Goodbye Pepper

This is a post I was not prepared to write anytime soon.  I haven't been writing about Pepper's recovery from knee surgery last month because it hasn't been going so well.  It's silly, but I felt that if I'd write about his problems, they'd become more serious. Unfortunately, Pepper did not regain the ability to walk normally - he got a little better but then he got worse. A few days ago, he began dragging his rear legs behind him while walking normally with his front legs. Our vet referred us to a neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania and I took him yesterday to get checked out.   

The neurologist who saw Pepper, as well as a senior neurologist, both determined that at some point, Pepper had suffered irreparable spinal damage, paralyzing his hindquarters. He wasn't in pain, but he had no feeling in most of the lower part of his body and the doctor said that his condition would continue to degrade until he gets severely sick, has bladder and infection issues, and ultimately experiences much higher levels of pain. Since aggressive surgery was given a 5% chance of success, and because his condition will continue to get worse, we decided to save him that anguish.

I brought him back home yesterday and we took him to our regular vet this morning and said goodbye. Pepper could be a real pain in the neck sometimes, but he was also very loving, silly, clever, and a true member of this family.  As Thom John said, Pepper relished his role as the family’s protector, and welcomed each new baby home warmly.  We're grateful to Pepper for all he's taught us - especially all he's taught Sean about caring for and loving animals. We're sad that Sean and Clare won’t be able to get to know him better, but we're thankful for the time we did have with him.