Team Tidge

Teresa Jayne and her sidekick Benny the Blondster driving dad's car.

 This is quite reminiscent as I have a similar picture of Wendy doing the same thing at the same age, only with Brakkie, not Benny.  The photo is in the Blog Archive for September 2007. Wendy and Brakkie had such a close bond. He has been gone for almost a year now but at times we still call Benny by Brakkie's name. Wendy often talks about him and says that she misses him. We all do.

 Michelle and I both have regrets about the way he died. He was
desperately sick - he lay helplessly in his own diarrhoea, had fits
and at times couldn't walk. His fur was separating from his skin,
which was raw red. He was weak and in pain, so we kept taking him to
the Vet with the idea of putting him to sleep but then he would be
give some injections and perk up for a few days, so we hoped he might
get better. We had come back from the Vet one afternoon and he had
had to be carried from the car into the house because he was too weak
to walk, but after an hour or so, Wendy came and he got up and bounded
out to meet her and make a fuss of her. After that he collapsed
again. He had made one brave effort to greet his little friend.

So we decided he couldn't go on like that and we steeled ourselves and
made the appointment. But he didn't want to go! The Vet tried to get
the needle into a vein but she couldn't as he was struggling so much.
She gave him a sedative injection and tried again half an hour later,
but it didn't sedate him enough so she had to give him another dose.
When that worked she gave him a small dose of the euthanasing drug
into his vein but again he struggled, although less vigorously. He
fell down onto the table and she gave the remaining dose into his
heart. Michelle couldn't handle it and went to the waiting room with
my mum.

He was so sick (cancer of the liver) but he didn't want to go! I
think he wanted to die in his own home, and I'm sure he wouldn't have
lasted more than a couple of days. Michelle and I both found it
traumatic and wanted to stop the euthanasing process. We both wish we
had. He was such a good friend and he didn't deserve his last moments
like that. If we are ever in that situation again, I will ask the Vet
to provide me with medication to give at home and let my friend pass
 away peacefully in his own bed. I don't mean I would put him to
sleep - what I mean is painkillers, antibiotics or steroids that would
keep him comfortable while Nature took its course.

Here he is, waiting patiently for us.