Rest Easy, Old Friend

(Click to enlarge)

I lost a very dear, sweet, gentle old friend this afternoon. I had to have my 13 year old yellow Lab Watson put to sleep a few hours ago. I kind of knew that it was going to happen soon, but I still was not prepared for it. He had been in for routine surgery at the vets about two weeks ago (dental cleaning and some benign lumps removed), and he didn't bounce back they way he normally does. He was off and on his food, he seemed very tired easily, and just recently he was whimpering when he got up in the morning. I'd doubled his arthritis meds two weeks ago, and it seemed to have little effect. I took him in to the vet today, and when I realized that the vet seemed agitated, that something serious was wrong. Blood work and X-rays confirmed two maladies, a pancreatic tumor and severe spinal column arthritis. She offered a course of narcotics to alleviate the pain, but I could not put him through that, as it was only a palliative, and would not fix the problem. I held him on a blanket on the floor of the office and wept as he took a last couple of breaths and his head sank to my thigh. We had been together for over ten years. He was a goofy, loud, obnoxious affection hound, often pushing my older Black Lab, Judy out of the way whenever someone was petting her. He was the alpha canine, second only to me in the pack.

Judy knows that something is wrong, but I have no idea if or how it will sink in. She is 14 years old, deaf as a post, and has been slowing down quite a bit over the last two years. I know in my head that her time is coming soon, and I will make the same decision as I did with Watson, but she seems to be as hale and hearty as an arthitic old geriatric can be. She is watching me now, and wags her tail if I glance her way. I think she will miss her pal. I know I will.

Rest easy, Watson. You were always a good boy.