I wrote a while ago how my dog, Pepper, was sick with kidney disorder and some dementia and how worried I was that she would decline around my wedding/honeymoon. Well, she did hold out for that, but today, the day before my birthday, I had to put her to sleep. She had diarrhea on and off since last week, and she was just really bad yesterday into today. So I got her into the vet today. I was not sure at first whether she was "sick enough", but when they checked her kidney function the number was almost three times as high as it had been (which if it's high it's bad). So that gave me the sign I needed. My vet said she'd do the same thing. My dog lived to be just over 15 years, of which most of that time she spent following me from room to room, never leaving my side.