Sad day at our house

Our poor doggy, Ronan, has had a wicked cough since November.  Someday's it wasn't bad, and other days it was horrible.  I joked that our dog had asthma cuz every time he came in from outside was when his cough was the worst.  In January I thought it was time we had him looked at, to see why he was coughing so much.  We took him in and the vet was really worried about him.  She really wanted to do a chest x-ray, but Trent didn't want to pay the money for it if meds would help him.  So we came home with an antibiotic as well as cough medicine for him.  He did really well while on the meds, but as soon as they were gone his cough came back.  We waited a couple of weeks before we took him in again..  This time we did the x-rays.  The x-ray showed that he had a huge mass of cancer growing on his lungs, and it had spread everywhere.  The mass was about 1/3 the size of his lung, no wonder he was coughing.  The vet told Trent that he'd have a few weeks to a few months, but not to expect him to be around too much longer.  She gave the dog a steroid to help him breath, and it helped a ton. He started eating again, he hadn't eaten much for a few weeks and was loosing weight fast. 

Yesterday we made the worst decision ever.  It's a good thing Trent was home, cuz I couldn't do it.  He decided that it was time to put the dog down.  The last few days have been really rough on Ronan.  He could barely make it up the stairs without having a huge coughing fit, and then he'd just flop down at the top and lay there awhile.  One night I thought he had a heart attack.  We were in bed asleep and I heard him get up, walk a few steps and then he just flopped over, fall to the ground.  I jumped out of bed and flipped on a light and he was just lying on the floor breathing really fast and hard.  Trent picked him up and put him back in his bed, and then in the morning he was just fine.  It was totally weird.  My greatest fear was that the dog would die when Trent wasn't home....I didn't know what to do with him if he had.  But making the choice to put him down was really hard.  I wouldn't do it.  So Trent did. 

Ronan was the perfect dog, seriously he was.  He had unending patience with a toddler who climbed on him, tugged on his ears, pulled his tail, sat on him, jumped on him, and often used him as a ladder to get on top of things.  He took it all with that big smile he had.  Often times rolling over so Hunter could rub his belly instead of sit on him.  He never barked, ever.  He like all other animals; dogs, cats, birds, he didn't seem to mind them at all.  He was such a low energy dog.  As long has he had a bed around he'd just lay there, happy and content to just lay on his bed.  He made the funniest noises in his sleep.  I really wish we could have recorded him, it was so funny.  He hated going for walks.  He would cry as soon as we pulled him out of the garage with a leash on.  He was a whiner, oh my goodness.  Don't leave him outside for too long cuz he will whine.  He also HATED the cold, I had to kick him out the door so he'd use the bathroom during the winter, he hates the cold.  He'd greet anyone with a kiss, he loved people.  I used to joke around that our pitbull was no worth to us if our house was being robbed. He'd look up from his bed, and roll over and go back to sleep, or go give 'em a kiss.

We sure will miss him!  Today Hunter and I ran an errand after taking kids to school.  Hunter walked into the house and went to the dog crate, where Ronan usually was when we weren't home, and looked around.  He then said 'where Ronan doggie?'  He doesn't get it, but the big kids do and they are so sad, especially Carter.  We tell him it's okay to be sad, but not to worry.  Ronan was hurting and now he is not.