Saying Goodbye

We had to have our dog Chloe put down on Tuesday, Sept. 9th. She had become paralyzed in her back legs and couldn't move at all. She was having to drag herself around. This came on quite suddenly. Back in 2000, Chloe was hit by a car and her left hind leg was badly broken. My father in law and I took her to the animal hospital and had it casted. She was in this cast for about 3 weeks. She had to live in the garage, and let's just say, she wasn't too happy about it. The doctor told us then that she may end up having problems with her hip and leg. At the beginning of this summer she started favoring that leg and we naturally assumed that she was developing arthritis in that leg. She still ran around and did pretty much what she wanted. Sunday, Landon noticed Chloe trying to go down the steps on the deck and her back legs were shaking. He really didn't think too much about it because she had begun, as the summer passed on, to get slower in her walking and getting up. When James came home that evening from work he sent the boys out to check the food and water for Chloe and Cleo. It's not unusual for the girls to lie on the deck, so the boys thought nothing of them being up there. Just when Logan put the food down did he notice that Chloe couldn't stand. He got James immediately. When I got home from work, I went out with James to pet her and look at her. She wouldn't stand, but when we mashed on her legs, she didn't cry either. I at first thought that maybe she had dislocated that bad leg. James and I took her to the vet on Monday and Dr. Fuller told us he thought that she had either a slipped disc in her back causing the paralysis or she had an embolism. He thought by her symptoms that it was most probably an embolism. He said what happens is a piece of cartlidge breaks off from the disc and then travels up the spinal cord finally blocking a nerve. This results in the paralysis. He said that since she had virtually no feeling in the back of her legs, it was less likely to be a slipped disc but we could still have a myleogram to rule it out. He said for the embolism we needed to have a MRI and surgery. The success of surgery being successful was virtually nothing. He felt that too much time had elapsed. He did give her a steroid shot and told us that maybe it would reduce the swelling around the spinal cord. If it didn't, we could have the MRI and surgery (very expensive) or we could take the alternate route which was to put her down. We prayed that there would be improvement, but sadly, there was none. Just a steady progression of paralysis thru the night. It was hard to call Dr. Fuller and tell him we had to choose the other method, but what could we do. If we let her stay like she was, she would have many sores and most likely become impacted. She couldn't hunch to pee or evacuate her bowels. If we laid her out she could evacuate, but she didn't know that she was. It was so sad to see her this way. We all agreed we had to do what was best for Chloe and let her go. After James came home from work today, we took her to Dr. Fuller. Logan and Landon stayed at home. They were pitiful. I hated to leave them, but James had to sit in the back with Chloe and somebody had to drive. Logan told me he knew we were doing the right thing, but it hurt so bad. Chloe, as you can see in the pictures I will post on here, loved Logan. She would always stand on the deck and look in the windows to see him. She loved us all, but Logan was special. Landon has had a hard time with it because of the fact that Chloe was going to be cremated. Landon is against it based on Biblical reasoning. He was also questioning would Chloe get to go into heaven. Nothing we really told him would ease his mind. My godmother told me a story of a mom who had written Billy Graham a letter about her son losing his pet. The son stated he didn't want to go to heaven if his dog wasn't there. Billy Graham told her to let her son know that he would be there. Mama Jo told me to tell Landon this and to tell him that in heaven there is no disappointments. Landon prayed that God would accept Chloe into heaven and let her go live with his nina and pops. When James and I got back, those kids were different. They had a peace about them and they are convinced that Chloe is in heaven, waiting for when they come. Landon told me that he asked God, because God is a good God, and he knows the desires of our heart. He also tries to give us those desires. Since there will be no disappointment in heaven, surely that means that Chloe is there.