EMMA'S FINAL JOURNEY

Saturday, December 5, 2020 ; <sigh> On Thursday Emma had her first two Grand Mal seizures, many hours apart. It was scary as hell to witness them ! When we were awakened in the middle of the night (Thursday to Friday) by her third Grand Mal seizure, Joanne declared “it’s time !”. Emma’s journey “over the Rainbow Bridge” had begun !

My first priority yesterday/Friday morning was to phone the veterinarian’s office for an appointment to complete Emma’s journey ! I’m crying (again !) as I type that. Her appointment for euthanasia is Monday afternoon.

For the last couple of weeks she has been cycling through a repetitive cycle of constipation and diarrhea. For the last few days she has been experiencing urinary incontinence. And now she is having Grand Mal seizures every few hours.

One or both of us is with her most of the time. She seems aware that she is dying. We believe that domesticated animals know when their death is imminent. And for the most part they don’t fight/resist it, but do appreciate the comfort of their people’s attention while they die. We have discovered that we can “stop” her seizures as soon as they begin, with voice and touch stimuli. We talk to her loudly, and stroke her vigorously, as quickly as we become aware of the onset of another seizure, and we succeed in “nipping it in the bud”.

When her seizures begin, her head throws back and she moans loudly. Her spine arches, her legs extend and stiffen, then convulsions begin. At first they lasted about five seconds. Now they continue for ten seconds or more. It seems like an eternity ! ! !

I can’t type any more. My eyes are flooded with tears. My heart is breaking.

< going for our early afternoon long walk >

Monday, December 7, 2020 ; Emma’s suffering ended at 3:40 PM today, about an hour and a half ago. We have just returned from Penticton.

Rest in peace, my little darling.

The last few days have been long and difficult. Emma’s seizures increased in frequency until yesterday when she was having a seizure about every ten or fifteen minutes. Inexplicably, the seizures stopped very early this morning, between 6 AM and 7 AM. At that time her fever diminished, and she resumed drinking water. From early morning she seemed serene … apparently waiting for death.

At 3:30 PM, while we waited in our car, her veterinarian in Penticton took Emma inside and examined her prior to euthanasia. She (the vet) came back to our car with a grim diagnosis/prognosis. There was no hope she could give us for Emma. Emma’s heart was barely beating, her intestines were likely afflicted with cancer, and that cancer had likely metastasized to her brain, contributing to the seizures. That was much worse than we had expected, which was simply that Emma was dying of old age.

Much to our great surprise, the veterinarian invited us into the clinic to be with Emma as she died. We had been steeled for the requirement to wait in the car while Emma was euthanized.

Emma died quickly and peacefully.