This is one of the hardest things I’ve had to write. One of our dogs, Buttercup, died today. Although she had grown up long ago I still called her Pup. Coral’s first word was dog and soon after she gave Buttercup the nickname Bubba.
A few years ago Buttercup had a series of incidents with other dogs. Buttercup was a fairly big and very powerful dog and these fights were very scary. She was still a loving and devoted pet but we had to limit her interactions with other dogs. She had always been a fairly nervous dog and I think those scary fights made that even worse.
A little less than a year ago Buttercup started having seizures. The first day that she had them, that we know of, she had three or four. She then had several more over the next weeks and months. We treated her with medication that seemed to help - letting her go several months without a seizure (that we’re aware of) until she had another one a couple of weeks ago.
The seizures themselves were pretty scary - especially if you hadn’t seen a dog seizure before. Buttercup would come out of the seizures confused, disoriented, and scared. She would then have a long period of extreme hyperactivity and anxiety.
Since the seizures started, Buttercup’s overall level of anxiety seemed to increase. She also developed some curious behaviors - nothing scary but just kind of odd. Her balance, which used to be incredible, also seemed to suffer some.
The seizures were unpredictable and scary. While the medication we were giving her seemed to be helping, it was impossible to say that she would never have another seizure. The combination of these seizures, the knowledge that something inside of Buttercup could switch on in certain situations (the dogs fights), and the fact that we have a toddler in the house and a baby on the way was a very big problem. It also seemed that Buttercup’s quality of life was suffering - both directly from the seizures and from the fact that we had to limit her freedom due to the issues with other dogs and the danger of her having a seizure with Coral around.
I do want to point out that Buttercup was a very good family dog. She was devoted to Coral and protective of her. She was very tolerant of Coral’s toddler antics. Coral really enjoyed Buttercup’s company. The excruciating thing was that we couldn’t rely on Buttercup’s normal behavior - and in fact had reason to worry that in some situations Buttercup would not act normally.
We struggled with the idea of trying to find Buttercup another home. We did some research and investigated the options. In the end, it seemed like an unfair course of action for Buttercup. As difficult as she was, and with the problems that she had, she was still very attached to our other dog, Scout, and to our family. Even if we could find someone with a suitable environment for Buttercup, and someone who was willing to take on the costs and burdens of Buttercup’s problems, it seemed cruel to ask Buttercup to leave the only home she has ever known.
Therefore, we made the excruciatingly difficult decision to put her to sleep. I’m sure some people will think we made the wrong decision. I know some people think it was the right decision. I just hope that not many people are ever faced with such a decision because it sucks.
People who know me can probably guess how I’m feeling about this whole situation. While I appreciate the supportive thoughts, I think for a while I’ll be better off just not thinking or talking about it. I’m not sure who exactly reads this blog and I was hesitant to post anything about this, but I talk about our pets fairly regularly and I felt compelled to tell Buttercup’s story. When I’m feeling better about things I will post some stories about the fun times we had with Buttercup - she really was a good dog.
I will always miss you Bubba.
