We've just had to say goodbye to our Westie, Hector, after 17 and a half years of wonderful life. He was going blind and had suffered three terrible panic attacks ending in seizures. After speaking to a couple of vets they informed us that these attacks are the most awful thing to go through, and each one will cause a little bit more brain damage and anything slightly distressing can trigger another one. The last one was nine days ago and lasted for well over two hours. It was horrible to see, he must have run at least a mile all around the house and garden, he didn't know we were near him and kept bumping into every object he came across, which just made things worse. We had him put to sleep at home with family present. I don't know if you're familiar with Westies, but they have lovely strong characters and we never met anybody who didn't love him.
Goodbye my mate. It's been an honour.