Rusty is a serious fighter! Poor little guy is not doing well right now. I am hesitant to blog about this but I want to, just for my own memories.
Rusty turned 15 last month and the average life expectancy for labs is about 10-12 years. I don't know how he has managed to make it this long, other than he has always been such a happy guy. I don't think he wants to go anywhere because he's afraid he might miss out on something!
Our family has always had dogs, I can't remember a day in my life when we didn't have a dog, but Rusty is by far the most special. Anyone that knows Rusty loves him and understands that he is totally not your average dog! I swear he is human. Two years ago in Arizona, he was diagnosed with diabetes and the vet told us we needed to put him down. He said Rusty wouldn't make it, we would never be able to regulate his diabetes and he would probably go blind. Well two years later, Rusty never has gone blind and his diabetes has been totally fine! He obviously struggles to walk a little bit (he's 105 in human years!) but other than that, he is still a bottomless pit and acts like the same puppy he was 15 years ago!
The day before I came home last week, Rusty started to go downhill. He is really struggling to get up and his diabetes seems to be all out of whack. He has been to the vet 3-4 times in the last week and this morning he couldn't even move. I woke up to my dad telling me he thought it was time for us to take him to the vet and have him put down. I can't even express how emotional this whole day has been. We have all cried all day. The saddest is seeing my dad so emotional because that is definitely not a regular occurrence!
We took Rusty in again this morning and he seemed to be doing much better a few hours later. He is seeing an internal medicine specialist tomorrow to see what can be done. He seems to be doing pretty well tonight so hopefully it will be good news.
A little morbid, I know, but we wanted to take some pictures of Rusty this morning. They are pretty scary pictures of me since we had been crying all morning but I want to make sure I document some of these memories.
(Disclaimer: I have been crying for hours in this picture! And I have ZERO makeup on....so sorry! I threw some lipstick on for the picture but it obviously did not help matters :)
After the vet, my dad wanted to take Rusty to the river to swim. There is nothing Rusty loves more in life than swimming! Roxy had so much fun too! That dog is not prissy. She was a crazy woman running and splashing through the water like a banshee! Really funny!
Everybody say a prayer for Rusty!
4 comments:
How sad. I found the picture frame with the picture of me and rusty you gave me one time when I watched Rusty the other day and it has been sitting on my dresser ever since! I will definitely keep him in my prayers!
gosh, I am crying:( I can't even imagine what you are going through. I dread the day that I have to deal with that. I read Marley and Me and that just made me lose it. why can't dogs live forever? or at least as long as humans?
Poor Rusty!!! I am sad! I agree that he shouldn't suffer though. He was such a good boyfriend :-) I will def say a prayer for him! Also, on a lighter note, those pics of Roxy made me laugh out loud for 10 minutes!!!!!
hey hilarry! sad about your dog. I want to interview you for a silly story about the Arizona heat. (Need someone funny.) But I don't have your number! Can you text or email me? jaimee.rose@arizonarepublic.com
thanks chica!
j
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