This morning AWOL looked pretty bad. Her breathing was shallow and although it was cold outside she was panting hard. Her gums were white, a sure sign of anemia. Grandma said that she'd take her to the vet today, but mom was crying when she left for work so I know it's not good. They think she has a tumor, like Dobie, Ajax and Sandy did, dogs I didn't know.
AWOL has been a good friend to me. She walks with me and tells me when I go too far, and she plays with me a little bit. She's quite old, Jaeger's age I think, but until very recently she had a lot more energy than Jaeger. I'll miss her.
Note from mom:
AWOL was diagnosed with lymphoma and we elected to put her on prednisone because she is pretty old, canine oncology is quite costly and only about 50% of dogs go into remission at the stage in which AWOL was. I feel bad about cost being a factor, but Natasha's VERY expensive stay in intensive care wiped out any other options for the time being.
Years ago, Dobie was also diagnosed with lymphoma and given about 4 months on prednisone. She actually improved and stuck around for 4 years! So it seemed that AWOL may have dodged a bullet, but she died a few hours after seeing the vet, presumably from heart failure, an overworked organ under pressure from some sizable tumors.
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