It was hard to believe that it was the week before Christmas and we were faced with one of the hardest decisions of our lives. Our beloved 17 year-old Aussie had finally reached a point where we knew we had to do something and the whole family was heartbroken. KC had been totally blind for about 2 years and was now almost completely deaf, and slept through most days except to go outside to use the bathroom. But she had done what we had asked of her, she had ""hung on"" until our son got home for Christmas. She was so happy to see him, it was the most animation we'd seen from her in months.
You see he had rescued her 17 years earlier from a trash dumpster that someone had put her in as a very young puppy.
Finding a vet on the Thursday before Christmas who would even consider it was proving a daunting task. Our regular vet had told me that he thought he could perform surgery that would help her (she had mammary tumors) but he couldn't guarantee that she would survive the surgery. He was not interested in putting her down--he was only interested in $1,500 (minimum) surgery for mammary tumors. The problem was the tumors were not the issue, her overall condition was the issue.
I wanted honest answers and honest opinions. This vet told me what I knew in my heart. It was time to let her go. She likely wouldn't not survive the surgery and plus, at 17 years-old why would we put her through this? He said ""You would be doing that for you, not her."" He said ""At this point, she's ready and you need to let her go."" He even cried with us and said ""I don't even know this dog and I am crying. What an indomitable spirit you can see she has.""
We were treated with the utmost kindness and care throughout the entire procedure and when we came back for KC's ashes we were treated again with empathy and kindness.
This vet has my business from now on!
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