26/03/05 - 04/12/06

 

My poor old boy was helped over to the bridge on Monday by Zoundz, and my vet (she was looking after him while I was away on a training course, because he had been failing all weekend). He was 21 months old. 

Ciaran and his brother Paddy came to me about this time last year as adult rehomes from Estelle, so I could use him in my breeding plans. He was such a gentle giant, and they both moved in with my two teenage boys Harry and Seamus without too much fuss (apart from a lot of unnecessary shrieking from Shay whenever Ciaran looked at him! 

He later sired a healthy litter of 15 with Rhiannon, of which I kept Rhoslyn and his surprise chocolate son Toby.  He absolutely adored Toby, and Toby loved his dad right back...the two were inseperable right until the end. Ciaran had a bit of a falling out with Harry once he got a bit too old to be alpha, so rather than watching him get picked on, we split the group and Ciaran lived peacefully with his ever-present son.

In recent months, Ciaran had been looking very old and tired and wheezy, presumed to be as a result of having Corynebacterium Kutscheri infection.

Over the weekend he had become really congested, and started to have trouble with his back legs and one of his eyes, and stopped cleaning himself properly, so we suspected some sort of brain infection as a result of the CK.  In typical fashion, Toby looked after him right until the end, following him around, keeping him warm, and cleaning him as best as he could. Unfortunately I had to go away for work for the last two days, so I left Laura to keep an eye on him, and take him for his last vet visit if he worsened.

Sadly, he did get even worse, so we decided to let him go, as he'd always been such a dignified old man, and he just didn't have any quality of life anymore  I'm pretty sad that I couldn't be there at the end for him, but I know for sure that Laura gave him just as many cuddles on his last trip to the vets as I would :*)

Sleep well Ciaran, you were so brave, and the best Dad Toby could have wished for.