Goodbye Gee Willikers

Yesterday started out like a pretty average day but unfortunately ended with a lot of tears and heartbreak. We decided to brave the cold and go see our horses and pet them and give them some love. We got out there about 1pm yesterday and I walked up to our mini donkey, Willie, and pet him. He took one step and went down. We couldn't get him back up  and had to drag him about 7 feet to get him into the barn. We had to make a vet call and have an emergency trip out to us. His temp was so low it wouldn't register on the thermometer. The vet did a rectal exam and he was definitely impacted but due to his size she could not get in far enough to get it out. She tried tubing him but he was not very cooperative and kept moving around and she just couldn't get anything back up. We wrapped him up in 2 horse blankets to try and warm him up. At this point he was standing but was very unsteady and shivering non-stop. We trailered him to an equine facility and got there around 6pm. I thought they would be able to run fluids, get the impaction out, and we would be bringing him home today. Unfortunately the blood work told a different story. His liver enzymes were extremely high. After another rectal exam the vet said he felt something in his bladder which could have been a stone or a tumor. They tried to scope him but again due to his size the scope was too big. He tried putting a catheter in to push whatever the mass was back to get him some relief but it wouldn't budge. When he pushed on it from inside the rectum Willie started urinating blood. Even after being inside and wrapped in blankets they still could not get a temp on him because he was so cold. The vet said in his condition he didn't think surgery was a good idea and even if it was a stone and he could get it out that it was likely to come back. He couldn't pin point any one thing that was wrong but he said we could spend thousands and thousands and the chance of him recovering were not all that good. So I made the decision to have him euthanized so he could go peacefully and no longer have to suffer. We put him back on the trailer one last time where the vet put him down while I cradled his head in my arms and told him how much I love him. We took him back home to get buried. 

I woke up this morning praying it had just been a bad dream, thinking it couldn't possibly have been real, I wish it was just a bad dream. Willie was a part of our family, we all loved him so much, he was so good and had such a funny personality. He will always hold a special place in our hearts. 

I’m so sorry for your loss! ☹️

I’m so sorry for your loss.
Losing a charished member of the family is always heartbreaking, and they will always be greatly missed.

I'm so sorry. Rest in peace little friend.

I sorry for the loss of your fur baby

I'm so sorry. It's always so hard to lose a beloved friend. We had to put one of our cats to sleep a few days ago. May you cherish your memories of him and may your heart heal in the time it needs to.

Thank you everyone for your kind words. It was definitely not easy going to the farm this morning to see my horses and not having Willie right there as well.