[October 2016] I just lost my sweet baby girl of almost 10 years. I found her at a pound when she was 3 months old; she would of been 10 on November 29th of this year. She was my whole world and I had to make the most hardest and heartbreaking decision of putting her to sleep.
“Abby was a dog that was so full of life. What she loved most in the world was swimming, her balls, children and her mom. Three months ago, she was diagnosed with an extremely rare bone marrow cancer called multiple myeloma. She first developed vestibular peripheral disease back at the end of May of this year, yet bounced back! Sadly, due to the cancer, she developed detached retinas resulting in hemorrhaging behind her eyes, resulting in complete blindness. This didn’t stop her from wanting to play fetch and and go swimming. Wasn’t long until she developed hyperviscosity syndrome…I got married August 27th of this year. I asked her to please, with everything she had, to hold on because I had to have her with me on my big day. She answered my prayer and was strong enough to walk down the aisle and be by my side. Sadly, about a week and a half ago, she just became incredibly weak. She was completely incontinent and eventually couldn’t walk at all. Then Saturday, October 1, 2016 I made the decision to let her go. I laid with her the night before and she laid her head on mine. I believe she was telling me it was time to let her go. So that day, she seemed unresponsive to everything and everyone. My husband and I loaded her in the car with me laying by her side. We drove her to one of her favorite beaches and I’ll never forget that when he opened the back door, for the first time that day, she lifted her head to the ocean and sniffed the air, then slowly lowered her head once again.
“When I [went to Life Cycle] to pick up Abby, I started to cry. [Bobbie Ruth] led me to a side room while I waited to pick up my princess. There were 2 dogs present [Beatrice & Ty Langley] when I got there and they sat with me waiting, giving me much needed comfort. When she came back with Abby, she listened to my story and let me cry. I know I only spoke with her for a short while, but her compassion meant the world to me. She didn’t rush me out, but just let me talk.
“Thank you so so much for providing such a comforting environment during this extremely hard time. Thank you and thank you to the companions that sat with me and let me pet them. All I can say is, your company and staff did a wonderful job in comforting a hurting mom. Thank you,thank you, thank you.