A Short Note Tonight

I added a page about Winston's life that includes around a 100 photos +/- a few. One is at the top of the page called Winston's Story and the other is on the left side under "My Favorite Sites" called Winston's Biography.

I am happy to see at the other hounds adjust quickly to normal life. Heidi has the chair full time now, although Sadie seems to have liked it the past few weeks.

The "twins" are back to demanding being fed on "their time", with threats of Stella howling for food if I don't feed them when they want. Regular feeding times do not matter to them.

My 1st Day Without Winston

First of all I want to thank everyone for their kind comments and emails. The number of them surprised me, yet they made a bad day feel a little better. A friend emailed me last night hoping my day without Winston had not gone too bad, although she knew it would be a tough one. After I sent her a response... she said it would be a great blog post for the readers.

So here is a brief update for my 1st day without Winston.

Before I post that below my divider I need to briefly let you know what changed with Winston and that for some reason after I posted Monday, Winston started going downhill for some unexplainable reason. I'll not go into detail but just list some of the things that told me it was time. I remember on my Monday post that I mentioned at 2:20 that he started whining a lot, with numerous trips outside (3 in an hour), with no results.

• Late Monday night after a lot of hours of sleep - struggles to get up in the sitting position 
• He yelped when I tried to help him   (a sign of a lot of pain)
• Late Monday night turns down an offer of water
• For 17 days he had been guzzling water at every opportunity
• Late Monday night turns down a handful of kibble
• For 11 years and 7 months he never turned down anything to eat .. ever
• Peaceful night of sleeping in bed Monday night - although struggles to lay down
• He was back to using short choppy steps with his front paws to lay down
• At one point stopped and could not lay flat
• Cannot sit up Tuesday morning
• Yelps when I try to help him up as he is struggling to get to his front feet
• Tuesday morning after I carry him to the gated area - with no gate - struggles to lay down
• Tuesday morning struggles to pee and has one very very small piece of poop
• Tuesday morning refuses his breakfast of kibble and water
• I knew from all of the latest changes and the look he gave me Tuesday morning it was time
• I just knew there was nothing else I could do

So here is how my 1st day went without my very best friend. I will add that Wednesday morning has not been any easier. I got 9 hours of solid sleep Tuesday night and feel like I slept 30 minutes. I have two concerned bloodhounds that follow me when I pace around the house and come running when they hear me at my desk.

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This was my email reply to her:

I guess it has gone as expected. It’s been too quiet. Not because Winston was noisy but the bloodhounds haven’t played, stella didn’t howl for lunch and heidi is always quiet. Washed all the Mexican blankets, the dog Coleman sleeping bag and put the barriers away of the gated area … I didn’t want to see it anymore.

Took a shower, shave, a nap, two different walks with the bloodhounds. I looked through all of his photos. I took the last 3 of him this morning. 

I remember how he felt this morning when I held him at the vet, while I talked to him. His coat was so soft. I remember after the sedation shot that he almost finally laid down with my arm under his head to hold him, when he sat back up, refusing to quit and how he finally laid down with his eyes barely open.

I remember after it was all done how the vet tech took his ears, spread them out on the table and she couldn’t stop petting them.

I know it was the best thing for him. I know I made the right decision but like you know and I know from experience, it’s just a hard thing to grasp and get through.

I keep looking back and wondering what the cause was. Was it possible he might have had an infection from losing 4 teeth in 2 days although the vet gave him antibiotics? Did he have a stroke type thing on his spine. Did he hurt his back by doing his normal morning jumping off the bed.? Did Stella accidentally fall or step on him as she ran for the door after waking up?

Then I remember the facts … it happened … he was old … he had a great life … and he was just a great basset hound … that’s it.

So I pet and rub the ears of the other hounds. I talk to them. Hug them and at times I pace the house. I think of him lying down at the vet’s right now to be picked up by the cremation company tomorrow and know they will call me next Wednesday to pick up his ashes.

I still see him wag his tail just like Maggie did .. right before they gave they a shot to sedate them.

Time will take away some of the pain away but some of it will never leave. I’m still sad at times for the basset hound that died 8 months after I moved here in 1997. 

He didn’t want to eat this morning and didn’t. He didn’t take hardly any water this morning, then looked up at me with those sad eyes.

