Angela Law

Brian took Ripley to the vets after work so she could be put to sleep. He stayed with her the whole time, which was nice and not something I could’ve handled. He said things went about as well as they possibly could have and he was impressed by the compassion shown by the staff.

Needless to say, we’re both really sad. Jake on the other hand, is downright cheerful and is annoying the hell out of us both. I guess he’s just too young to understand what is going on.

Rest In Peace, Big Sweet Rip.

I took a sick day today (because I am pretty sick about this) in order to spend one last day with Ripley. After much discussion last night, we came to the conclusion that the best thing to do for Ripley is to have her put to sleep. The poor dog can’t even eat anymore and that is probably her most favorite thing in the world to do (followed by frisbee and ear scratches and eating yellow dogs–none of which she can enjoy at this point). It’s kind of funny, because she still gets excited at mealtimes (old habits die hard, I guess), but then just looks at the food in her bowl and walks away. I guess some people might wait a little longer, but I would prefer to remember her how she’s always been rather than her decline. So, the deed is scheduled for 5:45 today. Brian is going to take her after work because it’s just not something I feel I can do. I still have to talk to our vet. I want to make sure she agrees with the diagnosis. I have to think she will because a lot of it is stuff she already brought up. Even if we had a few thousand dollars to spend on Ripley’s treatment I don’t think we’d do it anyway–I don’t think putting the dog through a lot of pain in order to, at best, reduce her quality of life is a good decision.

At least we had a great summer together. For the past six months, I made a concerted effort to exercise the dogs twice a week. A tired dog is a good dog, they say. We had a lot of fun playing frisbee in the back yard. Even Lizzy now enjoys the game. Of course she is on a tie-out because she won’t stay in the yard, but Ripley has always stayed in the yard. On one particularly beautiful Sunday afternoon (and I’ve got a roll of film to prove it), the dogs and I went out to play frisbee. When we were done it was too nice to go back into the house so we just hung out in the back yard for a while–me in one of the patio chairs, them sniffing around the yard. It’s one of the nicest memories I have of my two current pups.

Brian called a bit ago. I’m not sure of all the test results, but Ripley definitely has a mass in her chest (probably cancer). And she might have some sort of auto-immune disease at work as well. Today’s options were:
1. spend a few thousand $$ for surgery and treatment that might not amount to anything
2. have her euthanized
3. take her home

Brian opted for #3 for now. I’m sure I will need to talk to our vet tomorrow, but things obviously aren’t looking good.

Yesterday, I touched up some spots I missed while painting (painting textured paint is a real pain in the ass) and finished caulking the tub surround. Brian spent the day working on the vanity. Lowe’s also delivered our vanity top and it looked fine. They gave us about a 20% discount so at least we don’t have anything to complain about anymore.

We were hoping to work more today, but Ripley’s condition keeps getting worse. So, we made a decision to take her to a 24-hour animal hospital in Monroeville. Brian left around 2pm and it doesn’t look like he’ll be home anytime soon. He has called a few times with updates, but mostly he has been waiting. Apparently it’s a busy place. They’re going to do some tests and try to come up with a diagnosis (sound familiar?). Then there will be decisions to make depending on what they find. Hopefully I will hear from him soon because the waiting is killing me.