Time for update

Obviously, this blog has been even more silent than the bead blog.

We lost Loretta the day after Thanksgiving. I'm still literally heartbroken. Just can't seem to move past it. I took a day off sick the 12th of November, which allowed me a few extra minutes in bed. Loretta rolled over on her back for a tummy rub, and as I was rubbing I felt this large swelling. She shifted, and I couldn't feel it...but I was just so sure I'd felt something. I got up and called the vet, and Tony and I took her out there that afternoon. They did an ultrasound, and found a tumor - a hemangiosarcoma - on her spleen. They removed her spleen on Friday. She didn't do particularly well after that, but enough so that we decided to put her on chemo. Loretta was one of those dogs that, even though a golden retriever, wasn't particularly animated. So, it wasn't always easy to tell if she felt bad. Anyway, we were going to start the chemo, which at best would have given us about 7 to 8 months, on Monday, but she didn't make it until then. She died at home late Friday night, only 8 1/2 years old.

Since then I've read that this kind of tumor isn't particularly uncommon in dogs, and is most common in German Shepherds and Goldens. It's very aggressive and the outcome is almost never good. I'll just say for now that we're in discussions about a new puppy - Tony is holding out, I'm as ready as I can be. We actually bought Loretta from a top breeder after loosing Susanna (the original Yellow Dog) to leukemia. We took every precaution that she was well-bred as possible to eliminate any kind of problems. Daisy - now going on 14, which is exceptionally old for a large dog - is from the same breeder. We miss her every day.