re: It sucks to lose a dog. Losing two in a month sucks worse.

Jesus dude I’m so sorry. That’s terrible.

Random six month update. I couldn't bring myself to put him down before I left...I just didn't have enough information and I wasn't ready to let go. I chose to put him on phenobarbital. My folks, in laws, and neighbors kept a better watch over him than I would have expected. No seizures were observed during our cruise. The phenobarbital made him a different dog. Not my dog, more of a zombie. Muted, but never seemed at peace. Would pace from room to room in a relatively confused state. Went from jumping straight into a 3' high bed to refusing to climb pet stairs into it. Couldn't make it around the block on his routine walk without dang near hyperventilating.

This lasted for about four months before I decided to wean him off of the meds, against the advice of my vet. I figured if he was going to go, better to do so in a less vegetative state. Surprisingly he's completely off of any medication and doing well. There are still lingering effects that I doubt will go away, such as refusing to claim pet stairs or jump into the bed like he used to. He now sleeps on the floor or the couch. Still not sure what caused the seizures but hopefully it was something acute and not chronic. I'm looking to start him on CBD oil next week to see if that will provide some relief to a few aches and pains he seems to have.

Regardless, his quality of life is good and that tail still wags like crazy. Here's to hoping for another good year or two...at some point he'll be the last living dog named after Deuce McAllister.

TLDR; dog is doing better than expected, I hope all of your pooches are in the same boat.