My Baby Girl

I thought I'd poke my head in the blogosphere doorway and say "hi" and get you caught up a bit.

As I made this post, I did a lot of walking down that proverbal memory lane. Take a walk with me....

Here is "Onyx" at four months old. We just got her at the shelter. She had an ear infection, eye infection, tummy troubles, and since she was just dropped off that day at the shelter, she was spayed. The shelter waived the three day adoption process and let us take her home right away. She had a lot of healing to do.

I LOVE this picture. It just melts my heart. :)

She always squeezed herself into spaces when she didn't have leg room. Sometimes she forgets that she was a grown up dog and still squeezed herself under the kitchen table, among the legs of the chairs. If she wanted to get out of there quickly, there was a lot of banging and chairs moved.

Now fully grown at a year old, she had to recover from a bout with roundworms. She lost a lot of weight. She bounced back, but was always tired out. She had her "inner puppy" moments and got playful, but they were rare.

Now at two years old, she lost a lot of weight again. She was even more "dogged" than usual. Several trips to the vet revealed a low red blood count. She was prescribed doggie vitamins. It helped some to get her "pep" back. But, she still didn't have much of an appetite. She lost 12 pounds over the summer, down to about 46 pounds. Not good for a lab. The vet didn't feel any tumors and suggested an ultrasound and maybe surgery if the ultrasound showed anything like lymphoma. But...it was expensive and we couldn't afford that route. We tried different dog foods. She refused to eat it dry. Nothing was wrong with her mouth or throat. We didn't know if something was blocking her intestines, but she did do her "bathroom job" okay. Her dog food got mixed in with some canned Alpo and she ate that, but she was only eating 1/2 cup to 1 cup a day. For a lab, she was supposed to be eating 3-4 cups a day.

Here are pictures that were taken about a month ago.

The front porch was one of her favorite spots to hang out. She loved to look around the neighborhood. She went nuts when a kid was nearby. She loved children and being petted by children and adults alike.

You'd think she was in her own "jail" and we kept her prisonor. Many times if she was loose outside and I couldn't find her, she'd be on the porch, of course.

Here is mom and "Onyx".

In the end, we didn't want her to suffer a starving death. The vet suspected liver disease.

RIP, baby girl.

Mommy loves you and misses you.