It has been one week since Kolby passed.
When I woke on Monday May 14th Kolby was laying by the front door sleeping. He seemed to be comfortable after the difficulty he had the previous night and I was hoping that he would have a better day.
However as I went about my morning routine Kolby woke and started to have some difficulty breathing again. It was a little stuffy in the house which didn’t help and Kolby wanted to go outside. Kolby liked going outside in the mornings, he would lay on the cool cement and relax, sometimes he would even fall back to sleep. Kolby enjoyed the cool morning air and always looked very peaceful when he was outside in the morning. Kolby would stay outside until the sun crested the horizon but as soon as the sun started to shine on Kolby he would bark to be let back into the house.
On the morning of Monday May 14th Kolby was sleeping by the gate when I was ready to leave for work. Usually Kolby would come inside before I left but he was sound asleep and didn’t move when I opened the door. My heart sank a little when I looked at Kolby because he did not look peaceful. Kolby looked tired and unhappy. Even though Kolby was sleeping his brow seemed to be furrowed with an expression of slight discomfort. I said goodbye from the door and left for work.
My wife called me in the early afternoon to say that Kolby was having a really rough day and she felt he needed to go to the doctor. Without hesitation I finished what I was doing and left work as quickly as possible. I arrived home around 2pm or so and Kolby was having a lot of difficulty breathing. We quickly got Kolby dressed in his collar and harness and had the kids say goodbye. We brought Kolby out to the car and he had trouble getting into the back seat of the car. Once in the car Kolby’s legs quivered and he half sat, half fell to the seat. Kolby looked up at me with a pained expression, his eyes said to me, “I’m tired”.
Everything happened so quickly that I didn’t really have time to stop and consider that this might be the last time we saw Kolby at home. I went into the house and rocked our youngest son to sleep so he could nap while I waited for a call from my wife from the vet’s office. Not more than an hour after she left my wife called to confirm our worst fear, Kolby was in pain and suffering. The vet was not optimistic and estimated that Kolby had a very short amount of time left before the pain and suffering grew worse.
We were faced with a hard choice, subject Kolby to invasive emergency procedures that most likely included surgery for what was an uncertain outcome at best, or ease Kolby’s pain and allow him the dignity of a peaceful death. Luckily my wife and I had previously discussed at length the fact that we did not want Kolby to suffer or be in pain. Given Kolby’s age and deteriorating health we felt that when the time came, the best option would be to make Kolby as comfortable as possible and let him die in peace.
As painful as the decision was, we knew that it was time to say goodbye to Kolby. I packed the kids in the car, went and pulled my oldest daughter out of school and drove to the vet’s office. While driving I explained to the children that Kolby was very sick and we were going to say goodbye tom Kolby because it was time for Kolby to go to heaven.
When we arrived at the vet’s office we quickly went to the room where my wife was waiting with Kolby. Kolby was laying on his left side up against the wall. Kolby was laying on a towel and there was a blanket covering part of his back legs. The vet had given Kolby a mild sedative to relax his breathing so when we arrived Kolby was pretty sleepy and his breathing had calmed. Kolby’s eyes opened when we came in and he raised his head as if to say hello.
We explained to the children that it was time to say goodbye to Kolby and we had each of them give Kolby a hug and kiss goodbye. My daughters were all understandably upset but what broke my heart was my 2 year old son. With my son in my lap I said “It’s time to say goodbye to Kolby” my son looked up at me with a confused look. I repeated “It’s time to say goodbye to Kolby” and my son’s face scrunched up, his lower lip pouted out and he began to cry. Even though he can’t talk yet he understood what was happening.
Once the children left the room my wife and I took turns hugging and kissing Kolby. We spoke to Kolby and thanked him for all of the wonderful years we spent together and the memories we shared. I snuggled my head up to Kolby one last time and felt his soft fur on my face. After we spent as much time as we felt we could, we called the vet into the room.
The vet quickly explained the procedure and once we were ready she gave Kolby the injection. I watched the needle enter Kolby’s arm. My wife and I continued to talk to Kolby and pet him for several minutes until the vet confirmed that his heart had stopped and he was gone. Kolby’s death was as peaceful as it possibly could have been and we were there until the very end. We waited in the room until one of the staff came in and we said our final goodbye to Kolby.
Kolby, thank you for being such an important part of our lives. We love you dearly and will miss you. You will always be in our hearts. Rest in peace.
