Another sad day for me

We had a very difficult decision to make at 4am today. My 16 year old Bichon who has always had clicky hips and subluxating patellas, and suffers badly from arthritis, dislocated her hips for the second time in 8 hrs, and was in severe pain that we couldn't relieve. We couldn't bear to see her in such pain, and know that even if we were able to get her through this episode she would have more bouts of such severe pain. So, we asked the vet to euthenase her. It was so very hard for us to do that, but we felt as if there was no other choice for Ellie. I held her as the vet gave her the injection, and for quite some time after. I miss her so much, and my Maltese Maddie is missing her too. Maddie has never been separated from Ellie except for brief periods of hospitalisation, and has been quiet and out of sorts all day.

I am also sad about my father. He is still most unhappy about being in the hostel, and feeling rejected and abandoned by his children. He has stopped eating, but is still drinking all fluids given to him, so I am not really worried about the not eating yet. He generally loves his food, so I'm thinking he won't maintain the hunger strike long. My sister said he showed an interest in a new hot drink vending machine that appeared in the hostel today, so that's a postitve sign. I'm still majorly out of favour, so I have stayed away today, and will also probably stay away tomorrow. One postitive thing is that he's behaving better for the staff than he is for his family.