~~~SEWING my way to POFQ ~ American Girl outfits & Custom Park Bags! ~~~

[lovesdumbo]

I'm so sorry.

 

[cajunfan]

I am so sorry D. I will keep you all in my prayers. Give Rufus a big ole hug for me! sending a virtual hug for you and the family!

Lynn

 

[VBAndrea]

I wanted to let you all know that the vet called us a few hours ago. Rufus has gone into kidney failure, and there isn't a thing we can do to save him. There are things we can do to prolong his life, but we really can't afford that, it would be very expensive. From what we understand, we only have a matter of days... maybe a week or two left.

I am so upset... We have all been bawling for hours... He is totally family to us and our family will just never be the same with out him.

I don't even want to think about our trip, I know the girls are just as afraid to leave him as I am, because if he lives until we leave, he will most certainly die while we are gone, and how horrible would that be?

D~

I am so sorry We have lost pets to kidney failure as well. We have them put down as soon as they are either in too much pain or stop eating.

 

[Lidian]

I'm so sorry D. Your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

 

[Debbie19]

I am so sorry for you and your family.

Debbie

 

[DMGeurts]

I am so sorry We have lost pets to kidney failure as well. We have them put down as soon as they are either in too much pain or stop eating.

He refuses to eat this morning. I am praying I will be able to get him to eat a bit later, he seems to perk up a little bit once it gets lighter out.

I really want to cancel our trip, my heart is no longer in it. It makes me just ill to think that I spent thousands on this trip, and because of that, we can't afford to save our dog. I was ready to do just that last night, until I realized that I paid for the entire thing with Disney GCs from Target, and I am outside the window to return most of them, so cancelling the trip would do nothing to put any real $$ in my pocket to save Ruf - unless the Vet will take Disney GCs.

We are all just beside ourselves with grief - we are not ready for this - it is just too sudden. I cried for so long and so hard last night, I look like death today - not that I care - my eyes are so swollen that they barely open and I've managed to pop several blood vessels around my eyes, I look like I've been in a bar fight.

I never imagined that a dog could totally and completely wrap itself around your heart, he is honestly my 3rd child, and I just don't k now how we are going to move on after he dies - he has brought so much joy and laughter to our family. He is totally and completely irreplaceable. I hate to see him suffering, although, you'd never know that he is - he just sleeps all the time now... Sometimes getting up to move from room to room - he even went upstairs last night, he always sleeps at the top of the stairs - keeping watch - until sometime during the night, then he moves to his own bed. I was kind of surprised to see that he had the energy to get up the stairs. He did manage to keep down a little bit of food last night (we haven't found any spots where he was sick yet), we are going to try to feed him smaller ammounts - if we can get him to eat at all.

If you are my friends on Facebook... I started a Rufus album, the girls and I shed a lot of tears last night, going through all our pictures and memories of this poor Ruf that was tormented by 2 little girls his entire life and enjoyed every minute of it. So, if you have the time, we would love it if you would look through out album - we will be adding more as the days go on.

And we'll take any and all prayers for our sweet Ruf. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

D~

 

[cogero]

D I totally understand what you are going through.

G and I bought a puppy the year before we were married, she was a siberian husky named Shania, 6 months later we added another puppy a Samoyed named Reba to our family. These were our babies.

We had Shania for 11 years which is a long time for a Husky, We spent a lot of money having her legs fixed but she died of Cancer in 2008.

We had to put Reba down last year and she was almost 14. My heart was broken these were my children before I had children.

Now we have Miley who we got 6 months after Shania died and I will tell you that dog brought life to my Samoyed and I swear that is why we got another 2 years from her.

Just give Rufus lots of love and do what is best for him. He knows he is loved by you all.

 

[BrerMama]

I am sure that Rufus would want you to go on your trip, and not feel guilty because you made a decision months ago. You couldn't predict what would happen now. I know how hard it is -- my dog had kidney failure as well -- and it can be long and emotional. I hope you find peace with all that is happening.

 

[nowellsl]

 

[mphalens]

Oh D~

I am so so sorry. I totally understand your thoughts about wanting to cancel the trip, but I know Rufus doesn't hold it against you, nor should you hold it against yourself. The trip might turn into a beautiful bonding time with you and your girls - grief has a funny way of working like that sometimes

I wish I had better words to make the pain stop. Just know I'm here if you need to chat.

 

[mommy2mrb]

Sorry you all have to go through this D

we had to put our dog Tasha down when she was 14 due to a brain tumor, I was out of the house by then, but still was hard.

Rufus wouldn't want you to cancel your trip, understand you don't want to go though....when does your vet come back? maybe he can help you with what to do. You shouldn't feel guilty, you didn't know he was going to get sick when you planned the trip.

Wish I could give you a real hug, know we are all here for you my friend

 

[NiniMorris]

This is one of those times when I wish I had magical powers. Or at least magical words.

We were there two years ago when we lost our 12 year old German Shepherd, the Sunday before Christmas. We love our furbabies as much as if we had given birth to them.


Hugs.....

Nini

 

[dianemom2]

I totally understand what you are going through. Our little Bear died three years ago during surgery. He was our third child. Our girls were so sad! I am sure that Rufus wouldn't want you to cancel your trip. It is probably a good way to ease the pain for your family. About 2 months after Bear passed away we got Trinket and we all just adore her. She is our new baby and we do spoil her rotten. I hope that Rufus isn't in too much pain and things go easy for him.

 

[VBAndrea]

D~ please don't feel any guilt over your trip or that you can't invest anything to save Rufus. No medical treatment will save him -- it may prolong his life, but he will still have the renal failure.

