Latte Dog, 1995 - 2010

Originally posted to RohJuh.com on Sep 28, 2010.

Today was a very sad day as Judy and I made the heart-breaking decision to put Latte to sleep. As many of you may know, Latte’s health has been steadily declining for the last year or two. She was originally diagnosed with some kind of disc compression/degeneration issue which affected the nerves running to the rear part of her body. This caused her rear legs to become weaker, and she would often drag her rear legs when she walked. What was worse, her condition meant that she had less and less control over urinary and bowel functions (we’ve had Latte in diapers for the last 6 months or so which, believe me, is definitely not fun).

When Latte was first diagnosed with the problem, the vet prescribed steroids which were actually quite effective for several months (a side effect was that it ratcheted up Latte’s metabolism – she was always hungry!). Unfortunately, the steroids eventually began to lose their efficacy. We recently upped her steroid dosage by 50% which improved things for a few weeks, but her deteriorating condition soon negated any benefits of the higher steroid dosage. Latte’s leg dragging had gotten so bad that the nails in her rear legs had almost completely worn away (which I discovered one day after finding red streaks all over our carpet).

We decided to both be with Latte during her final moments. Latte gets very stressed out when she’s with strangers so we wanted to make sure she felt as comfortable as possible. The process is very humane. The vet first gives Latte a sedative shot which basically makes her slowly fall asleep. The second shot is the one that causes her bodily functions to shut down, and it works very quickly – within seconds after the second shot was administered, we knew that Latte was gone.

I have had several dogs throughout my life, but Latte was definitely the one I grew most attached to and she was the only one that ever had to be put down. This was quite possibly the saddest moment of my life, and Judy’s as well. It was a very tough decision, but we ultimately felt it was the right thing to do. Latte lived a happy and full 15 years which is quite a long time for a Cocker Spaniel. Judy and I have many fond memories of Latte and will always cherish them. Latte Cocker Spaniel Dog, aka Cocker Spaniel Dog, aka Latte Shaggy Dog, aka Barrel Dog (her torso was like a barrel, especially when she got a bit overweight), aka Dirty Rotten Scoundrel Dog, aka The Dog, aka Dog, will sorely be missed.