Goodbye to Diego

Rough day in the household today. It's time for Diego to go. He has been sick with pancreatitis for about 1 1/2 years, and been treated for that with enzymes and prescription food. Several weeks ago, he had an acute bout of pancreatitis, and has been losing weight since. At a vet visit last week, we learned he also has lymphoma. He should weigh about 45 pounds. Last week he weighed 28 pounds. He is about 9 or 10 years old, so "heroic measures" for treatment that, at best, would extend his life another couple of years but would also risk further pancreas problems aren't really viable. So we brought him home and did our best to make him happy and comfortable. I'm pretty sure he has lost more weight over the last week, he looks like a skeleton with fur. In the last three days or so, his legs have been getting weaker and weaker. He can only stand for a minute or two at a time, and then only when I lift him up and put him on his feet. He still enjoys eating canned Mighty Dog food, but he hasn't wanted his prescription food for a couple of weeks. I have to hold him up when he goes to pee, so that his legs don't give out causing him to collapse where he just peed. I missed that fact on Saturday, and his legs actually gave out before he started to pee, so he just lay on the ground and peed.

Because Diego isn't very mobile on his own, we've been able for the last couple of days to have a continuous food dispenser available for the other dogs in the house to eat whenever they feel like it instead of on a schedule. Hopefully none of them will take too much advantage of that and make themselves fat.

Anyway, we have a 1pm appointment with the vet for Diego's final goodbye. That's made it a particularly rough morning, as we try to go about our routine while also knowing we'll be taking him to be put down later. Every little slight is magnified out of proportion.