My Son... Bentley. How can I help my boy? ~ Bentley has passed

There is a lot so let me start with the beginng.

Our son, has been in the ER since Friday and is now in ICU. He has massive adema in his lungs and they think he could have bleeding in his lungs and or a pulmonary embolism. He also has blood in his urine. His red blood cell count is low and they are pushing for a transfusion.

To top it off the vet told us on Friday morning that they think Bentley has congestive heart failure. Then right after we got home from that we had to take Jake to the hospital.

The vet did prescribe the following medications to help Bentley.

Clavamox tablet 62.5mg for infection
Gabapentin solution 250ml / 5ml for anxiety/pain/rest
Denamarin Advanced small/medium canine for elevated liver
Remain on current Vetoryl dosage

Jake's friend Soda (who Bentley loves and has known since he was a pup) was helping us out by checking on Bentley a couple times a day and giving him his medications while we have been here in the ICU with Jake. He even stayed overnight with Bentley last Sunday to give him love & company.

My wife and I went home Sunday night to shower and resupply. Before leaving I held his face, pulling his fur up around it like a little lion 0and told him how much I love him and what a good boy he is. I his a few bully sticks throughout the house for him to chew on and he gingerly took one from my hand hand and sauntered over to his blanket in front of the sliding glass door. The last time I saw him was him on his bed with a treat in his mouth like a cigar. I told him how much I love him, we will miss him, be a good boy and we will be back soon. He looked at me with a smile and started chewing his treat, holding it with one paw like he does. I closed the door and left to go back to the hospital to be with our son.

Then Tuesday January 25th, 2023 @ 6:25am I was awoken in the ICU room by this text.
https://imgur.com/a/f8qtxa5

Soda was crushed to, @ 6:14am, find my lil boy curled up in his round snuggle bed with his chin resting on the side. Just like he always slept. He had passed sometime that night. Soda took him to the Tualatin Vet Emergency where he is now awaiting cremation.

The hardest thing was going home Tuesday afternoon. There was no bark after opening the garage, no greeting at the door. No clicking of his nails on the hardwood. The house feels void. I keep wanting to talk to him but realize he's no longer at my feet. His food bowl was there with kibble on the floor and his little bed next to where I sit on the couch was empty. A partially chewed treat sits on his blanket. I'm devestated. I dropped to the floor trying to smell him in his bed sobbing. I didn't get to say goodbye or even see him again. I don't think it's wise for me to go see him now that they have his body on ice. I know he's in heaven and that's just a body now. I'm just torn up. They get is making us a ceramic paw print, ink pawprint, nose print and a lock of his hair. We are also getting a private cremation and his ashes so we can bring him home soon. It gives me peace knowing he is layed to peace and his remains will always be home with us.

Thank you for all your prayers for us during this extremely difficult time with our son and the loss of our precious little boy, Bentley.

I am so sorry to hear your son is in the hospital and he will be in my thoughts and prayers. I'm, also, so terribly sorry for the loss of beloved Bentley and my heart goes out to you at this most painful time. Please know that we are here for you and always will be.

With Heartfelt Sympathy, Lori

I join Lori in my prayers for you and your family. I cannot think of enough words to tell you how sorry I am about losing Bentley and your worry over Jake. As Lori says, we'll be right here should you wish to come back and write more. I lost my own dog last month and my heart joins yours in your grief over Bentley. I can't imagine having to also cope with Jake's illness at the same time. It is so much to bear. If we can support or comfort you in any way, please come back and keep writing. Sending all the healing energy within my power to Jake, and hugs of strength across the miles to you.

Marianne

This is so, so heartbreaking for you, I know. With everything you were dealing with I think Bentley died peacefully in his sleep to save you from more trauma. Others on this forum have had to suffer through their beloved babies struggling with CHF.

My heart goes out to you...we just lost our beloved chihuahua on New Year's day and are still grieving. It is never easy.

I hope Jake recovers and you are able to find some peace...

Dear Tenacious,

I sit here with tears rolling down my face reading your post. I can see you falling to your knees at Bentley's bed in utter anguish. :( Please know you did nothing wrong. You took every step possible to help him both before your son got so sick and certainly while you were with him in the ICU. That is where you belonged even tho I know your heart is torn. Bentley left this life knowing he was oh so loved. He carried that love with him and will hold it close til he can give it back to you one day when your job here on Earth is done. Til then, Bentley will be watching over you just as you watched over him with such devotion.

My prayers join Lori's and Marianne's for your precious son, his medical team, and all who love Bentley.
My deepest sympathies,
Leslie

Tribute to a Best Friend
By Unknown Author

Sunlight streams through window pane onto a spot on the floor…
then I remember,
it’s where you used to lie, but now you are no more.

Our feet walk down a hall of carpet, and muted echoes sound…
then I remember,
it’s where your paws would joyously abound.

