Hospice care for senior dogs!

An update long overdue as the year closes out.
Lady II passed after Labor Day weekend.
She was not like the old First Lady, but she sure was a Lady. And the resemblance of name, breed, shelter, owner surrender story, senior, no rescue interest, etc. is what saved her from death in a shelter.
We lost the old first Lady in December and one January night I was cruising Facebook and a video of this senior Rottie girl popped up. She did the same kind of twitching with her lips as the old, there were so many similarities and even a growth in the same armpit. I showed the video to Alex and he is the one that wants to be less involved with the dogs said: "Mom, we got to get her." I contacted a Chicago rescue that helps me to pull seniors and next day I was on the transport list to bail her out.
The first week was an adjustment since she did not feel good and her wounds on her paws did not heal well. From the get go, I kept saying her body does not seem right to me. Well the initial exam and blood test in January did not reveal a thing, but she may have been hiding her ailment from the day she got here. I ignored my gut feeling and was to busy ( or in denial) to further investigate it. Not sure, if it would have made a difference in her passing.
Lady did a few things that were unique. She liked order in the house. When Zeus did his obnoxious, no reason, bark, she would face him and make him stop. When the kids ran through the house, she would grab them by the calf to slow them down. The boys did not appreciate it, it made me laugh. She would always bark at me when in the kitchen and she sees me lifting my hand to drink out of something. I will never know what that was about and what her previous owner tried to teach her with that. She also loved to show off that she had learned to walk around someone and go in between the legs from behind and sit down looking up in your face. She made a few of us topple over like that:-)
The story was that she belonged to somebody and he had to leave and left her with a friend or brother, when that owner did not return to get her they dropped her at the shelter.
Lady from day one, did not need a leash on, she would always make sure she knew where I was and when I left her with the other dogs in the backyard, she would break though a spot where it connects to the house and go to the front of the house and wait until I opened the garage.
In summer she started not wanting to go on walks in the backyard anymore. That should have been a clue for me, but I thought it was due to the hot weather. Eventually one day in August she refused to eat. For her, the one that will steal a lemon from me and not give it up, that was big. Things were terribly wrong, she was bleeding internally and all was pointing to spleen cancer again. Same damn cancer my best boy Busta died off over 4 years ago. I got blood tests and xrays done for her and consulted several vets. All came with a different theory, which did not bring us any further. We then went to see another doctor that drew blood out of her belly and said either we go for a $6000 surgery asap in a different location or take her home and make arrangements quickly. The vet agreed that the chances of making it through the surgery in her anemic condition were slim. I knew she would not make it through it, I have played this scenario before. It was so bad that she said she did not think Lady would survive the 20 minutes ride back home. We gave a her Yunnan Bayio pill to stop the bleeding and went home.
Well doctors do not know everything. I continued her on Yunnan Bayio therapy for another good three weeks. She perked back up, ate, went to hang out on the driveway soaking some sun, joined us for bonfires and waged her little stumper tail for me. I saw other posts of dog owners that described how their dogs lasted another few weeks and then thought to myself: " What for...?" Now I know. We really had some great 3 weeks, spend a lot of time with each other, loving on another and they were important and well spent weeks.
Unfortunately, Labor Day weekend she took a turn for the worse and stopped eating and I knew I had to call the vet to help her cross. I spend hours and hours on the floor with her, we laid forehead to forehead sharing our great memories. Oh her fur was just so soft around her neck, I never wanted to let her go. She passed peacefully, which was important for me since my other Lady's passing was rather traumatic.
So here I am sending two great dogs to heaven within 9 months period and I feel like I become colder each time. The hurt really blocks me and I feel it is a very lonely existence since nobody knows your dog like you do. That also means, nobody misses your dog like you do. I really hate how everything needs to continue, like business as usual. "Dog is dead, continue on." I do not think my life style allows for real grieving and processing and it makes me almost angry. I continue on as if nothing happened, but it is a big lie. I am so very sad inside.
The boys asked me to get a puppy next time as they do not want to see me crying anymore, but I know the next senior is already destined to meet me soon.
Lady #2 you were a great dog!!
I thank you for all the love you gave me!
Thank you all for your contributions and helping these awesome dogs to leave this earth with love and dignity.
Happy New Year!

Happy Summer everyone!
While saving senior dogs is the right thing to do, it sure comes at a price. You end up with a wonderful soul that wants to be your friend, but you also take on a lot of exhausting work, worry, sadness and heartache.
Unfortunately today's update does not come with great news.
My current senior for this fundraiser fell really ill this weekend. Maybe she did weeks back and I tried to ignore it, but this weekend it is obvious that she is not well.
The last few weeks, she did not want to go on our usual walks - because it was so darn hot I figured. The last weeks she was panting more than I am used to - because it was darn hot I figured. She also drank excessively - because it was darn hot I figured.
Well Saturday morning she did not want to eat, so that is a clear sign for her that things are wrong.
I know she is not in best health with her fatty growths and bad hips and all, but I was not ready to see her go ill this fast. The belly is tight and swollen and she was very anemic yesterday and her eyes and ears show signs of liver failure. The big belly and low blood flow give me flashbacks of what I faced with Busta with his spleen cancer 4 years ago.
So tomorrow we are heading to the vet and will most likely have to do full blood work and xrays. I just pray that the results come back with a diagnosis that will be treatable with medicine or better yet, go away by itself, but please no need for surgery.

Your donations help me helping senior dogs like Lady.

Happy Spring everybody!
I had it on my to do list to update on our sweet Lady, but I fostered a couple of dogs from Chicago Animal Control in the meantime and they took all my attention away from anything extra.
One came to me with a broken jaw, the next at least 30lbs underweight, because someone abandoned her and the next one was in such bad shape that she had to be euthanized at the shelter. The poor soul did not even make it out to die in a peaceful way.
So caring for the sick the last weeks took it's toll on my own dogs. They had to take the shorter end, while I spend most of the time with the dogs here that I had to keep in isolation for at least 10 days.
They are all sweet dogs and are already adopted. So exciting.
Lady my hospice care candidate that I pulled in January has settled in nicely. She is on the quite and low energy side, but she has her moments. If I leave her to long ( as in over 10 minutes) in the backyard, she will break through the fence and wait in front of the garage for me. She has some mild separation anxiety, so if she does not know where I am at, she will take off to find me.
She also has this thing that if I raise a glass to drink, she barks at me. That took some getting used to with my morning coffee. :-) Also when she wants something she will walk around me and squeeze herself through my legs and sit back, which most of the time makes me loose my balance. This is something her previous owner, that just her behind her, must have taught her.
Her blood test came back with good results in January, but something is just not right with her. She is obsessed with drinking very large amounts of water and her breath smells really bad, although I cleaned her teeth and then, well the usual stuff, old bones don't run that fast anymore.
So here you see Dr. Katie from King Veterinary Chiropractic adjusting her, which really helps her. We are on a monthly schedule for that at the moment.
So next month we will have to run some more tests to see what's going on with her. Symptoms point to either cushing's disease or diabetes. Let's hope it is nothing like that and with a proper diet, she can shake off whatever she has going on right now.
Lady wishes you a lovely day, says: "Hug your dog more often!"
Thank you for your support on my mission to safe one at a time.