Chrissy
About 5 years ago our dog Chrissy developed cancer. It started with a small lump on her ear which grew and grew until finally she had to have a chunk of her ear removed.

She was okay for a while but then we found another lump on her side. Again the vet had to operate to take it away, but we were told the prognosis was not good.

Sure enough the lump came back and kept growing. The vet said there was nothing he could do and that we just try to keep her comfortable until she succumbed. I don't think a dog has ever been more loved than she was in those last few weeks.

She had a habit of jumping onto my bed every morning and lying against my legs. One morning, though, she couldn't quite make the jump onto my bed, although she really wanted to. We examined her lump and found it had grown to the size of a small orange. She was in so much pain. We gave her some painkillers and she did perk up a bit but we knew the time had arrived. We called the vet and he said he would come round.

All of us took the day off work and my mother and I took her on her last walk, although she couldn't walk very far.

When the vet arrived he told us that if we didn't have her put down she would only last a few more weeks, or maybe days, and would be in incredible pain. So we decided to do it.

He agreed to put her down at home, so all of us were there with her. I was stoking her head as he administered the injection and I was still stroking her head when she slipped away, calm and feeling like the most loved dog in the world. She was 3 years old.

We all wept for the rest of the day. I don't think I've ever cried so much. She was the nicest, gentlest dog you could ever meet and we all still miss her terribly.

The last time I cried? Now. Typing this.
(MrC. Having the most boring username on b3ta since 2004, Sun 17 Apr 2005, 15:54, Reply)