Willow

Willow was brought to an animal hospital at 6 months if age to be euthanized. I had a friend who worked there and she knew I list my last yellow lab 9 months earlier to cancer. She called me and asked me if I wanted her after they got the owner to surrender her. The next day I went to pick her up at the clinic. She was crated for the first 6 months of her life and very abused. She was terrified of everything, especially loud noises and loud people. I couldn’t get near her with a brush to groom her for months. She was terrified but never ever aggressive. It took a lot of patience and love to undo the damage her previous owner caused. We got another chocolate lab when she was around 3 and Ruby was the same age. Best thing we ever did for her! She learned to be more comfortable and less scared of people and things with Ruby around. She was my complete soul dog and the love of my life. She made it to her 7th birthday and then I discovered her abdomen was just a little off when I gave her belly rubs. I was so intuned with her that I noticed the smallest changes with her. My husband said she was perfectly fine because she was eating, drinking and running around playing with Ruby. Anyone else would have thought the same thing. I work at an animal hospital and took her to work the next day which was a Wednesday. We took xrays and suspected a tumor on her spleen. I made an appointment for the following Tuesday with the oncologist. By Friday she became deathly ill and was vomiting all over. I rushed her to the ER to do an ultrasound. The doctor told me she was loaded with lymphoma. I was hysterical and never would have suspected. Her lymph nodes were never swollen and neither was her abdomen. I took her home and by Saturday she stopped eating. Eating was her most favorite thing in the world! I bought her a cheeseburger and ice cream and she wouldn’t touch it. I knew she was dying. She still looked absolutely normal and looking at her you would have never known. We took on Sunday morning to have her euthanized. I knew she was dying and I could not bear to let her suffer. Especially when she stopped eating. I never even got the chance to try and save her. That was the worst part. She went downhill so fast. Since I didn’t know her past the doctor suspected it was hereditary. I lost my best friend, confidant, love of my life that day. I cannot even explain how much i loved her and how attached I was to her. My husband knew I loved her more than him! Lol. It has been 5 years and I still talk to her urn daily.