I thought when Bertha died at home while I held her as she tried biting me was the worse I had ever felt … but it’s going to take a long time to get over Winston. He was the best of all the hounds I’ve ever had….the best.

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Here are a couple of photos I took yesterday morning when I got back. Heidi did nothing but her favorite hobby of sleeping. Sadie and Stella put noses to the ground looking for Winston when I came back. They both jumped into the back of the FJ sniffing as I took the dog bed out to return it to the house. They were unsuccessful in their attempts to find him.

eyes closed

Winston Was Put Down This Morning

May 2004 - January 2016

Nothing New But a Good Day For Winston

As you can see from the two photos from Sunday afternoon and then the last two photos from this morning ... the two fields across the highway have had the flooding water disappear at a rapid rate. 

These are from Monday morning showing quite a difference from just a couple of days ago.

Sunday afternoon Sadie and Stella were pretty lazy and laidback, not really enthused about doing anything. They sniffed around a little but nothing exciting nor very far away from the yard. Ten acres to roam and they get three feet from the backyard.

After Winston had a few hours of sleeping on the couch last night, moving from his left to right side without a sound, it was time for one last trip outside. It was still early but I moved him into his gated area, turned off the lights wth the game on tv ... he fell right back to sleep between his sleeping bag and Mexican blanket. The more sleep he gets the better for him.

Heidi decided she also needed to borrow my Marmot sleeping bag and it took just a few minutes before she had maneuvered into her favorite position and hobby ... sleeping. By the time it was the official time to sleep she had crawled out of the oven to enjoy the cooler air inside the bedroom. I don't have the windows even cracked, but it's cool temperatures in there.

We didn't finish watching the NFL game Sunday night. During these times you grab sleep when you can, so it was lights out at 10:30pm and all the hounds had been sleeping soundly by that time for the past hour.

I think if I had not had to get up at 4:48am Winston would have slept even longer. Heidi heard me get up, which started the "domino effect", then Sadie and Stella got up by the time I was able to sneak back to bed with the lights off ... of course Winston sat up from his slumber. So it was a lot of water to quench his thirst and then outside. He is starting to pee in multiple places now, so the walks are longer. I can't tell at times if he just wants to go on a walk or is sniffing for multiple spots.

Today I decided he would go back to the center of my bed, covered with the sleeping bag. Otherwise he would have sat in his gated area in the living room and whined. Once again he slept on each side. This "right side" stuff is very new to him since his back injury. In fact Sunday it might have been the first time he has been able to move to that right side.

Also in bed this morning for the first time I can remember since December 19, he laid on his side stretched out from head to toe with occasional feet pushing against you to gain more room. Only his front feet were doing that. I still do not get any responses when I touch his rear paw pads, yet he was able to stand with my help, just a little bit on his rear legs.

He has only 4 more doses of Prednisone to take and that will finish his 40 tablets. This week's dose is every other day. His next K-Laser treatment is Wednesday morning. I am anxious to see how much better he feels by the time we go. He slept well after breakfast this morning but as Sadie and Stella became more active chewing their bones ... Winston woke up and wants to move like normal. He doesn't know he is hurt because he already has figured out a long time ago his front legs and shoulder works fine and that's all he needs ... at least in his mind.

Stella and Sadie went outside for a quick check on air temperature, animal tracks while they slept and then back inside for some quiet wrestling.

The day was pretty quiet. Winston slept a lot with my loaned sleeping bag. He gets really excited when it's time for lunch. Around 2:20pm today he started whining a lot. We went outside a few times and he walked in that field for the longest time before I came to the realization he didn't want to poop, he just wanted to walk the field like he use to.

When we came back inside, I decided to put him on the couch with Heidi. I wanted to see if that would stop his whining. He doesn't like being confined. Within a minute of sitting him on the couch, he laid down and fell asleep.

With Winston on the couch Sadie decide his sleeping bag on her spot against the wall was the place to be. She has laid there without a blanket for years, when she doesn't want on the furniture.

Nothing new to report today but that's fine. He didn't regress in anything and he can't have a "new" improvement every day. Patience .. Patience .. Patience

The temps were cold here in the "tropics" of Southern Indiana. It said 35° but felt like 0° with no wind.