You forget how a lot of different activities going on around you can make an old dog nervous. Dottie had already moved with us from California to Massachusetts. That time she was 8 years old and we drove with her across the US. You can find a blog of that journey in the archives. She was nervous then too as we self-packed to save costs but she recovered quickly.
Dottie, at 13 years old, was usually very relaxed, and being a little deaf in one ear would sleep for long periods of time but she started sleeping wherever we were. Usually by Dick's side in his office, or wherever I was in the house. Me being constantly on the move around the house made this much harder for her. Her dog beds were moved around more often which was also a little confusing but she still loved her walks.
By March, we had Dottie's place booked in the kennels on the Queen Mary 2 to bring her back to England and we had all the steps in place to ensure she had all the required vaccinations and checks before boarding. We even had an appointment to see an English vet as required within days of arrival.
On March 25th, she was suddenly very lethargic, whining (which was very unlike her) and refusing to eat or drink or even go for a walk. We called the vet and they asked us to report back daily and see if we could get her to eat chicken and rice before her appointment on the 27th. She ate a little.
At her vets appointment she was a lot more lively and was fully checked over. There was nothing obvious that the vets could see and they took the usual blood and urine tests which were later found to be normal. We were all puzzled but the vet suggested a sonogram and x-ray the following day in case something was going on that none of us could see or feel.
After the sonogram and x-ray we had a call to say everything looked okay- nothing blocked or out of place but there was a shadow on her spleen which may be nothing. They asked us to come back for another sonogram in a month.
Dottie had another bad day on April 22nd - same symptoms as before but a little worse, luckily her next sonogram was on April 25th so I took her back to the vet that day. I was not prepared for the news that day. She was diagnosed with a hemangiosarcoma. A common but deadly cancer in large dogs that grows and spreads quickly with a very quick terminal diagnosis. It usually takes 6-8 weeks before an attack (which is actually an internal bleed) ends a dogs life in a lot of pain. She had already had this a month by then. It was clear that she would not be coming back with us.
Suddenly our Big Move is not a countdown to moving back to the UK- something which we had started to become excited about, but a countdown to losing our Dottie. So very sad. We were determined to love her as much as we could, and let her other 'dog parents' know so they could too.
Dottie had more bad days and they were coming closer together so we knew she didn't have long. We also did not want her to suffer. We made the very hard decision to have her put to sleep right before the house was packed up if she lasted that long. She did, and had some good days before that which made it all the harder. We made an appointment with a travelling vet who came to our house, and she died on our front porch- one of her favorite spots, on May 13th.
Our normal vets were wonderful. They arranged for her quick cremation and we were able to pick her up before left. We had cancelled her booking in the Cunard kennels on the Queen Mary 2 in the hope that another dog would be able to take her place but we were still going back by ship. We tell ourselves that Dottie gifted us that trip back as we never would have done it if it had not been for her.
Life still isn't the same without her. RIP our lovely girl We will always miss you.
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