Princess died yesterday. She lived with us for four and a half years and was around 10 – 11 years old. I had been concerned about her health for a while, but thought she was doing better because she ran to retrieve her ball and went for longer and longer walks with me and Angel. I had decided to take her to the vet to check on this fat around her belly that seemed more and more like bloating to me, but with my own doctor and therapy appointments last week, I thought it could wait until next week. Then Friday evening, she stared to bleed from her rectum when she tried to use the bathroom. Not a lot, but I knew something terrible was going on.
So I took her yesterday morning as a walk-in patient at our local animal hospital. I was fortunate that my vet was there and he was the one who saw her. He said her stomach was so full of fluids that he couldn't see anything on the X-rays they took. His best guess was that she had a tumor in her GI tract somewhere that was bleeding into her stomach and that the fluid was blood. He said the rectal exam produced nothing but blood. He said he didn't want to put her through exploratory surgery because the outcome would most likely be bad.
So the kind and humane thing to do was to euthanize her. We called my husband in LA and the vet talked to him, my husband cried, but he agreed this was the only thing to do. My husband said, "Kiss her from me and tell her I love her so much." When Princess came in the room, she looked so bad from what she had been through, being examined. She lay down beside me and I just sat there and hugged her and kissed her sweet head. Then the vet came in and Princess left this world in the hands of this very, very kind man and with her mommy at her side. It was very peaceful and calm. The vet gave me a hug and I went to my car and cried and cried. And that's about all I have done since.
When I came home, of course both Angel and Soldier were looking for her. Soldier went to the car and whined like he does. Angel walked around looking dazed. I know this will pass, but it is so hard for me to watch. They are both calmer this morning and I felt if I wrote this and posted it, I would be too. I will write Princess's story soon, she helped us so much in the short time she lived with us. She was my only farm dog, dog blogger, and sweetest, most well behaved dog. Probably the smartest too, but she didn't like to show off. I know you guys will miss her too…she told some good stories, didn't she?
I will always love you, my sweet girl.
