I think this is it for my girl...

[Tankersbabe]

Good morning all!

We had a bad evening yesterday evening.

Started off throwing up some of her dinner in the living room. This makes twice she has done this, and she is getting diarrhea more often now. Don’t know if it is the pain pills or the cancer. I’m keeping an eye on the severity…so far, it is itermitent.

I gave her the pain pill at 6pm...it's getting earlier and earlier in the evenings.

We couldn’t get her to settle down anywhere…panting and pacing…so we ended up getting her bed out of the bedroom where she usually goes to nap and dragged it into the living room in front of the couch. That seemed to be what she wanted. She passed out cold at about 7pm. She wasn’t walking very well when she would get up and move around, and seemed like her hind legs were bothering her…could be that tumor. Oscar wouldn’t even mess with her last night…he just looked at her and snuggled up to her one time.

So we go to bed at 10p…had to coax her outside to potty and then coax her back in. Put her bed back in the bedroom with the blanket cover on it and we all went to bed.

Hubby jumped up at about 11pm yelling for me…there was blood all over the blanket. I don’t know where it came from. I checked her all over and inside her mouth and nose. No cuts that I could see. I hope that she cut herself on the rawhide she had been chewing on earlier…but she was ‘snoring’ so hard there for a while, it could have been nasal bleeding. I wouldn’t even call it snoring…it was really heavy labored breathing. So we convinced her to change position and rolled her over and put a clean towel under her so we could see if there was any more blood.

Woke up at 5am to her telling me she needed to go out…all smiles and wiggles and happy trotting all over the house. No more blood on the towel.

She ate her breakfast, bounced around in the kitchen (as much as she can bounce) while hubby got ready to go to work…I asked him what he wanted to do, and we decided to let this play out and see what happens. The evenings are the worse…mornings are fine. I am going to call the vet and see if we can increase her pain meds. If we keep giving them earlier and earlier in the day, that can’t be good for the nighttime.

Otherwise, she is still happy and smiling and being our girl. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. I’ll give another update in a few days.

Stef

 

[morrissey11]

Just wanted to send Semmi lot's of hugs and kisses again, you are all in my thought's, hugs.....Kate.

Morrissey 02/1995 - 04/2006 x

New mommy to Reilly, adopted Jan 2007, 11 months.

 

[catcrazy56]

Give Semmi a big hug from me and tell what a special girl she is!!!!

 

[Gruntsmom]

Thanks for the update - Semmi is on my mind alot these days. This is surely a most difficult time for all of you - I admire how much your first concern is to keep your dear girl comfortable and do the very best you can for her. No wonder she is happy just being with you all. My heart goes out to you. Hugs to Semmi from Grunt and me.

 

[Tankersbabe]

Well, it is with heavy heart and teary eyes that we had to say good-bye to our fat girl this evening.

She was coughing up blood in large amounts when my husband got home from work. She wasn't real willing to walk, and seemed to be in quite an amount of pain.

I arrived home shortly afterwards, and we decided it was time.

We called our vet, and she and one of her staff members met us at the office to say good-bye. We were all crying and holding her. I am so glad that they were there for us.

Our best friends, bless their hearts, came over and cleaned up the blood out of her crate and out of my kitchen floor. It was quite a mess, and I was so dreading returning home to have to deal with it. But we came home to a clean crate, bagged bedding, and cleaned floor. I couldn't have been more grateful.

She went peacefully, and is no longer in pain. But we aren't hearing her 'thump thump thump' of her 'graceful' walk around the house, or seeing her smile....so this evening is quite hard on everyone.

Hubby is picking her up in the morning to drive her to my parents farm in WV to bury her there. She loved to play in the fields, and that's where she will be forever.

Oscar is looking for her, but I think he will be fine in a few days.

Thank you for all the support, thoughts and prayers. Your support has meant so much. Hug your babies tonight and tell them how much you love them.

Bye Semmi.

 

[Rocky's-Mom]

I am so sorry about Semmi. I get home and check to see how she is doing. I am sitting here crying and reading your post. My heart just breaks. Rocky has just started coughing and I noticed a small amount of blood. The vet told me that normally the cancer spread all over and eventually the lung are what will kill him. I just can't imagine when the time comes..all though we have had a lot of extra time...I will never be ready to let him go. Got to go...can't stop crying. I will give Rocky a big hug in memory of Semmi. Stay strong and keep in touch....you will be in my thoughts and prayers

 

[Gruntsmom]

It hurts to read that Semmi passed away. It was the final expression of love to release her from her ravaged body and to be there with her at the end, holding her. What touched me about her was her happiness, and the smiles you wrote about, in spite of her painful condition. I hope it is a comfort to you and your husband that she knew she was deeply loved. My deepest sympathy goes out to you. And give Oscar a hug from us.

