A Turn For The Worse

This was Sketch, just this weekend, when we went on a picknick in the park nearby here. It's surprising how fast she has gone down hill in just a few days. When this picture was taken she seemed happy and interested in everything going on around her. She wasn't walking well, that's true. but she still was like the old Sketch in most ways.

The tumor on her rear left leg has gotten bigger, and she's had a hard time moving around with three legs, but in just the last couple days she has gotten much worse. She doesn't want to get up at all. She doesn't even get up when one of us comes in the house, which is very unusual. She is obviously in more pain, even though we have increased her pain medication more than once. She is now on two different kinds.

It became obvious to us yesterday that she is trying to tell us that it's time. We didn't know when or how we could make this decision, but there is really no question now. We made the appointment for tomorrow afternoon. I stayed home from work today because I didn't want her to be alone on her last day. She's only gotten up once, the entire day, and that with great difficulty.

Her breeder, the woman that Sketch spent the first couple of years of her life with, is coming tomorrow to be with her and us. She will be bringing Sketch's son Heartman to stay with us for a while, since this will be the first time we've been married that we haven't had a Wolfhound with us. Sketch will be the thrid Wolfhound in three years that we've lost.