The Wrong Kind of Quiet

I always wanted a warm, or a relatively warm December 15th to celebrate Pekoe's birthday. Here in DC that's not a stretch. Over the years there have been days here in which DC has been bitterly cold, or in the 70's. I wanted Pekoe's birthday to fall on a warm day because of some of the things I wanted to do for him. I wanted to take him for a long walk. I wanted wanted to take him somewhere he could splash in the water. I wanted to get him a good steak. Most of all, I wanted to put the top down and take him on a long drive.

Today was such a day. I think it hit 67. Today was a perfect day for Pekoe's birthday. It turned out to be anything but perfect.

Pekoe had been having leg problems. By Saturday night, it had become really tough for him to get up and down stairs. By Sunday evening he was only walking, if you wanted to call it that, on the front legs and rear right leg. On Sunday night, the Vet was obviously closed. I did some research on the net. Turns out dogs can take buffered aspirin. We gave Pekoe the buffered aspirin, along with a peanut butter sandwhich, thinking that he only had a hip dysplasia problem. We put a blanket on him to keep him warm. I slept on the couch next to his bed so he wouldn't try to go up the stairs.

He had slept well. By morning, the swelling seemed to go down a bit. He got up and managed to hobble outside to do his business. We had to help him back in the house because he couldn't make it up the kitchen deck stairs. He ate breakfast and climbed back in his bed.

The Vet called and said they could see him at 10:00am. We used his bed sheet to lift him on to a blanket, and then out of the house and into the car.

From there it was all down hill.

The took a series of x-rays. It wasn't hip dysplasia. Pekoe had a fractured hip. The bone had been weakened by cancer. Further, he wasn't feeling anything in the leg because between the hip fracture had led to break in his sciatic nerve. The doctor went on to say that there was no way to tell ho far or how fast the cancer had spread or was spreading. The only certainty was that Pekoe was dying of bone cancer.

I just hope you don't ever have to make a decision to put your pet down on his birthday.

I live in a quiet neighborhood. I think I have a quiet home. But when I got home it was the wrong kind of quiet. You could always hear Pekoe barking as soon as the car pulled up. It I came in from the garage, I could hear him pacing in the kitchen. I could hear him breathing. I could hear him snoring. And if he wanted to go outside, I could hear him barking.

I sit here now trying to write this blog. Ordinarily, Pekoe would be interrupting me right now to take him on his evening stroll. Now nothing. This is the wrong kind of quiet.

Pekoe the Wonder Dog, December 15, 1996 to December 15, 2008.