Like others, I also lost my 14 yo Golden Boy (Monty) just a couple of weeks ago. He was the joy in our lives and it still hurts so much. I have also struggled with doubts about whether we should have waited longer (he went on a spirited walk the morning of scheduled Euthanasia) but we followed advice “don’t feel like his last day should be his worst day”. It gives me comfort to know that he got to have some happiness on his last day. I am still grieving hard (will it stop?) and feel for 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.
41 - 51 of 51 Posts
So helpful Your quote “ better a day too early than a moment too late”. My husband kept doubting our decision taking our boy in after he’d had a bad night but was feeling good the next day when we took him in and had him euthanized. He also had Hemangiosarcoma and was bleeding internally. We did orginally bring him home for home hospice care with lots of meds for bleeding, pain, nausea and an appetite stimulant. He felt pretty good for most of the 3 weeks we had him home. He got special cooked small meals, about 5-6 times per day/night. Meds every few hours around the clock. But even with that he had 3 crashess where we thought we were going to loose him. Ultimately the morning after that 3rd crash we took him in. No more suffering for him, just so we could get more time, not fair to him. We still miss him so much! He was my retired mobility Service Dog and my husband’s best friend, once he’d retired from being a Service Dog.
. Oh I understand YES your story seems very much like our boy second TAG. You know they are so stoic and sweet, they never let us know. They just want to be with us. Sometimes we don’t have to make that ultimate sacrifice it’s done for us 😢, sometimes a greater force guides us to doing what is best for them. Regardless it’s painful.So helpful Your quote “ better a day too early than a moment too late”. My husband kept doubting our decision taking our boy in after he’d had a bad night but was feeling good the next day when we took him in and had him euthanized. He also had Hemangiosarcoma and was bleeding internally. We did orginally bring him home for home hospice care with lots of meds for bleeding, pain, nausea and an appetite stimulant. He felt pretty good for most of the 3 weeks we had him home. He got special cooked small meals, about 5-6 times per day/night. Meds every few hours around the clock. But even with that he had 3 crashess where we thought we were going to loose him. Ultimately the morning after that 3rd crash we took him in. No more suffering for him, just so we could get more time, not fair to him. We still miss him so much! He was my retired mobility Service Dog and my husband’s best friend, once he’d retired from being a Service Dog.
They are gifts on loan to us. We are fortunate, no matter how much time we have with them. We ALL Share this special bond.
Please accept my most heartfelt sympathy. It's a hard decision to make, but you spared your sweet boy so much pain. I wish you peace...I've been in your shoes and I do understand.
You did what spared your friend pain and suffering. The alternative was to think of yourself. You did the right thing.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.
Paisley was such a beautiful girl! Thank you for sharing her story. We made the best decisions we could for our pups to spare them pain. If that means extra pain for us, then I think we made the right trade.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.
View attachment 902934
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.
Thank you for sharing your story. Bailey was certainly a special boy. We never have enough time with them but we gave them that final gift of grace and peace. I am sorry for your loss as well, and I think Copley and Bailey are running free together.Oh I am so sorry to hear this. This is so fresh and raw for you. Very giving to share your story. I hate to think it’s natural to second guess our most loving and heart wrenching decisions. I’m embarrassed to admit my last Boy Bailey , still weighs so heavy on me. Why didn’t I try some medicine to ease his symptoms ( aggressive nasal mast cell tumor ). Why didn’t I bring him home one more night or week to shower him with steak and chicken and more car rides? What happened was he had the most horrible night trying to breathe so the next day we visited all his parks and bought him a hamburger and played classical music in a private room telling him over and over what a good boy he was how much he loved him that we had to say goodbye for now because his “boo-boo” was getting worse. He was ten - still so handsome and strong like a young stud.
I can tell you I’ve heard some wise words here on this forum that has helped but I still hold this “what if”. Silly. But it’s a part of the grief I’m sure. I was comforted by a reader who stated “better a day too early than a moment too late” That resonates deeply and helped a lot. And the plain fact is “he would not get better” I am sorry for your loss. I also apologize for highjacking your story with mine. It just kinda poured out like the tears. Wishing you peace’ and happy memories XO
I am so sorry to hear this, that must have been so painful. You did the very best you could for Sunny. Our dogs never want us to worry about them - they are so stoic. Thank you for sharing your story.I had the same experience with our 8.5 year old handsome service boy Sunny.I took him to our vet because I noticed his gums were white.The vet ran a bunch of tests and told me she made an appointment for a ultrasound in a week( she didn’t have a ultrasound)If she had given me any cause for panic I would have taken him to the emergency vet(I had been going to this vet for over ten years)Sunny was the oldest of our 5 Goldens and was never sick.That night at 3 am we heard him breathing very loud.In a panic we drove to the emergency vet 40 min away.We called in advance to let them know we were on our way.Upon arriving they put him on a gurney and because of Covid we had to wait in our car.in 5 minutes they called and said Sunny‘s spleen had ruptured and we should go in to say goodby.I was furious with my vet for not giving me a sense of urgency.Lesson learned.I feel your pain.
This terrible blood cancer took my precious 10 year old boy and 3 months later it took our 9 year old golden boy. Two completely different breeders in different states. My ❤ goes out to you. I miss them every single day, even keeping busy with our newest golden boy.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. View attachment 902783
So sorry that is terrible to go through😨🙏🏻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. View attachment 902783
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. View attachment 902783
I am so sorry for your loss. We went through this horrible experience ourselves this past Sunday with our twelve year old, Tucker. Eerily similar diagnosis. As Tucker was 12 and really starting to slow down, we knew we wouldn’t have much longer but we really felt we’d get at least another summer with our guy. It was a heart wrenching decision but deep down I know we had to prevent further suffering. I just want you to know that my heart hurts for you. This is so so hard.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. View attachment 902783
I’m sorry to hear about Tucker , it’s never easy no matter how old they are. I’m sure you
And your family are crushed at his passing. We have to make this sacrifice for exchange of loving them and the love they bring to us. Wishing you peace but happy memories to shine through during this difficult time.
And your family are crushed at his passing. We have to make this sacrifice for exchange of loving them and the love they bring to us. Wishing you peace but happy memories to shine through during this difficult time.
41 - 51 of 51 Posts
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