My dear old Herb is not well. He has an enlarged heart and the valves on the left hand side of the heart are damaged. On Sunday he was in a terrible state. He was coughing, wheezing and panting and looked like he was ready to turn up his toes. After an intravenous cortisone injection plus antibiotics, plus new tablets he had a new lease of life.
He is back to his old but silly self. I gave him a bath this morning before we went back to the Vet and when I dried him and put him down he started doing laps of the house. A bad heart and laps do not go well together but try telling him that.
So off we went to the Vet for a follow-up appointment. The Vet has just done a course on giving ultra-sounds and wanted to practise on the old Herbert. This was free and just the price I can afford at the moment, however, I did have to pay for more medication. Today it was $77 and the other day the visit and medication cost $114, plus the original teeth cleaning and medication all up $500. I think I also paid for something else but I cannot find the receipt. Probably a good thing really.
I realize that I cannot really afford to pay for all this treatment but I just cannot get him put down when he is so good in between times. I think that putting him down will just about kill me. I would not allow someone else to take him to the Vet for that. If he has been good enough to be my dog for all these years then I am not abandoning at the end. I think the only way I would put him down is if they tell me he has no quality of life.
Herb is my friend and I am not ready to let him go. How can I possibly choose to end his life?
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