Well, I’ve been dreading this for almost exactly a year. My lovely Husky girl that I picked up off the street a year and 8 months ago told me, without a shadow of a doubt, that it was time. This dog was the absolute sweetest thing I’ve ever met–she would literally crawl up in your lap (all 75 pounds of her) and lick you to death. Every single person who walked into my house fell in love with her.
I had always noticed that her left hind leg toed in significantly and she didn’t track straight on it–she would bring it more towards her midline (leave it to a horse person to notice that!). I pointed it out to my vet, who thought maybe some sort of old ligament injury, but told me to bring her in for X-rays if it gave her any problems. Last November, when the weather was cooler, I started taking her for longer walks and I noticed that she was quite sore afterwards on that left hind. Brought her in for X-rays, which showed a catastrophic hip injury. She had most likely been hit by a car at some point in her life and her previous owners had not taken her in for surgery (if they had, she probably would have been fine). But they didn’t. And her hip was crushed. The other hip had displaysia and some bone spurs. My vet said that hip replacement surgery wasn’t really an option because she didn’t even have one good hip to hold her weight. He said, “You’ve got about a year before that hip falls apart.” We started her on Rimadyl, Glycoflex III, Conquer HA, etc. to keep her as comfortable as possible.
And for a year, she was the happiest dog in the world. She ran arund the yard like a bat out of hell, she wrestled with my puppy, she pulled me like a sled in the Iditarod every time I walked her. She could jump up on my bed, play like a perfectly healthy puppy, and crawl up into my lap.
Last night, she went for her walk as usual around 11:00. She went outside at 1:00 am. And she lay down to cool off in her usual spot. When I called her to go to bed later, she didn’t come. I kept calling, thinking she was being her usual stubborn self. And then I heard her cry and my heart dropped.
I’m sure her hip just fell apart. She could not get up, no matter how much she tried. And she was in so much pain, she was screaming. I’ve never heard a dog scream before and I hope I never will again.
I somehow got her in the car and drove her to the emergency vet’s (by this time, it was 4 am). I brought her X-rays with me and told the vet I wanted to let her go–she was just in too much pain and I wanted to end it. The vet asked me, “How did you know it was time?” and he seemed confused. I said, “She couldn’t get up.” He asked, “But hasn’t she not been able to walk the whole time you’ve had her?” I told him, “Of course not. I would have put her down if that had been the case.” I then told him about her activity level, how she ran around all the time and went for walks every night, etc. He replied, “From those X-rays, I would not have expected her to be able to walk.” And yet, for the whole year and 8 months she was with me, she was an active, playful, rambunctious pup. She was all heart.
I didn’t get nearly enough time with my Sasha girl, but I’m so thankful for every signle second we shared. She has left a giant hole in my heart; but if I had to do it all over again, I would not change a thing.
Thank you for reading.
