Absolutely sucks loosing a fur baby

GMascelli said:
Thursday, December 15, 2022

Sadly Mary and I had to say goodbye to our baby girl, Ziva Diva. Ziva was 9.5 and was stricken with degenerative myopathy the canine version of ALS in humans.


Thanks to our friends Lisa and Greg who provided her Magna wave treatment’s that gave her relief for three weeks. Unfortunately this disease has no cure and can advanced rapidly as it did with our girl.

We were overwhelmed with the staff at VCA Vet clinic. The techs that had always made a fuss over our girl all came in and sat with us and Z. One of the techs got a call that we were bringing Z in and came to join us on her day off.

Ziva was finally allowed some Hersey kisses and after playing with the first one determined they did taste good and ate at least three or four. When all the techs gathered Z wagged her tail for the first time today, she was happy.

We will miss her, and the house immediately felt empty when we came home with no happy face and tail wagging to great us. Tomorrow will be another day of firsts. I’ll miss that wet nose poking under the covers to let me know it’s time to get her breakfast ready. Rest easy princess, we love you.













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So sorry for your loss. She looks like a great friend!
 
Oh man, so sorry. May memories of the good times being comfort. Easier said than done, I know.

I haven't been able to make it through the entire thread without my allergies acting up....:(
 
FormerHangie said:
Thanks for the thought. Her back legs are weak and she can't walk while wearing a diaper.
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Like cleaning up after a baby — dog can’t help it. It’s a part of life.
 
I have one slowing down now. I just spent the last hour prepping pill pockets and earlier today adding more runner rugs to the house.
When he goes, I am going to be a mess. We don't deserve dogs.
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I have one slowing down now. I just spent the last hour prepping pill pockets and earlier today adding more runner rugs to the house.
When he goes, I am going to be a mess. We don't deserve dogs.
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We added runners everywhere when Z started having problems with her back legs, they helped. The two cats thought we added play toys and tunneled under the rugs or pulled them into a series of mogels. Had to fix the rugs a few times a day. Crazy cats.
 
Sorry for your loss. We lost Juggy a couple of years ago. Ziva is in Heaven. We will see them again…
 
Luckily, we still have Tuffy. He's a Westy-Cairn Terrier - Jack Russel mix. I think he's about 14 years old. He can't always hold his pee, so he's baptized the floor several times and raised the grain in one place in the hall. I have pee-pads blue-taped to the floor wherever he's peed, and he's in a wrap a lot, but not full-time. When he's not feeling well, he'll leave some land mines behind, but always on a pee-pad.

I swear he's part cat. He's had several strokes where he can't stand, let alone walk, and a few days later he's zipping around the house like nothing happened. He has a heart murmur, which he's getting medicine for. He used to be able to walk me under the sidewalk, but now a 15-minute walk is rare.

He's one of the things I'll keep after my wife passes. She brought him home to be a foster child for my in-laws, but they couldn't keep him, so we adopted him. As my wife is completely incapacitated, I've taken over his care and feeding, except when I can't be home over a meal.

When he passes, I'll miss him, but not cleaning up after him!
 
Gary, I know exactly what you are going through. Please accept my warmest condolences.

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Jay Urish said:
Gary, I know exactly what you are going through. Please accept my warmest condolences.
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Jay,

So sorry for your loss. It’s a brutal process most of us go through at some point but that still doesn’t make it easier.

One of our friends said to us it’s the transfer of love from the fur baby lost to the new pup that will heal your heart.

Mary and I could deal with doing the right thing for Ziva, we owe them that much, not to let them suffer. The hardest part is the empty house and their unconditional love at all times.

We decided that we would head to the local shelter and adopt. Our home now is filled with puppy breath and new adventures. Honestly we forgot how much work it is keeping up with an 8 week old, and house breaking. What a work out!

Happy to say she loves the airport, loves to sit and watch the planes taxi in and out. Now to get her in the air.

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GMascelli said:
Jay,

So sorry for your loss. It’s a brutal process most of us go through at some point but that still doesn’t make it easier.