We invested a lot of $$$ into one of our cats and she died in less than a week even with treatment.

We only did a diet change for another cat and she lasted at least two more months.

My sister's dog lasted 6 months without treatment (but they caught his earlier and he never got *that* sick).

Sometimes all the invasive treatments and hospital stays are more than the animal can take. I think is just a way of saying that Rufus' place right now is in your home with the people he loves. He knows you all have given him a wonderful life. You are doing the right thing by giving Rufus all your love right now, and I agree, Rufus wants those two girls and you to enjoy a vacation.

 

[tinkbell13]

D~ please don't feel any guilt over your trip or that you can't invest anything to save Rufus. No medical treatment will save him -- it may prolong his life, but he will still have the renal failure.

We invested a lot of $$$ into one of our cats and she died in less than a week even with treatment.

We only did a diet change for another cat and she lasted at least two more months.

My sister's dog lasted 6 months without treatment (but they caught his earlier and he never got *that* sick).

Sometimes all the invasive treatments and hospital stays are more than the animal can take. I think is just a way of saying that Rufus' place right now is in your home with the people he loves. He knows you all have given him a wonderful life. You are doing the right thing by giving Rufus all your love right now, and I agree, Rufus wants those two girls and you to enjoy a vacation.

Andrea has very eloquently put into words the thoughts that are in my head but don't seem to come out 'on paper' very well. Every time you feel guilty about Rufus, please re-read the comments above.

 

[DMGeurts]

Thank you everyone, for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. And thank you for understanding that Ruf may be a dog, but he is truly a family member - and our hearts are just breaking.

I don't know what to say to all of you to tell you how much I appreciate your support.

Ruf is still really tired... He perked up when our neighbor came over today - he loves her so much - if ever a dog could have a crush on a human, Ruf has a crush on Kristin... He was so happy that she came - and it was so nice to see his old self if only for a few minutes. He tired quickly and went to lay down again.

I was able to get him to take half a vitamin B tablet - it's supposed to help his apptetite. Other than that, he has not eaten all day. He did drink quite a bit of water a bit ago. There were a couple of times today that his back legs came out from under him, that is something that is very new and really took me by surprise.

I went up to my sewing room today, I was able to get my pirate applique cut out, but my heart wasn't in it... So, I came down stairs to be with Ruf.

Again, thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and support.

D~

 

[DisneyTeacher01]

D~ I have no words for you...just prayers and hugs

~Jennifer

 

[oopsiDAISY]

D~ I wanted to stop over here to tell you I am so sorry for what you and your family are going through right now. I can't pretend to understand, we never had pets growing up. But I have seen so many loved ones lose a beloved family pet to know that you still grieve so much. You and your family and Rufus will be in my prayers this weekend.

 

[DMGeurts]

Not much to update.

Ruf is still here and still sleepy. No energy to do anything. Although, Josh did manage to get him to go outside last night... One of Ruf's favorite things is to run the chain link fence - up and down - to scratch his back. He'll walk it for hours if we'd let him... Josh said that last night, he did a few laps on his own, so that was nice, he hasn't done that in a few days.

We are just doing everything we possibly can to make sure he knows that he is loved.

We are also doing everything we can to try to get him to eat something. Josh snuck him a couple of boring table scraps from dinner last night. He'll sit there and beg like he is starving (he is), but he'll barely eat anything... It just makes me so upset, and I have a very hard time not being angry at someone because Ruf does not deserve to suffer - he has been so good and loyal to us for so many years, that I am just so angry at the unfairness of it all. And I just don't know what to do.

My heart is still not in our trip at all, nor is it in my sewing. To be honest, Ruf was my sewing buddy... He always came up to my sewing room with me, and would lay under which ever machine I wasn't on (sometimes, even laying on the pedal and running it) - the sound of my machines would put him to sleep and he would lay there for hours with me, and I would talk to him and annoy him... Now, I go up there and wait for him to join me - and he doesn't. It just breaks my heart. I have stuff I need to get done for the trip, and I just have no ambition to do so. I have no desire to sit there and sew when our dog is dying and I am helpless to save him.

I did manage to go to town yesterday and get my hair cut. Ruf isn't so bad at the moment, that I can't leave him for an hour or so. I figured he will only get worse and it will get harder and harder for me to leave him - so I better get my hair cut while I can. I went to my normal stylist and asked for my normal cut - I didn't have the ambition to do anything more fun.

Sorry everything I write is so depressing.

D~

 

[blessedmom4]

Dearest D~,
As I told you on our thread, there truly aren't words to help ease the pain and grief you are already feeling. You DO have a right to be angry, life isn’t fair and what was supposed to have been an exciting, magical countdown has turned in to one of worry, fear, grief and the unknown and THAT ISN’T RIGHT. Again I have so much I want to say; however, I don’t want to overstep my bounds and I really don’t think you need to hear it right now. Every single one of us who post on this thread have felt the excitement, elation and jubilation at each triumphtive milestone you met and wonderful creation you designed. I am repeating myself; however, it bears repeating: It will be an amazing time of bonding and love for you and your gorgeous daughters and Rufus, who has brought your family so much joy, laughter and strength will want you to have the time of your lives. All he wants is for HIS family to be happy, he loves you so...I know it is tough, but give him that gift joyfully. I hope it helps to know you have so many supporters and fans. My prayers continue for your peace and comfort and Rufus to enjoy being surrounded by the love you all so freely give him.
Love and Blessings,
Judy

To those who read here, I know often we don't know what to say. Having been in a life and death situation with our own beloved dog (our family member) just last month, I will say that just signing in to say I am thinking of you or praying for you meant a great deal to me. I KNOW D~ appreciates these words of comfort.