RIP Bubba

I knew this day would come but nothing could prepare me for the grief & heartbreak I would feel.



Last night we had to unexpectedly say goodbye to our sweet boy Bentley.

It was a typical night in the Taylor house. I had given Mase a bath, got our PJ's on & let the dogs out one last time to potty before bed. As Bentley came back in I noticed his belly was huge & distended. Once he got back into the house he started slobbering excessively & vomiting but nothing was coming up. I had a sick feeling what was going on with him but quickly checked Google to make sure & sadly I was right :(

Bentley had a condition called "bloat" or gastric torsion. When bloat occurs, the dog’s stomach fills with air & the enlarged stomach puts pressure on other organs . It causes difficulty breathing & eventually decreases blood supply to vital organs. It is painful & death occurs within a couple of hours if not treated. This is the same condition the dog in Marley & Me died from as well as my friend's Mastiff so I was familiar with what it was.

I told Shane I needed to get Bentley to the emergency vet as soon as possible & that this may be the last time he & Mason sees him. At the time Shane didn't understand how serious of a condition this was & thought I was being over-dramatic but I pushed for the both of them to say their "goodbyes" just incase. Mason had no idea what was happening & we just told him that Bubba was really sick, Mommy was taking him to the doggie doctor & he may not be coming home.

It was about a 25 minute drive to the nearest ER Vet facility & I had called them while I was on my way to let them know I would be arriving. As soon as I got there, 3 people came out the door with a stretcher, got Bentley out of the car & wheeled him into the building. As he was being looked at by the vet I filled out all the paperwork & just sat there praying.

10 minutes later they took me back to a room & the vet came to talk to me. I knew just by the look on her face. She explained to me that he did have bloat & her recommendation was to euthanize him. I pretty much lost it at this point & couldn't really hear the rest of what she said. I did hear that he probably wouldn't survive surgery with his age & heart condition & that if we did do surgery it would be costly & the gastric torsion usually comes back. Sadly, there was no other choice.

I called Shane & tried to explain to him what the vet said & we both decided the best & most humane thing to do was to have him put to sleep. Shane felt absolutely awful for not being there but Mason was sound asleep & to wake him up, drag him to the vet to watch his dog be put down wasn't an option so they stayed home.

They had relieved some of the air out of Bubba's belly & gave him some Morphine to help make him more comfortable & after they brought him back to me I got to sit with him for as long as I wanted. I loved on him, petted him, rubbed his ears, smooched his flaps, talked to him & thanked him for being the most amazing dog to us these past 11 1/2 years. I sat there for the longest time just hugging him & he just let me.

After about 20 minutes I was as ready as I could be & the vet came in with those 2 syringes that would take away all his pain & suffering. It took seconds & then he was gone. I was amazed at how fast he went which made me feel like he was ready to go.



This sweet boy blessed our lives for over 11 years & filled it full of unconditional love, loyal company, big slobbery kisses, loud snoring & gas bombs that would clear a room - typical Bulldog. He was our favorite hello, our saddest goodbye & he will be forever missed.

RIP our sweet boy - until we meet again...