I've been struggling so much lately with how to handle my precious Beau. He's almost 10 yrs old now. He's completely blind now. His arthritis is so bad that I can just see, feel, and hear his discomfort. He insists on making the hourly trips up and down the stairs, although it's such a daunting task that he usually ends up falling down the first section and often the second section as well. I just know he's going to break something, and I'm fairly sure he has fractured or twisted his foot already. I have to get up with him every couple hours to take him out to go potty, which usually ends up being a 30 minute process, because he can't find his way back to the door to get back in. I think that the going blind portion of him getting old is what is killing me. It is really difficult to see this massive 116 lb, lug-o-love, boxer running into EVERYTHING. He walks into walls, chairs, furniture, people...
It's hard to determine if he's happy, when every day is a struggle.
He appears to be fine if you just look at him. He looks like a well fed, old man. The grey around his muzzle is very distinguished now. :)
It seems like within my family, we've had to put so many dogs to sleep over the past 5 years (all because of old age, or severe cancer). And it feels as if we, as the loving and somewhat selfish owners, wait til the very last minute of their lives to make that decision. Because we can't bare to let them go.
Beau is particularly hard for me. He's been in my life through some very important changes. In more recent years, he's taken a bit of a back seat to Sean, but he understands, and still gets plenty of love.
So every day, I struggle to determine when will it be time for me to make the tough decision? I'm just not sure.