One of our friends said to us it’s the transfer of love from the fur baby lost to the new pup that will heal your heart.

Mary and I could deal with doing the right thing for Ziva, we own them that much, not to let them suffer. The hardest part is the empty house and their unconditional love at all times.

We decided that we would head to the local shelter and adopt. Our home now is filled with puppy breath and new adventures. Honestly we forgot how much work it is keeping up with an 8 week old, and house breaking. What a work out!

Happy to say she loves the airport, loves to sit and watch the planes taxi in and out. Now to get her in the air.

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Can't like that Airport Dog photo enough!
 
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I had to put Tuffy to sleep a week ago. He was about 18 and until a major seizure, loved his walks and his food.

I got up Friday morning and he was laying on the floor, surrounded by his poop. Apparently, he had a seizure and pooped. His paddling around the floor scattered his poop and I think he damaged his brain by banging it on the floor because he was never the same after that.

The only thing harder than losing him was losing my wife, Tammy.
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I am sorry to hear this. It's horrible.

I have a big old guy that doesn't have much time left. I am giving him adventures while I still can.
Carrying him to a local pond and just sitting there watching ducks and feeding him grilled chicken.

18 years is an awesome run. RIP Tuffy. :(
 
SixPapaCharlie said:
I am sorry to hear this. It's horrible.

I have a big old guy that doesn't have much time left. I am giving him adventures while I still can.
Carrying him to a local pond and just sitting there watching ducks and feeding him grilled chicken.

18 years is an awesome run. RIP Tuffy. :(
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Thank you, all.

Somewhere in the Harry Potter saga, Hermione tells Harry he has the emotional depth of a teaspoon.

I thought that was me until I lost Tammy, and now Tuffy. But they are in a much better place now. My sister is much better connected to the spirit world than I am.

After I had to have Tuffy put to sleep, she told me that she had seen Tuffy in Tammy's arms the day before I took him to the vet.

It was time. After that Friday morning seizure, he could only walk a few steps before having another one. I'd get up in the early morning and he'd be laying there on the floor with the "Help me, Daddy" look in his eyes. I took him in as soon as I could after the Memorial Day weekend.

He was my buddy, and I was his. He might be gone, but not far, and will never be forgotten. Now, Tammy has him back, and he will truly be her FurEver Furbaby.
 
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When walking my dog over the years, I've had numerous people stop to love up on him only to tell me they'll never get another dog b/c losing them is too painful. To me, never experiencing all of their joy and love is much worse.
 
Mahneuvers said:
When walking my dog over the years, I've had numerous people stop to love up on him only to tell me they'll never get another dog b/c losing them is too painful. To me, never experiencing all of their joy and love is much worse.
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To each their own. I’ll happily love on a strangers dog to get my fix.

Then enjoy my clean house and low stress spontaneous travel without having to worry about a dog.
 
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Just went through this with our goldendoodle, Cooper. He was 10, and succumbed to hemangioma sarcoma of the spleen. Named him after Gordon Cooper’s character in The Right Stuff.

He was definitely the best dog I ever saw, and he is sorely missed…..
 
GMascelli said:
Retired five years ago and not sure how I ever had time for work.

I try and fly at least once a week. The bride and I will be back traveling and enjoying new adventures.
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GMascelli said:
I’m sorry for your loss. Never an easy thing to deal with.
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wanttaja said:
I didn't find the CGI that bad. Sure beats using optical effects to multiply the number of aircraft ("633 Squadron"), setting up flat silhouettes of B-17s for the ground shots (1990's "Memphis Belle"), or painting ME-109s in British colors to pad the ranks of the Hurricanes in "Battle of Britain" (What, you DIDN'T notice!!!???).
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Face it, ladies and gents, there barely enough B-17s left in the world to display a full bomb group, even on the ground. There's not enough flyable B-17s in the world to fly a single squadron. The times when enough get together to form even a single element is rare enough. And we expect movie producers to snap their fingers and scarf up all the flyable B-17s in the world?

