trc4941
Super Boxer
We lost our dear Rocco on Jan 31, 2013. Now it has happened again. My sweet honey bear, Dino had to euthanized on August 9th. He would have turned 7 in Sept. It was so horrible. He developed vestibular disease. It came on fast, sudden and so hard. He couldn't straighten out his body. He was in a permanent kidney bean with his head and neck twisted in the other direction. He couldn't walk a straight line. He'd try to go potty and tip over. I had to hold him up so he could do his business.
He had some mild symptoms in the past, where his head would be cocked to the side and he'd have trouble going down stairs - like he had no balance. But he would snap out of it in a couple of days. This time it was so extreme. He could barely walk Wednesday evening, then Thurs morning he wasn't as bad and I took him for our regular early morning walk where he's off his leash most of the time. He ran around with the other dogs pretty normally. When I got home that evening he was bad again. We took him out to go potty and he couldn't stand long enough to go. So we tried again later in the evening. That's when I had to hold him up. He peed for so long. The poor guy was holding it all day. I knew he had to poop so I stayed out with him holding him up as he TRIED to roam around to do his pooping. He finally got into position and then started to tip over. I held him again and he did his business but then fell backwards and stepped in his poop. To walk, he would have to lean against my legs with all of his weight and I'd shuffle along with him. And he would still fall over and roll. Friday morning he wouldn't even attempt to get up. We took him to the vet as soon as they opened. Dino had to be carried into the clinic. The vet said he was sorry but he couldn't tell us anything definite. Sometimes they come out of it, but it usually recurs. You don't know when or for how long. We could tell he was soooooo scared. He didn't know what was happening to him. He would try to fight it by stiffening out. It was just heartbreaking. We made the hardest decision ever. And we are still second guessing ourselves.
Dino had the sweetest soul and the biggest heart of any dog we've ever had or known. I still can't believe he's gone.
He had some mild symptoms in the past, where his head would be cocked to the side and he'd have trouble going down stairs - like he had no balance. But he would snap out of it in a couple of days. This time it was so extreme. He could barely walk Wednesday evening, then Thurs morning he wasn't as bad and I took him for our regular early morning walk where he's off his leash most of the time. He ran around with the other dogs pretty normally. When I got home that evening he was bad again. We took him out to go potty and he couldn't stand long enough to go. So we tried again later in the evening. That's when I had to hold him up. He peed for so long. The poor guy was holding it all day. I knew he had to poop so I stayed out with him holding him up as he TRIED to roam around to do his pooping. He finally got into position and then started to tip over. I held him again and he did his business but then fell backwards and stepped in his poop. To walk, he would have to lean against my legs with all of his weight and I'd shuffle along with him. And he would still fall over and roll. Friday morning he wouldn't even attempt to get up. We took him to the vet as soon as they opened. Dino had to be carried into the clinic. The vet said he was sorry but he couldn't tell us anything definite. Sometimes they come out of it, but it usually recurs. You don't know when or for how long. We could tell he was soooooo scared. He didn't know what was happening to him. He would try to fight it by stiffening out. It was just heartbreaking. We made the hardest decision ever. And we are still second guessing ourselves.
Dino had the sweetest soul and the biggest heart of any dog we've ever had or known. I still can't believe he's gone.
