Where to
begin -- 10 years ago I was
faced with putting my beloved
Benson to a sleep - a beautiful
Rottweiler who I had for 9
years. Over one weekend he
lost so much weight and a later
x-ray revealed lung cancer.
He showed no real signs except
shedding fur excessively some
months before hand. This was a
day we will never forget. I
later spoke to my dogs breeder
and she told me of a lovely
4-month old Rottweiler puppy
whose name was Tane. I thought
who would name a dog Tane -- we
just wanted Benson back.
Both dogs had the same day and
month of birth -- July 29th. We
had to take Tane. For the last
ten years we have had the
enjoyment of Tane. His beautiful
naughty nature - he would hog
the bed and blankets and snore
so that you would wake him just
so you could get some sleep.
Two years ago
he displayed problems with his
left leg when walking. A
vet put him on
Metacam, his condition
worsened and we took him to
another vet who said he had
spinal problems and needed an
operation with only a 30% chance
of success. We opted out and got
another opinion, the Metacam was
actually making him worse. We
took him off the Metacam. The
vet said he had an arthritic
shoulder and put him on 60kg
glucosamine. We did this,
plus a friend had told us of Devils
Claw, he went from near
death to acting like a young
pup. Six months ago he had his
vaccination and his leg was
again acting up with excessive
limping. The vet said weight and
arthritis, and that the tight
feeling around his shoulder was
just muscle. He gave us
Previcox. The
improvements were great but
short lived so we continued with
massage and herbal treatment.
Just over a month ago we noticed
he was drinking excessively and
when he urinated it was one huge
output.
His
condition over the last week got
worse -- his shoulder got
stiffer and his leg became lame
the shoulder become bigger and
we had to physically get him and
take him to the toilet. I opted
for another vet who took one
look and said he had cancer.
We knew we had done everything
and that to minimize pain.
We had to put him to sleep.
We said our goodbyes and it
broke our hearts. Tane has left
us with some fantastic memories
that we will cherish. I
know when he lay on the vet
table, he was ready to go and it
was time for us to give him
peace. We were with him
and he was not alone. His
was my baby, and to lose him
hurts, the unconditional love
that I got was a blessing and I
thank God for having him in my
life. We will miss him dearly.
Monique
Rottweiler
Health Foundation Mission Statement