If they do try it, look in the background...you'll probably see some OD-painted Electras, DC-7s, and any other four-engined prop transport they can find to make up a "real" squadron.

Otherwise, the moviemakers are left with trying to do it with models. I'm sure no one would be complaining if they had....

CGI allows them to reproduce real-world scenarios that we'd never see again. I'm sorry about the wrong rudder motion or the speed of the Greenland go-around. But it did give us those great "drone" shots showing the line of Forts taxiing down between the hardstands, and the squadrons struggling to join up coming through the clouds. And the skies filled with those majestic Boeing airplanes with all their doors in place....

It reminded me a lot of the filmed version of "The Shepherd." Again, mostly CGI, but of hard-to-find planes flying on a moonlit night. Looked cool.

Being a movie buff, I have my own peeves about shows like this. Salutes, for me, are a big one. Many actors and directors don't know what a salute is supposed to look like. The "Monarch" series on Apple+ is a very bad example of this. Only seen one or two salutes in "Masters of the Air," but the ones I noticed looked right. Referred to an RAF officer as "Captain"; the RAF doesn't HAVE captains. Group Captains, yes, but that's the equivalent of a full colonel. Not likely to find one bar-hopping or getting into a fist fight with Yanks.

I think the sets and the equipment looks dead-on. REAL impressed they found enough B-3 flying coats (the fleece ones) to equip so many actors. And you'll notice if they AREN'T going to be flying, they're wearing A-2 jackets. Exactly the way it should be, original A-2s were a windbreaker only, with no insulation. The trucks and Jeeps have the usual Hollywood mistake (they're too clean...NOBODY in wartime washes a utility vehicle) but at least the Jeeps are wartime models (there might be some CJ-2As, -3As, or -5s in there, but I haven't spotted them yet.)

There are deviances from the standard equipment. I saw men wearing goggles that I thought were WWII Navy goggles, but googling goggles revealed the AN6530 were worn by both services. Spotted one gunner wearing RAF Mk 7 goggles, and one of the lead characters has an obvious non-standard fleece flying jacket. But these things do happen in wartime; the individuals could have picked up these pieces informally.

Otherwise... well, I'm not too impressed with the story lines so far, but we'll see if they pick up. I have always been willing to extend the Suspension of Disbelief that accompanies all fiction. Heck, I enjoy the movie "Gravity" despite 40 years in the space business.....

Ron Wanttaja
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Dana said:
Removing the door for filming is one thing and not unusual. Having the door open and tied to the strut is quite another, it would be like taking off with drag brakes, not to mention the yaw effect and the possibility of blanking half the stabilizer. I can't imagine any pilot with half a brain trying this.
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painless said:
Just went through this with our goldendoodle, Cooper. He was 10, and succumbed to hemangioma sarcoma of the spleen. Named him after Gordon Cooper’s character in The Right Stuff.

He was definitely the best dog I ever saw, and he is sorely missed…..
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I’m so sorry for your loss.
 
midwestpa24 said:
Sorry to hear about your fur child.

We also recently went through the sudden loss of one of our two cats, that are my wife and I's only children. We took our girl into the vet because she seemed to be breathing a little faster than usual, but was otherwise acting fine and happy. Once there, the vet discovered she was in cardiac and respiratory failure, and her lungs were filling up with fluid fast. This particular breed of cat is known to be susceptible to a heart problem. There was no choice but to put her down to avoid her suffering. We never imagined that trip to the vet would be the last we'd see her.
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I posted this a year and a half ago near the beginning of this thread, and seeing this thread pop back up has dredged this memory back up. To top it off, her brother now is experiencing multiple health issues and prognosis isn't good. I'm not ashamed to say, this is hard.
 
They become family members and like family members, medical costs can be expensive. I’ve only had this guy for 3 months and multiple problems. $2,500 just in the last 2 weeks. Just yesterday went to the emergency vet to get crap out of his stomach. Still my bud though and we’ll get through this.

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