A voice is heard along the road, and up beyond the hill,
then I remember,
it can’t be yours — your golden voice is still.

But I’ll take that vacant spot of floor and empty muted hall,
and lay them with the absent voice and unused dish along the wall.

I’ll wrap these treasured memories in a blanket of my love,
and keep them for my best friend until we meet above.

Your family remains in my thoughts this morning, and I just wanted to stop back by in the hope that this new day will bring more healing to Jake. You may still be there at the ICU, and if so, I pray that everything is going as well as it possibly can.

If you are back home, I know that Bentley’s absence must still feel like a bottomless hole in your heart. Sitting alone in the quiet, empty house is such a sorrow. As you’ve written, whereas once your homecomings were filled with the joy of reunion, now they’re a constant reminder of what you’ve lost. It has been six weeks for me, and still I dread the quiet homecomings the most. Each and every time it still hurts so much.

Right now, though, I’m guessing you are spending most of your time in the hospital with your focus necessarily on Jake. I know you would have willingly done anything within your power to take care of Bentley, too. But as Joan has said, CHF can present a lot of challenges. And difficulty with breathing can be very scary for humans and animals alike. Although you are suffering such pain in losing Bentley, he himself will be spared any future struggles that were likely to come. Bentley peacefully left this world cradled in love. As Leslie wrote, love was your lifelong and everlasting gift to him. What a lucky little boy. And now, *his* parting gift to his big brother Jake is to allow all of your attention and concern to be focused on Jake in the days ahead. It sounds as though it may be a rough journey, and we are here to continue to walk alongside you should we be able to ease your burden in any way. In the meantime, please know that Bentley will always be remembered and honored by his family here on K9C.

Sending many more healing wishes your way,
Marianne

Thank you all for you kindness and sincere care for my lil boy Bentley. Your kind words, prayers and thoughts mean so much to our family.

One thing that I concerned with is the vet gave him this medication two days before he passed. Is this a proper dosage for him?

I've attached a picture of the syringe where they marked it in red for his dosage. Is this a safe, low dose?
https://imgur.com/a/2MhL9aA
Gabapentin solution 250ml / 5ml for anxiety/pain/rest

Unfortunately we’re not able to see your photo. But in order to judge the actual size of the dose, we’d also need to know how many mg. of the medicine are in the 5 ml. amount. A milliliter is simply a liquid measurement — it doesn’t tell us the strength of the dose of the medication that’s been dissolved in the liquid. Perhaps the label tells you how many milligrams are in each milliliter? If it turns out that Baxter’s dose was 5 mg., that is a very conservative dose from what I just read. Also, it sounds as though damaging overdoses of gabapentin are very rare in dogs. Apparently dogs can tolerate quite high doses with not much ill effect. I hope that may give you some comfort.

Marianne

Thank you for reaching out.

Gabapentin solution 250ml / 5ml for anxiety/pain/rest

Label says: Gabapentin 250mg/5ml Solution (per ml). Give 1.3 mls every 12 hours for 14 days.

I have a picture of the bottle and syringe but I don't see a way to attach any files.

If you’re unable to attach a photo to your reply, here are a couple other suggestions. You can create a personal photo album here, and hopefully upload your photo to that album where we all can view it. If you have trouble with that, too, you can email a copy of the photo to our forum gmailbox and we staffers can try to load it here for you: k9cushings@gmail.com.

Here’s a link that will give you instructions re: creating a photo album here: https://www.k9cushings.com/forum/faq...faq_vb3_albums

In the meantime, I’m still trying to gather more info about gabapentin dosage. What I’m finding is that there is a very wide range of acceptable doses. Here’s one specific quote I found:

Quote:

---

Dosages can vary, but commonly gabapentin is dosed in dogs at 5-30 mg/kg up to three times daily, though in our own patients we have used 10-40 mg/kg up to three times daily as well. Gabapentin has also been used on an as-needed basis to achieve anxiolysis at 30-60 mg/kg one to two hours before an anticipated stressful event, such as a veterinary visit.

---

https://www.dvm360.com/view/use-gaba...y%20as%20well.

Since Bentley weighed around 15 pounds, that would translate into approximately 7 kg. Using the formula above, this means he typically could have received a dose anywhere between 35 - 280 mg. up to three times daily (even up to a 560 mg. dose given right before a stressful event). So this is a *very* broad range indeed. I’m still having trouble making out the exact dose he was receiving based on the labeling that you’ve typed in. But *if* it means that 250 mg. are dissolved in 5 ml. of solution, then Bentley’s dose would have been 65 mg. per each 1.3 ml. mouthful, given only twice daily. If this is accurate, then that is firmly in the lower end of the range. Also, given this very broad dosing range, I see why it’s said to be very hard to seriously overdose a dog on the medication. Again, I hope this may give you some comfort.

Marianne