My foster puppy Otto passed away last night. He's been fighting pneumonia for over a week with us and for a few weeks with his previous home. We've been trying to find the right kind of antibiotic for him but nothing is working. He had some good days and some bad days. But yesterday, he just didn't have the energy to fight it anymore.

I wanted to write something about him because he did fight it and was such a super little dog, even if he wasn't with me very long.

I still have the image of him in his kennel, thumping his tail against the cage even though he could barely breathe.

And he had only 2 accidents in his crate, he would always fight the strength to walk down the hallway by himself to go outside. The last two days he needed help negotiating the 2 stairs.

The first few days he was with us, he was just a normal puppy with some breathing difficulties. He still was playful and was eating fine.

Over the days he deteriorated to not being able to eat on his own. So I fed him by syringe a mixture of a calorie supplement, pedialyte and baby food.

This last day was the first time he couldn't keep his food down, and his breathing was worse.

I think the hardest thing is to have a dog die that had tried so hard for so long. But I think its better for him now, a puppy that young shouldn't be that sick and debilitated. Hopefully he's somewhere nice where he can be a normal dog without all the pain. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I'm so sorry for your lose. We all have to go through this sooner or later, but when it's a young dog, it seems to be that much harder. Otto was so lucky to have you.

Sorry for your loss. As Kim said, with older dogs you know its comming. With a pup it's hard to comprehend.