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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm crying reading this thread.  We just found out our dog has a cancerous tumor in her nose.  She's 11 years old (maybe 12-13, we adopted her as an adult), so I don't think we are going to do any radiation or surgery.  My DH and I are devastated.  The dog is still acting normally, so it's so hard for me to realize that she might not have much longer to live.

Sending lots of love to your family. [/quote]

Advice for you (and anybody else, actually) that I am really glad I did, and wish I did.  This may not be for everyone.  This is stuff you can/should do now (if you want!).

I am not a hoarder, but I like having a "piece" of my dog with me always.  Of course, when the time comes, I saved my dog's collar and sweater.  But I really treasure the little ziplock with her a fur clipping.  I keep it in my jewelry box.  I wish I had made her paw print, either with an ink pad, or in plaster (they sell little kits, like they do for children).

Just something that helps me feel close to my dogs forever (I have had to go through this 4 times as an adult).  And of course lots of pictures and memories of times together.[/quote]

OP here. Our vet does a plaster paw print with their name on it and it's really sweet.  I've loved looking at it the past few days.  There are pieces of furniture that he lounged on daily (we are those kind of dog people) that I will always imagine him in... so his presence is everywhere in our house.

To the first PP, our dog was diagnosed in February and made it four more months.  The only upside to all of this was that we were able to spoil him absolutely rotten, love on him ten times more than we normally did, let him ride in the car whenever he wanted to, made extra slices of bacon for him... he had a great four months.  We had to put our other dog to sleep two years ago -- only one day after we found out that her tummy bug was actually cancer that had spread throughout her abdomen.  I much prefer this way (having time to spend with them).

The only thing I really struggled with was being worried I wouldn't know when it was "time".  I was out of town for a week around Memorial Day and was really surprised when I came home - I hadn't realized how much weight he had lost because I saw him every day.  Last Saturday night, while snuggling with him on the floor and telling him how much I loved him (and tearing up, like I usually did)... I looked in his eyes and told him that I have no idea when the right time to let him go will be -- and please please give me a sign.  We woke up the next morning and he had left diarrhea all over the basement (he hadn't gone up/down stairs in a couple of months).  He hadn't made a mess in the house since he was a puppy.  He was having trouble that whole day in a way that he really hadn't before... we just knew it was time.

My older kids are having the hardest time (6 and 8).  I felt like I grieved over the past few months.  They knew he was sick but I don't think they really understood that he'd be gone forever soon, despite talking about it.  It's really hard.[/quote]

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