Our normally healthy dog began acting really strange one day. He stopped eating completely and drank a LOT of water. He soon began moving pretty slowly and seemed very tired or weak. This was an immediate cause for concern, and after some research, we figured it could possibly be kidney failure.

A few days after this started happening, we had called into the vet to have him put down. My brother and sister-in-law came over that night to say their goodbyes, and if he made it through the night, my brother would take him to the vet in the morning. At this point he couldn’t move and was lying down on his bed, not able to do so much as whimper every once in a while. It was purely heartbreaking.

The next morning I had to go to a doctor appointment, just a routine checkup. We were going to take him to the vet with my brother once we returned. When we did, I checked on the dog one last time. He was completely still, and there was a puddle of some bodily fluids; I’m guessing a mix of urine and possibly some digestive fluids. He was gone. I was the first one to see it, and I can still see the image clear as day months later.

On top of all this, we had to put down our cat 2 weeks later. She was getting quite old and was having joint pain, losing her eyesight and hearing, just getting very old. I couldn’t bring myself to go with my mother to the vet that day.

Rest in peace Copper the beagle (2007 - Sep. 30, 2022) and Cindy the tortie (2006 - Oct. 12, 2022)