It can be tough. The last dog I had pass was almost 17. She laid down across my feet as usual one evening and died. My daughter had her cremated and her ashes put in a fancy wood box. She is to be buried with me.Jeff, I think those things would have shown up in her blood results but Gary said the tests all come back "normal".
This morning really sucked. My old dog's urine cleared up-- it was almost completely clear which showed she was well-hydrated although she just couldn't seem to stop peeing. I kept her hydrated and had to frequently change puppy pads underneath her. At some point late last night/early this morning she got up and wandered in to the kitchen & fell down. She scraped one of her bed sores & opened it up wide & it was ugly. I carried her back to the hallway & put her on the puppy pads on her memory foam mat & made sure she wasn't on the side with the big wound. I petted her, brushed, her, fed her, and gave her water & pedialyte. She slept for awhile but this morning she got back up & wandered into the kitchen and fell in front of the fridge. I went out to help her & she wouldn't stop yelping. I had promised my mother I'd take her to the vet today so I woke my brother up to help me with her. I had my mother come out and say goodbye to the dog just in case. I went to turn the truck around and put a dog bed on the back seat (so it would be easier to get her in). I could hear her yelping while I was outside. I went back in & my brother was petting her but she wouldn't stop yelping. I put puppy pads on top of the dog bed & my brother wrapped her in a towel & carried her to the truck and set her on it. She got very still once she was on the bed & only tried to sit up once (when I had to come to a stop). She whined a little and was shivering, but for the most part she was quiet. I put the dog bed on the floor at the vet's office and my brother set her on it and we both petted her while we waited for the room to be ready. One of the vet assistants helped me carry the bed into the room to make it easier on her. The vet looked at her & said she was definitely done. I stayed with her & petted her while he gave her an injection to numb her and help her relax so she wouldn't feel anything or be in pain when he had to give the IV shot. She didn't make a sound. I don't know if she was aware of what was going on or if she could even see. She wasn't really responding much to anything once we got her in the truck. We left her body there so we wouldn't have to come back & try to dig a hole for her.
She could be a real pain at times but I'm going to miss her.