Barrett 11/08 - 4/09

[OstaraK9]

This is a really hard one for me.. I've had to make the decision before to put down a dog who had a questionable temperament.. It was a hard decision but I was prepared..

This I was not prepared for..

A few weeks ago we lost our puppy Barrett...It started out with her wheezing and hacking after playing too roughly and she seemed to maybe have just over done it so she got to rest.. I originally thought maybe she might just be making breathing noise like is common in certain lines (1 line in particular that was in her pedigree) but After a few days we decided to take her to a vet because she wasn't getting better.. I drove her to the vet and he looked her over.. listened to her chest and looked down her throat and asked allot of questions .. Her only visible problem was wheezing and occasional coughing.. The vet said her throat was red and irritated but couldn't find anything else to be wrong with her. He gave me amoxicillin and told me to give it to her twice a day for a week and bring her back if she didn't improve.. Well I did and at the end of the week she hadn't improved.. She had actually gotten worse.. Thinking she may have a bad case of "Kennel Cough" or something of the like we drove her to Fillmore to our "regular" vet who's also a Pit Bull breeder whom we trust implicitly... He looked her over and she was just being her cute puppy self but wasn't wheezing or making any coughing noise at all.. (Of course at the crucial time she has to act perfectly healthy!) so he asked us to play with her and get her riled up to see if he could catch her wheezing and hacking like we were describing to him and telling him she has been doing at home..

Kyle (my boyfriend) puts her on the floor and starts playing with her.. She's hopping around smiling at him and batting at him with her paw and viola! She starts wheezing and hacking.. The vet hears and sees this and guesses she may have a bronchial infection of some sort but honestly couldn't know exactly what without tests.. I ask about an X-ray and he says he certainly wouldn't talk me out of taking an x-ray to rule out anything being in her lungs even though he didn't hear anything in there..

So they take her into the x-ray room and I excuse myself to go to the restroom (It was a 2hr drive to get to that vet).. When I get out of the restroom and walk back to the x-ray room I find Barrett on the floor surrounded by her own bloody vomit, Kyle soothing her and the vet holding an oxygen mask over her face.. Apparently when they went to put her on her side she panicked and struggled.. Stopped breathing.. turned blue (literally) and vomited blood... Her health went down hill from there.. for the next couple hours the vet gave her shots of epinephrine to keep her breathing and other stuff trying to stabilize her enough to get her on the table.. It was no use.. She began to bleed into her lungs and went from wheezing to gurgling as the blood seeped into her little baby lungs.. seeing that the vet was doing all he could just to keep her alive and breathing and seeing her crashing before our eyes we made the decision to let her die as comfortably as we could provide for her..


It was a very heartbreaking thing to have to see and be a part of.. The vet said that her signs all pointed to some sort of poison but we can't justify that theory as all our other dogs are fine and there was nothing around the house that they could have gotten into.. Also she was sick or appeared sick (wheezing and coughing) for a week or two before hand.. but the crash at the vets office was sudden and progressed extremely fast.. We never imagined that wheezing problem she had was going to turn into what it did.. I never thought that trip to the vet was going to turn into a trip home without our baby girl

I've spend a couple weeks trying to blame this on myself.. Trying to figure out what we could have done different or what we didn't do that we should have and I just can't figure out what happened to my baby girl.. I still feel like I've failed her.

We're going to miss you Barrett...

Love your animals.. Love your friends. Love your family... Sometimes life throws you something unexpected and you may not have them to love tomorrow.

[Patch O' Pits]

I my gosh! That is so awful! I'm so very sorry for your loss. Hugs to you. Do not blame yourself. I'm sure you did your best and you could not have known this would happen

My condolences to you and your family. Big hugs!

Run Hard at the Rainbow Bridge sweet baby!

[XDogs]

I am so sorry for the sudden loss of your little one :(

[MSK]

Oh wow thats horrible.... Sorry for your loss......

[TexasLNK9s]

I know how u feel and then some. I have lost 2 great ones in a months time. Self blaming is natural I guess. They wouldn't want you to blame yourself. Just by remembering her she will live on forever. I brought Rocko and Tara home and buried them outside my bedroom window and talk to them all the time. Someday when it our time to go we will be reunited with our best friends.

[Jarla]

Ostara, I'm so sorry. What a heartbreaking experience for you all.
We all know Barrett had the best love and care, and most important, young Barrett knew this better than anyone.
You and your family are in my thoughts.
Blessed be.

[TitletownAST]

Pepper, I'm so sorry to hear this. I'm sure you did everything possible for little Barrett.

Jenna

[OstaraK9]

Thank you everyone..

Barrett is home.. We have her ashes in a beautiful engraved cedar box in the china cabinet.. We talk to her often

[Beth L]

I am so sorry to hear about your beautiful girlie. You did the right thing though.
I do not think there was 1 other thing you could have done.

I have had to make that choice a couple times now and it is never easy.

She will live on in your heart and your memories till you meet again.