Jax was put down this afternoon. He is the first that I knew that date that it was going to happen, before it happened, so I spent as much of the last 24 hours that I could with him, including sleeping on the floor because the couch was too small for his breathing problems. Last year, he started fainting after exerting himself, and it turned out there was a lump on his lungs. The meds didn't work, so it was just a matter of how long his quality of life would be okay. On top of that, he got congestive heart failure, his heart was getting bigger, and it was putting more pressure on his lungs. And he was okay with that for over a year. Then last week, he started panting after the littlest of movements. It was decided to up the meds and see how he would do. He got better for a few days, we got another week with him, but he got worse over the weekend. Since it was a long weekend, we said Wednesday if we could get appointment, and we did. I spent as much time as I could with him, getting pictures and videos. We all said goodbye to him, he was to the end a little vacuum cleaner and ate all the treats and kept looking for more, and sniffing all over the place. He was in my lap at the end, and he was gone so quickly. But he's no longer in pain, he's running around, he got to meet Winky, and play with Dobby again. I miss him so much, but I got to be there, say goodbye, the first time I've been able to, so I don't have regrets. We adopted him February 24th, 2019 (fun story, there were 2 possible dates of birth for him in his records), when he was just 6 years old, and we had him a part of our family here for 6 1/2 years. It wasn't enough, it's never enough, but he's not suffering anymore. It hurts, and it feels like a chain has been broken, that Dobby remembered Winky, and Jax remembered Dobby, but there's no dog to remember Jax. Holly might remember him, but that's not the same. And honestly, I'm feeling like odd years are cursed. We lost Winky right at the start of 2019, Dobby near the end of 2023, and now Jax, mid 2025. I know there's only odd and even numbered years, and the odds are pretty good, but this streak...especially since it hasn't been 2 years yet since we lost Dobby...yeah, it hurts.
He was a silly, special, unique, crazy boy. He was a little vacuum cleaner, eating everything that he could, including things that aren't food, and causing scares. He thought the snow shovel, the weed wacker, and other outdoor tools were either toys or threats, and always wanted to bite them, which wasn't safe. He always gave kisses, even near the end when he was having trouble breathing, and he should've been doing that instead of giving kisses. He frequently needed to be burped after having water. He snored so much, even after he lost the weight. He was a reactive bean, barking at other dogs, cats, people on bikes, squirrels. He didn't like to be dog handled, to be put on his back, but he enjoyed back scratch dances. He was a solid boy compared to all our other pets, not his weight, but his density or bones or something. He needed to make what he was sleeping on him smell like him, so he had to lick all the blankets before going to sleep, or even me. I got to the point where I had one blanket down on the bed for him to lick because the fitted sheet took too long to dry. He liked to soothe himself by biting a blanket, dominating it, and it was so funny to hear him breathe doing that. The way he reacted when we said the word golf, that we think was a hold out from his previous family. That he was ambivalent about car rides, but hated being in a car that was parked. We're going to miss you so much, Jax, you are so loved.
Jax Paarsmarkt
February 4th or April 2nd, 2013 - August 6th, 2025
