Kep

September 20, 2010 8 comments

See, it’s for a post like this that I wish I actually had pictures.

I remember when we went and got him, many moons ago. It had been a long day of looking at dogs at the SPCA, and none of them being a fit. Anyway, there was an ad in the paper saying a pure bred border collie was available. So we went and checked it out.

Kep had been sold to some rich bourgeois type couple. Even though his father was one of those trained show dogs who works in movies, and his mother had given birth to numerous dog show winners, these geniuses had him neutered. Then, when their divorce started years later, they fought over the dog since they didn’t have any kids to torture. The breeder was on his papers and got a call from a vet, asking why this dog had been left there for weeks. So she went and got him…but being a breeder, didn’t have a ton of use for a neutered dog. Anyway, we did.

He’s been at the house ever since. He outlived all of the old cats. He’s seen all four of the nieces and nephews, and he’s done a pretty decent job of trying to herd them and keeping them busy. Sure, he didn’t have as much energy recently as he had when it was just Natalie, but he kept soldiering on.

He was somewhere between 14 and 15, which is pretty damn old for a border collie. It hit fast. All of a sudden on Saturday, he was panicky. He couldn’t calm down, he just kept running around the house in a froth until he’d collapse from exhaustion. As of today, he kept losing his balance, and was left slamming in to everything around him. His eyes couldn’t focus…they just kept flitting across his field of vision again and again and again. It was pretty much one of the most soul crushingly horrible things I’ve seen in some time, and nothing could be done. Just corral him in one small part of the house and leave him to panic.

The vets diagnosed him with a disorder that essentially means his whole center of balance and equilibrium are thrown off kilter. Due to the rapidity with which things got worse, they suspect it was the result of a stroke suffered some time over the weekend. There was a slight chance it might get better, but after leaving him at the vet clinic for 7 hours, he had actually gotten worse. He’s gone now, and that’s probably a blessing.

Posted in General Type Things
  • Tammy

    Awww, that is sad. I have personally had to deal with a number of pets (2 dogs and 2 cats) that have lived out their lives. My cats were 19 and dogs around 15 so they also had good lives. The final hours of watching them fail and having to make a decision to let them go is the hardest thing ever. It doesn’t get any easier as they really fill a place in your heart. Both of my dogs lived their full life but eventually succumbed to tumorous cancers. I can honestly say I have never cried so hard in my life as to put down beloved pets. Although, it is really a kind and peaceful thing for them, they just get an overdose of anesthetic and go to sleep.

    I am sorry about your old guy, it must have been a pretty horrible weekend for you all. It sounds though like he had a great life though with you guys, so those are the things I always prefer to remember.

  • http://www.peerpressureworks.com Cliff

    I can honestly say that it would have been a lot easier if he had just
    died in his sleep or something like that. Seeing him the way he got was
    what made it as horrible as it ended up being.

  • Tammy

    You know…i felt the same with my critters. With each of them we had to make a decision as they were suffering. One day feels like a week when you watch them i distress. Well, it sounds like till near the end though he had a good quality of life and that is the important part.

  • Kelly

    Sorry to hear it man. At least he’s not suffering anymore.

  • Roxy

    So sorry for your loss. It’s amazing how much our four footed friends take over our hearts. I’ve lost 2 cats in the last 2 years and it isn’t an easy thing. At least you have the consolation of knowing he had a long life and good one at that.

  • http://twitter.com/hadaad hadaad

    Sorry to hear about Kep.

  • http://www.peerpressureworks.com Cliff

    Thanks, all. I’m definitely doing better today than yesterday. IT was too easy to just focus on those final couple of days yesterday, and I couldn’t get past that. With a little time having passed, though, now I can remember the rest. And the rest was awesome. :)

    Oh, I DID forget to mention the one thing that possibly makes yesterday even worse…it was my mom’s birthday. Ugh.

  • Qikdraw

    Ah shit Cliff. :( I’m sorry. You know I’ve been there a few times in the last few years, and its never easy.

    Try and go easy on the booze.

    (oh and your mother and my mother share the same birthday apparently.)