There are boxer angels and angels of all kinds welcoming your beloved girl. Godspeed, dear Semmi.

 

[morrissey11]

Oh, I thought I'd check in on Semmi, I am so sorry...I'm crying, be sure she knew how much you love her and you did the very best thing to let her go.
All our babies were waiting for her and they will take care of her.
She will always be with you, many, many hugs to you and your family, you are in my thought's, take care, hugs...Kate.

Godspeed precious Semmi
Watch over your mommy and daddy sweet

Morrissey,
02/1995 - 04/2006 x

Reilly, adopted Jan 2007.

 

[Austin's Mom]

*tears* I'm so sorry to hear about Semmi. What wonderful friends you have to help you out like that. May God bless you all.

 

[Tankersbabe]

Thank you all for the wonderful support and kind words. I have almost made it through the workday without crying...last night was sooo hard. Her empty crate in the kitchen, her empty bed in the bedroom. I lost it when I came home to find that our friends had cleaned her crate and bedding up for us. That was the breaking point there for me. I have had many dogs in my lifetime, and have had to help a number of them to the bridge, so I was slightly prepared for what we went through, but nothing can totally prepare you for the heart wrenching moment when you realize, this is it. My husband wasn't prepared, as this was his first real dog. He was so overwrought. That broke my heart even more...GI Joe with tears running down his face holding her on that table.

Oscar looked for her all evening, and when he got up this morning, he double checked for her again. He finally curled up in her bed and snoozed for a while this morning.

We are going to NC this weekend to visit his parents and will be boarding Oscar. I am going to flea bomb the house (as I do every spring and fall when we go out of town for a weekend, just a little early this year due to the warm weather), and wash all the bedding up while we are gone, so maybe that will help transition him to her not being there anymore.

Hubby and I picked her up from the vets office and he drove her to meet my parents in Roanoke, VA for them to take her to their farm in WV to bury her. I tried to talk him into cremation, but he would have none of it...so she is going to be buried in the field with the pets I have had before and where she loved to run so much.

The vets staff was waiting on us this morning with lots of hugs and condolences. They had her ready for us to go, and didn't charge me for after hours or emergency...plus they gave me credit on all the unused medication I brought back to them because I thought I would hand it over for someone else to use that couldn't afford it. We made a nice donation to the local SPCA in their names as a thank you.

But, she is no longer in pain. She is happy and free and full of life again. She had a wonderful life with us, I hope. She travelled, and ate french fries, chewed rawhides like there was no tomorrow, and wallowed her way into our hearts from day one when we got her six years ago as a retired breeder.

She blew drool bubbles everytime I pulled down the peanut butter jar for her nightly thyroid and fish oil tablets, and LOVED raw potatoes so much that I had to make sure I stored them in the fridge or she would find the bag and gorge. She knew where her treats were, and that the frying pan being out meant she was going to get eggs with dinner. She LOVED spicy chinese food, and would probably have quoted the Constitution if she could have talked just to get a bite of broccoli with the sauce on it. She loved to lay on the back porch in the sunshine while I cleaned the house on nice days. She LOVED to run so much, that if she got off the leash, it was he** trying to catch her again. She loved going for a ride, even though she was asleep five minutes out of the driveway everytime. She knew where I hid the treats, and if that cabinet door opened, she was right behind me begging. If I were in the kitchen doing dishes, don't step back, she's sitting right behind my legs guarding me from the intruders that might sneak in. She LOVED to kill my rice packs that I used for lower back pain...and carryed them around and loved them like babies. But no other toy interested her in the least. Heaven help you if you unwrapped a slice of cheese...that sound must have echoed through the house like a dinner bell! She vacuumed the floor as I cooked, snorting up every morsel that she could the whole time. She even knew how to stick her head into her harness and thrust her foot through the loop without help. Our girl was well loved by everyone, and she will be deeply missed.

So thank you so much for the kind words and thoughts...may all your babies have wonderful lives and lots of love. Sorry this has turned into a eulogy...but I just got to writing and couldn't stop.

*HUGS* to all!

Stef