Rest in peace Mickey
Today embarks a very sad day for our family. We lost our little furry friend Mickey who has been a longtime family member of ours for 16 years.
He has been suffering from mitral valve disease the past year. A common disease in older dogs. He had a constant chronic cough (a common symptom) along with an irregular heart beat (murmur). The vet diagnosed that eventually over time as he aged, his heart would most likely give up. The indicators that we monitored was his breath count at rest. So when I noticed he was breathing rapidly at rest, it was a strong indicator that his heart was working harder and would eventually go into cardiac arrest.
We could tell the night before his passing that he was slowly weakening. He could barely walk, stopped eating, drinking, and was very slow moving. I had this very small hunch that he was getting ready to depart.
That night, we heard him struggling to walk on our wooden floors. We could hear his paws scampering as he was struggling to move. I went out to check on him in the early hours of the night/morning. He was laying down on the floor with all four legs spread down and breathing rapidly. As I picked him up, he was very limp.
Mickey was able to pass calmly and peacefully in my arms. As I was holding him, I could tell in his eyes that it comforted him. He took his last few breaths and went to eternal rest.
That same morning, we took him to the vet hospital so he can get cremated. The pet hospital allowed us to privately say our farewells to him. I was really sad. I'm not ashamed. I cried pretty hard.
Life without him will take some adjustment for our family. We still think he's wandering around the house. It feels really different. Almost like something is missing from our place.
Rest in peace Mickey! You had a good 16 year run and a very long dog life!
He has been suffering from mitral valve disease the past year. A common disease in older dogs. He had a constant chronic cough (a common symptom) along with an irregular heart beat (murmur). The vet diagnosed that eventually over time as he aged, his heart would most likely give up. The indicators that we monitored was his breath count at rest. So when I noticed he was breathing rapidly at rest, it was a strong indicator that his heart was working harder and would eventually go into cardiac arrest.
We could tell the night before his passing that he was slowly weakening. He could barely walk, stopped eating, drinking, and was very slow moving. I had this very small hunch that he was getting ready to depart.
That night, we heard him struggling to walk on our wooden floors. We could hear his paws scampering as he was struggling to move. I went out to check on him in the early hours of the night/morning. He was laying down on the floor with all four legs spread down and breathing rapidly. As I picked him up, he was very limp.
Mickey was able to pass calmly and peacefully in my arms. As I was holding him, I could tell in his eyes that it comforted him. He took his last few breaths and went to eternal rest.
That same morning, we took him to the vet hospital so he can get cremated. The pet hospital allowed us to privately say our farewells to him. I was really sad. I'm not ashamed. I cried pretty hard.
Life without him will take some adjustment for our family. We still think he's wandering around the house. It feels really different. Almost like something is missing from our place.
Rest in peace Mickey! You had a good 16 year run and a very long dog life!
Showing signs of weakness
Spending last evening with Mickey
Sad. Eternal Rest
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