I'm just seeing this now. I am so sorry for the sudden loss of your sweet boy and the sadness you are going through right now. My heart goes out to you.
Copley - Sudden Death Due to Hemangiosarcoma
Hello,
I joined this forum years ago when we first brought home our puppy, Copley, and now I'm back for support after we made the hardest decision we have ever made.
Yesterday, we had to make the unthinkable decision to put our beloved Copley to sleep at age 9.5. He was completely acting like himself until Saturday evening, when he was a bit lethargic after doing zoomies. We initially chalked it up to his arthritis, but on Sunday morning he refused his breakfast so we brought him to the emergency vet to check for a blockage.
When we got to the vet, he perked up because he got attention and chicken, and the vet was initially going to send us home with pain meds for the arthritis. I asked for more testing because he was panting more than normal and just seemed off. She did an ultrasound and found large masses on his spleen and liver, as well as fluid all around his spleen. She pulled some fluid out and it was blood.
From there, everything is a blur. They put us into a private room and recommended humane euthanasia. My parents came to be with our young kids and my husband and I made the decision to let Copley go peacefully while he was still wagging his tail. It was excruciating to make this decision while he was still up and walking around, wagging his tail, and asking for pets and treats from everyone. We held him and told him we loved him while he went to sleep. I hope beyond hope that we made the right decision to avoid suffering but I still have a seed of doubt that we could have done things differently and had more time with him.
Please keep us and Copley in your thoughts today. He was our perfect golden boy and we will miss him forever.
![Dog Carnivore Dog breed Flooring Floor]()
I joined this forum years ago when we first brought home our puppy, Copley, and now I'm back for support after we made the hardest decision we have ever made.
Yesterday, we had to make the unthinkable decision to put our beloved Copley to sleep at age 9.5. He was completely acting like himself until Saturday evening, when he was a bit lethargic after doing zoomies. We initially chalked it up to his arthritis, but on Sunday morning he refused his breakfast so we brought him to the emergency vet to check for a blockage.
When we got to the vet, he perked up because he got attention and chicken, and the vet was initially going to send us home with pain meds for the arthritis. I asked for more testing because he was panting more than normal and just seemed off. She did an ultrasound and found large masses on his spleen and liver, as well as fluid all around his spleen. She pulled some fluid out and it was blood.
From there, everything is a blur. They put us into a private room and recommended humane euthanasia. My parents came to be with our young kids and my husband and I made the decision to let Copley go peacefully while he was still wagging his tail. It was excruciating to make this decision while he was still up and walking around, wagging his tail, and asking for pets and treats from everyone. We held him and told him we loved him while he went to sleep. I hope beyond hope that we made the right decision to avoid suffering but I still have a seed of doubt that we could have done things differently and had more time with him.
Please keep us and Copley in your thoughts today. He was our perfect golden boy and we will miss him forever.
21 - 40 of 51 Posts
So sorry for your loss of Copley.
This is Paisley who turned 9 on 2/26/23 and we lost her on Tuesday 4/4/23. Almost the same scenario, she was fine then all of the sudden on Saturday 4/1/23 didn't want to walk which wasn't out of the ordinary since she was her own girl and only did what she wanted. We did notice she appeared to be limping a little so thought it was a rear leg issue.
The soonest we could get her in with the vet was on 4/2/23. I woke up that morning and she ate and walked ok but seemed a little unstable on her feet.
My wife took her in and when getting to the vet Paisley just collapsed on the floor. Checked her gums and they were pale, did an ultrasound and she had a tumor in her spleen which was bleeding into her stomach. The vet provided an option for emergency surgery about 30 miles north. They would first do a cat scan $1200 dollars to see if it had spread then could do a surgery for $10000.
I drove up to the vet and we decided to try at least the cat scan, carried her out to the car and then took a deep breath. We had another golden Baylee (12 1/2) who we lost in 7/21. He was a tri-paw due to a benign tumor above is back right knee, which was removed when he was 4. In 2/21 we discovered he had melanoma on one of his left back leg toes. We removed the toe and did some sort of new cancer vaccine. At the time of the toe removal, the cancer had not spread, so we went ahead with the vaccine application which was a total of 4 every 2 weeks. In late 6/21 my wife noticed Baylee had labored breathing so we took him in and cancer had spread throughout his organs. It turned out the vaccine wasn't effective until 8 weeks after the last treatment.
After talking through what Baylee went through, we talked about how fair would it be to Paisley to put her through a cat scan, surgery and recovery. If she even made it through a surgery, how happy would she be or would she just be miserable and not do the things she loved: walks, bubbles in the backyard, rolling off the sofa, wresting with her sister Ivy.
We decided to let her go and I carried her back in. It was so tough because she was alert and her normal self. We showered her with attention and she went peacefully.
The picture below was taken on 4/2/23.
![Dog Plant Dog breed Carnivore Grass]()
After letting her go, we had all the same second guessing. What if the tumor was benign, she was the 1 in a million survivor and had 5 more years to live, did we miss any early signs of a tumor, etc...
In the end we just took solace in she didn't suffer and we did the best for Paisley and I think you made the best decision for Copley too.
This is Paisley who turned 9 on 2/26/23 and we lost her on Tuesday 4/4/23. Almost the same scenario, she was fine then all of the sudden on Saturday 4/1/23 didn't want to walk which wasn't out of the ordinary since she was her own girl and only did what she wanted. We did notice she appeared to be limping a little so thought it was a rear leg issue.
The soonest we could get her in with the vet was on 4/2/23. I woke up that morning and she ate and walked ok but seemed a little unstable on her feet.
My wife took her in and when getting to the vet Paisley just collapsed on the floor. Checked her gums and they were pale, did an ultrasound and she had a tumor in her spleen which was bleeding into her stomach. The vet provided an option for emergency surgery about 30 miles north. They would first do a cat scan $1200 dollars to see if it had spread then could do a surgery for $10000.
I drove up to the vet and we decided to try at least the cat scan, carried her out to the car and then took a deep breath. We had another golden Baylee (12 1/2) who we lost in 7/21. He was a tri-paw due to a benign tumor above is back right knee, which was removed when he was 4. In 2/21 we discovered he had melanoma on one of his left back leg toes. We removed the toe and did some sort of new cancer vaccine. At the time of the toe removal, the cancer had not spread, so we went ahead with the vaccine application which was a total of 4 every 2 weeks. In late 6/21 my wife noticed Baylee had labored breathing so we took him in and cancer had spread throughout his organs. It turned out the vaccine wasn't effective until 8 weeks after the last treatment.
After talking through what Baylee went through, we talked about how fair would it be to Paisley to put her through a cat scan, surgery and recovery. If she even made it through a surgery, how happy would she be or would she just be miserable and not do the things she loved: walks, bubbles in the backyard, rolling off the sofa, wresting with her sister Ivy.
We decided to let her go and I carried her back in. It was so tough because she was alert and her normal self. We showered her with attention and she went peacefully.
The picture below was taken on 4/2/23.
After letting her go, we had all the same second guessing. What if the tumor was benign, she was the 1 in a million survivor and had 5 more years to live, did we miss any early signs of a tumor, etc...
In the end we just took solace in she didn't suffer and we did the best for Paisley and I think you made the best decision for Copley too.
21 - 40 of 51 Posts
