[beth gordon]

After losing Winnie to Hemangiosarcoma in June, I didn't think the pain could be worse. This Saturday I lost Kaya and I don't even know to what. He had a bad tumor diagnosed (OS) and fracture in his back leg that was then amputated on Aug 18. There was also an intestinal mass that was suspicious so the vet had done a laperosocopy on the 16th to remove it. He came through both surgeries like a trooper, as though it was perfectly normal to have 3 legs. He didn't miss a meal, was walking around on his own, and just being his sweet self acting like everything was normal. The areas around the stitches looked clean and healthy.

Then, Friday night, 9 days later, I noticed a tiny bubble next to the last suture on his rump. I took him back to the hospital Sat AM. They felt all he needed was for it to be cleaned out under anesthesia, a drainage tube put in, put back on antibiotics, and then home the next morning. When the vet started the protocol, she realized the same problem was inside the site where he had the laperoscopy. When she saw that, she went in further and checked the intestinal resection. All three sites had the same 'look'. She felt that either his body was rejecting the internal stitches or he had had an allergic reaction. (He had been on IV antibiotics for 5 days after the surgery). She called me 3 times during the procedure as each new finding presented. It was becoming a situation where the degree of surgeries he would require, the length of the recovery period, the tubes, the catheters, all made her ask me to consider if it was fair to ask this much of him. When she said that, the severity of the situation really hit. Until then, I kept thinking it could be repaired if I just wanted it bad enough. So I made the decision to let my boy go.

The pain of losing Winnie hasn't subsided yet and now my Kaya is gone also. While I love my others fiercely, these are the 2 I raised from puppies. I did not think I could hurt worse than when I lost Winnie, but losing Kaya also has just doubled the pain.

Godspeed my precious babies. Take care of each other and know that I love you both so.