kobe ended his life today.

kobe was euthanized tonight. we know he was blind, we know he had heart disease, we know he was 19 yrs old. his exam and blood work last week did not show too much wrong, just that his albumin was low. but still, he was fading.
bottom line is his body was 19 years old, he most likely was just reaching the end of his days.
i wasn't interested in turning his last few weeks upside down looking for hidden things we weren't going to fix, if kobe was tired and ready to be done, i was ok to let him.
we tried a few non invasive medication things and we tried tempting his failing appetite with a royal buffet of choices. but kobe was tired.

he did not have a crises today...a little bit more tired than usual, he was panting a bit more than normal but both andrea and erin agreed, he was not in distress.
in the end i talked to Dr Loff who had seen him last week, should we be looking further or just let him go? we talked about quality of life, invasive diagnostics, the possibility of end stage cardiac disease or an underlying cancer and what were we hoping to achieve? and at what cost to kobe?

in the end i knew the answer, kobe was 19 years old, he deserved a peaceful passing.
Dr Federici kindly agreed to meet erin and i at the clinic to help kobe pass away without the long trip over to langley.

here is the thing about 19 years of life ending..sometimes it is about patience and waiting and seeing without having everything spelled out as clear as it can be. it is about ensuring no distress as life starts fading but still being prepared to help a life end when that sad time has come.
i am glad that kobe was able to pass from his very long life gently, i am glad he was able to pass knowing that he was well loved.

i am thankful for both Dr Loff and Dr Federici helping us when kobe's time was done.

i am hugely grateful to erin and andrea for keeping a close eye on him and watching.
and i am especially grateful to jamie and daryl who were ready and waiting to offer kobe his very own, loved filled home.

not everything works out the exact way we want it.

kobe was well cared for and kobe was loved and kobe ended his life today.

rest in peace kobe, you were a very good dog.