RIP Chloe Bell

My beloved, 17 year old Chloe passed away this past Friday. Actually, we put her down. It was the sadest day. We had Chloe for 13 years. She was such a good companion to us. We had to make the VERY difficult decision to put her down. She couldn't see anything but shadow. She couldn't control her bathroom habits at all. She recently has started walking in a circle...always to the right. She couldn't be outside any longer than 5 mins. when it is hotter than 80 degrees outside. Steve accidently left her out there for about 20 minutes a couple of weeks ago and opened the back door and she was sitting there crying and couldn't use her back legs at all. Then she comes in and goes directly to the water, but is so disoriented that she would walk in the water and just stand in it not realizing it. She in general was totally disoriented. I think the breaking point for us was that Thurs. morning Steve found her laying in her own urine on the living room wood floor. There were some internal issues as well with her kidney and heart. What kind of life was she living? Not a very kind one. She would poop on the floor and walk in circles in it and would spread it all over the floor and be all over her as well. It just wasn't right to allow her to keep living that way.

We took her to the vet on Friday knowing that it would be time to put her down. The vet confirmed our fears. There is medication that can help her to walk in a straight line and help with the dizziness. But because of how disoriented she was, it wouldn't do a lot of good. So we put her down. Chloe has given us 13 years of joy and happiness, we wanted the end of her life to be with dignity. She deserved that.

We were there with her when she died. The vet and vet techs were very kind. We decided to have her seperately cremated, and they will put her remains in a wood box with her name on it. She will be back home one day this week.

Below are some pictures of her last day with us.
The last year or more she hasn't been able to jump. So we had a bed for her in the living room so she would be comfortable while being in the same room with us. She used to be a couch dog. But her old bones wouldn't allow her to jump up on it anymore.



Peyton has handeled it ok. I explained to her that Chloe was going to be with God and she would always be in our hearts. So before she and I left the house to take her to Andi's, I told her she might want to say goodbye to Chloe and give her a kiss. She did and told Chloe she loved her. She cried for a minute, but then was ok. She has cried a few more times since, but mainly asks questions about it. She keeps saying "I can't believe Chloe is never coming back". "Will Chloe be with God forever?" "I sure am going to miss Chloe". Heartbreaking. ;(

This picture kind of stinks. Because Chloe can't see anything but shadows, she didn't like to be picked up or messed with. She would see a shadow coming at her and it would scare her. So I was trying to get a picture with her and Peyton, but Chloe didn't like Peyton holding her.

We miss our Chloe. I think Murray misses her too. He seems lonely or sad. We have been giving him some extra attention though.

Thank you, Chloe, for the precious 13 years we all had together. Thank you for the unconditional love you always gave. Rest in eternal peace, sweet girl. You were loved!