The morning of March 17th, 2015 at 3:30am, my whole world turned upside down when my husband and I had to rush my dog Zeb to the animal hospital. All of a sudden he couldn’t walk and was very weak. When the nurses let me know that he had cancer and internal bleeding I had felt lost, it all happened so fast. I was willing to do anything to save him. We ended up getting him a blood transfusion to hopefully clot the bleeding, and buy us time. We had no idea when, or how long it would give us. When I picked Zebba up, he was walking again. The next day I laid with him all day and took the week off work to spend time with him.
Then week after, he was back to his normal self. He was eating, begging, howling and just being Zeb. I cant begin to explain the joy it gave me to be able to spend the time with him that I could.
Again, on 4-3-2015 he started to weaken again. On April 4th, I knew that there was nothing that I could do. I contacted Caring Pathways, which was a very hard thing to do, and let them know that I needed their services. Choking with my words, wondering if I should hang up the phone. But, seeing my sweet boy in pain was cutting me like a knife. I made the appointment for later that evening at 9pm so that I could lay with him and let him know how special he was to me, and thanking him for the special 12 years he gave to me.
When the time came, I saw the car pull up and there was a huge knot in my stomach. The moment the Dr walked in, she showed so much sympathy, and made me feel at eased right away. She listened to me and also let me spend as much time with my boy as I wanted. In the end, Zeb went peacefully in my arms, and did look very peaceful when he was gone. The way that she handled the situation was very professional. I would recommend Caring Pathways services to anyone!
In the end, I don’t have my boy, but I know that he was taken good care of. And I thank Caring Pathways for treating Zeb like they knew he meant so much to me. Im glad that I was able to hold him until the end and be by his side, like he was ALWAYS by mine.
Zeb was a one of a kind boy. He had a big impact on many people, and had many visitors during his final days. I had him since he was a baby, and he was a mamas boy for sure. Came with me everywhere. Whether it be to the store, to grandmas, to our cabin in the mountains, to work…he was always by my side, and I know even though he is not here physically, he still will be with me everywhere I go.
Thank you again Caring Pathways.
Sincerely,
Ashley Strimpel Sasse