My letter for Ace...

I have been meaning to write you but I just didn’t know what to say. Its about Ace. He isn’t doing very well right now. It started a few months ago when we took him in to see the Vet for a check up. She put him on a senior dog food due to his age. Over the next few months he lost quite a bit of weight. A few weeks ago he was walking on our hardwood floor and slipped and crashed into a book case. He let out a yelp and from that point on seemed to be limping and not putting any weight onto his left hind leg. We took him to the Vet once again and they took x-rays and did some blood work. The x-rays showed he had a torn ligament in his knee that would require surgery to fully heal. The blood work revealed that his protein levels were extremely low (which could have caused his knees to be extra weak) and that he could possibly have liver cancer. After that visit the Vet prescribed some pain killers and some medicine to help get his protein levels up. We also switched him to a regular dog food and started feeding him more. He seemed on the road to recovery. He ate his food, , he gained some weight back and he would walk around and try to jump up and play…. Just as he has always….he would just limp on his bad leg but he would put a little weight on it.

Then yesterday, he simply wouldn’t get up. I was finally able to get him to stand, but he wouldn’t put any weight on his bad leg. We quickly took him to the Vet and it seems there isn’t much we can do for him, the next step we can take is doing another x-ray and then an ultrasound to determine if his liver has cancer or not….but that would only lead to surgery or chemo-therapy, neither of which we are prepared to do…financially or emotionally. I am sorry to say that the next step we will have to take is to let him go. He appears to be great pain by the way his teeth chatter….and you can almost see it in his eyes. I am completely heartbroken by this. No amount of words can describe what I am feeling. I wish to God Ace didn’t have to go through this pain and I wish I had the means to make it cease, but sadly, I do not.

Ace has been my best friend for a long time now; he has always managed to make me smile every time I see him. If you can look past his licking addiction, he really is the perfect dog. Gentle with kids, protective of his family and domain, always willing to play ball and let’s not forget his most favorite thing….going for a walk. Don’t let him see the leash or even mention the word ‘walk’ or he will be all over you and you will have no choice but to take him out.

The final decision has not been made yet, and there is still a small chance that he will recover from this injury and live for a long time still. I still have hope and I will still do all I can for him.