So another digression from the planned post which was “more on the money stuff”. I wrote about pets in retirement, as we had found out that dear old Merkin had a fair whack of cancer in his wee body and wouldn’t be lasting very long. So today is the day that I have to take him for the blue injection. Blue you say, yes the fluid they give is a lovely blue colour. How do I know this, well this is the reason for the digression……..
So two or three weeks ago our retriever Charlie had started being a bit fussy with her food. At the time we put it down to her essentially staging a protest as we had put her back on her normal sensitive skin biscuits which I did have to admit looked quite bland. We had to change her biscuits over lockdown as the shop had run out of the bland but apparently good biscuits that we had been giving her over the years.
She still went for walks with us every second day but was still not eating her usual food, which for a retriever was very unusual. So off to the vet we went and did some bloods and an exam but couldn’t find out anything obvious. Next was an ultrasound scan and X-ray (we were well-rehearsed in this process as we had gone through this for Merkin a few weeks before). The bloods came back and showed issues with her gallbladder and liver, with the scan showing the same thing. So off to surgery we went, and she came out of it okay but unfortunately, two days later we got the dreaded early morning phone call to tell us that her vital signs were not good.
So we had to make the very very hard decision, the staff at Massey Vets were amazing. Charlie was in their animal ICU and they had music for her, sent us photos of her looking comfortable after her surgery, photos of her having cuddles with the staff as well as regular updates. They also gave you all potential outcomes (which for dear Charlie were all bad). We visited Charlie and she became quite agitated and it looked as if she was trying to get up to come home with us, it was heartbreaking.
So that’s how I know about the colour of the injection. We are okay with that. Our dear furry family members have been part of our lives for 11 and 14 years and we don’t want them suffering any more pain coupled with a quickly diminishing quality of life. We know that they have had good times and lives with us, so that does in some small part go towards easing the gaping hole that they do leave in our lives.
A few cool photos of Charlie and Merkin 😎
Next time……..
More on the money stuff and what have I actually completed from my checklist.