted of and now you can picture them doing it or looking over and expecting them to be there makes it the hardest for me :(

Right in the feels..... Sorry for your loss bro

Sorry for your lost Soundy. Its always nice to be there all the way to the end with them. Its the least that they deserve for everything they had given to you.

RIP Taffy.

RIP Taffy. this hits home. right in the feels.

RIP Taffy. really hits in the feels considering that i'm laying in bed right now with knight curled up in between my legs..

#10 in the Pet Ten Commandments always choked me up... I think I had it in the back of my mind when we had to choice to bring her home or take her to emergency...

http://www.ggohinc.com/files/ggohinc...mmandments.jpg

RIP :(

I never understood how attached people could get to pets until I got my own, they're family

They really are. We have four other dogs too, they all have very unique mannerisms... but Taffy especially, I could tell what she wanted by her bark, it was different if she wanted food, or attention, or to go out, or if she was just barking along with the others.

I'm sorry soundy. You are a true example around here as a dog lover and if the world had more people like you it would be a far better world for a wonderful animal who our society treats as being far less important than they deserve. Although its a rough time, I hope you keep your head high and realize how much you have done for Taffy. Life can be very hard out there for senior dogs and I can tell you made it real good for her.
RIP Taffy.

Thanks westopher.

Apparently we're going to pay a visit to SAINTS on the weekend... the wife wants to take a gander at a senior rescue there that almost looks like a cross of Taffy and Groucho. And she's the one who keeps insisting NO MORE DOGS...

https://scontent-b-sea.xx.fbcdn.net/...5a&oe=553AE3F2

Talked to the vet today, about the results of Taffy's blood tests (they drew blood on her first visit last Sunday morning). She said basically the only thing showing was usual signs of aging - hints of reduced liver function and possibly the beginnings of an infection, but nothing that would indicate a problem, like toxins or other levels way out of whack. Based on that and previous examinations, all she could figure was that something in Taffy just told her it was time to go, and shut everything down.

Makes me feel a little better, knowing it was nothing we did wrong, nothing we missed... and glad we just let her go peacefully given there was nothing more that would have helped.

Knowing that makes things a bit easier. If there was something, the "what if's" makes everything that much more difficult.