On a somber note

Unfortunately we had to make a tough decision and let Smokey go on Monday, Sept. 4. I hadn’t been prepared to make the decision so soon. We found out the Friday before that he had cancer in his spleen and liver. The cancer in his spleen was causing bleeding into his stomach. I asked my boss if I could bring him to work to keep an eye on him and she said yes. He slept in his doggy bed or in my lap for those last few days. It was so calming to have him with me everyday. Such a sweet little man. Everytime I'd get up he'd lift his frail body out of bed and follow me around, wagging his tail whenever I looked at him. I got to spend a lot of time with him that week. *sigh*

He started not feeling well and began bleeding into his tummy sometime Sunday, Sept. 3 – he’d been sleeping on the floor instead of the bed, very uncharacteristic of him. We figured out that he was sleeping on the floor because he didn’t have the energy to jump onto the bed. His little tummy was all distended and he hadn’t eaten for a few days, so we knew it was most likely blood. We had been told that IV fluids and a blood transfusion could be an option (before) but the emergency vet said that with the blood transfusion, he’d simply continue to bleed the new blood into his tummy and that it’d only extend his life for a few more hours. His little tongue was colorless and his heart was beating 1000 miles per hour since it had no blood to pump through it. He was too weak to walk or even hold his little head up - it was terrible. We arrived at the emergency vet around 9:30 and stayed until almost 4 p.m. trying to come to terms with the decision that had to be made. Sven held him in his arms and I nuzzled his head when it was time. We were both crying like crazy…

I'll have to write a Smokey story when I'm feeling up to it. Right now it makes me so sad.