July 13, 2023 was very sad day for the Stinkers, as we said goodbye to our wonderful dogs Stella and Zeus.
Stella visited the vet around eight months ago for a general “old lady” checkup because she was losing weight. When I mentioned her bad teeth, the vet said that her teeth probably weren’t a concern and that we should begin thinking of palliative care. Stella continued to lose weight. She had a good appetite, but was super skinny. Stella panted a lot and paced a lot, which is generally a sign of pain or malaise. Saying goodby to Stella was an incredibly difficult decision for me. Even though she paced and panted, she ate, came for pets, and had somewhat of of clue as to her surroundings. Greg and I often discussed quality of life and what quality of life means. In the end, we decided that her quality of life wasn’t good and decided to end her suffering. Stella was 14.
Zeus, like Stella, had also visited the vet several times since we’ve been in Whitehorse, and was also losing weight. He was eating on and off, and seemed to be in pain (?). Also like Stella, the decision to say goodbye to Zeus was incredibly difficult. Zeus often yelled/howled in the night, and in the last month the tome of his yelling/howling changed so that it sounded like he was in discomfort. He also had episodes of not being able to stand up by himself. I struggled with deciding if he was in pain and if he was having a poor quality of life. Greg and I often discussed quality of life and what quality of life means. In the end, we decided that his quality of life wasn’t good. Zeus was 16.
Both Stella and Zeus were working sled dogs that moved inside when they didn’t want to run anymore. As sled dogs they pulled me for thousands of miles, Stella as a lead dog (later in life) and Zeus as a team dog or wheel dog. As pet dogs they were a little shy, especially Zeus, but loved being part of the family.
Run free my beautiful friends.