A bit of bad news to report. Nikolai, our beagle, died tonight. He's been having some serious pain in his back left leg for several weeks now. We've been increasing the dosage of pain meds over the past week or two, but it just hasn't had any effect. It turns out he had bone cancer, which according to the doctor is one of the excruciatingly painful forms of cancer for dogs. Tonight he couldn't stand up, couldn't lay down, couldn't poop -- he was just in agony. We took him to a veterinary emergency room about 11:30 tonight and the doctors said there just wasn't anything more they could do for him -- he was already on the maximum dose and it wasn't having any effect at all. They brought him back to me, and he didn't even wag his tail or lift his head up to see me because he was hurting so bad, so I knew it was time. He died at 12:45 AM. I held him and told him everyone loved him right up until the end.
He was 14, so he had a good long run with us. He's been with us a long time, a lot longer than anyone thought he would (especially since he was a purebred, which don't live as long -- he was also the runt of the litter). He was a very good boy, the world's smartest beagle. We're going to tell the girls in the morning and will call my son tomorrow afternoon.
Sigh.
3 comments:
So sorry to hear that, Keith. He's in doggie heaven now.
Hi Kilo,
Not sure if you remember me; I took your second semester physics class at ASU West in the summer of 06. I really enjoyed your class, and you were one of the professors that I always remembered fondly, so I got curious as to how you were doing so I thought I'd look you up and that led me to your blog. I just wanted to say I'm sorry to hear about your dog, and I hope you're doing better. I'm looking forward to reading more of your writing.
Hope all is well,
Ravi Savajiyani
Hi Ravi -
Good to hear from you! Yeah, we're all doing fine. I'm gearing up to teach that class again this summer as well, so I'm definitely keeping busy. Keep in touch!
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