Basil
10-13-2007, 10:05 PM
It is with tremendous sadness that I share the news of Devon's passing. He seemed to be doing great until Thursday afternoon. Mary found him lying in the bedroom moaning. The only time Devon has ever moaned was right before the previous two abdominal surgeries. Mary said that he just looked awful. She took him to the vet and the vet ran x-rays, checked his white blood cell count, and did an abdominal probe. I met them there. It turned out that Devon had another abscess on his intestines and it too ruptured. We were unwilling to put Dev through another huge surgery. The first two were so hard on him. The vet gave Dev a sedative to ease his pain and we took him home. The vet drove out to our place after the office closed and gave Devon his final shot. He died on beautiful day under the big oak tree in our arms.
Devon turned eleven last Sunday. We took him out to Petco and Petsmart. We made a day of it. Mary had been taking him to classes with her all week, and he was in his glory being the demo dog. He was very happy. For these things we can be happy that his last week was a good week. He did not seem to be in any pain until Thursday afternoon and it was not very long after Mary found him that the vet gave him the pain killer. For this we can be happy as well. But it did all happen suddenly, and making the final decision is very hard. There is a big emptiness in our home now. But Devon went out strong and proud just as he lived his life. He didn't have to spend his last few days withering away in a surgery center with strangers and away from his family. He died at home in the arms of those who loved him most. And for this we are happy.
(For those unfamiliar with Devon, he was our doberman that Mary got before we met. A strong, confident dog he was a sight to see. The smartest dog I've ever seen. Mary was on Animal Planet with him. He was in magazines, commercials, newspaper articles. His likeness is on postcards and t-shirts. Devon loved a crowd to show off to, and had quite the sense of humor.)
Devon turned eleven last Sunday. We took him out to Petco and Petsmart. We made a day of it. Mary had been taking him to classes with her all week, and he was in his glory being the demo dog. He was very happy. For these things we can be happy that his last week was a good week. He did not seem to be in any pain until Thursday afternoon and it was not very long after Mary found him that the vet gave him the pain killer. For this we can be happy as well. But it did all happen suddenly, and making the final decision is very hard. There is a big emptiness in our home now. But Devon went out strong and proud just as he lived his life. He didn't have to spend his last few days withering away in a surgery center with strangers and away from his family. He died at home in the arms of those who loved him most. And for this we are happy.
(For those unfamiliar with Devon, he was our doberman that Mary got before we met. A strong, confident dog he was a sight to see. The smartest dog I've ever seen. Mary was on Animal Planet with him. He was in magazines, commercials, newspaper articles. His likeness is on postcards and t-shirts. Devon loved a crowd to show off to, and had quite the sense of humor.)