Our dog, Mia

We are very sad to share that this past Saturday we had to put our beloved dog, Mia, to sleep. She had developed several large cancerous tumors in her abdomen. Her failing health came about very quickly. A week ago Saturday, Mia had an accident in the house but she had no other symptoms. David took her to the vet and it was thought she had a urinary tract infection. She was fine the rest of the weekend, but on Monday it appeared that she started to eat less. She would drink a lot and go to the bathroom but would not eat her food. She would eat Gabby's scraps on the floor but nothing else. We thought she was just being picky.

Later in the week she stopped eating all together and when she would eat she couldn't keep the food down. The vet took some x-rays but he could not see much because she had fluid in her abdomen. She was then given an ultrasound and they detected the tumors. They had grown very large. One was obstructing her digestive tract and causing decreased appetite. On Saturday morning, her liver began to fail with signs of jaundice in her eyes and in her skin inside her ears. There was nothing we could do. She was suffering and we could tell she was ready to be at peace. 

Mia was a very special dog but had an unfair life in terms of her health. For those of you who do not know, Mia had three major surgeries during her time with us - one involving a near fatal condition called Bloat in September 2007. We are thankful for the four years we had with her. We will never forget the many experiences she gave us, especially raising a litter of puppies soon after her adoption. Perhaps the hardest part of losing her is knowing how patient she was with Gabby and how much Gabby cared for her and enjoyed her company. Gabby has asked about Mia a couple of times but she is still too young to understand. We are heart-broken and miss her terribly.

Some time in the next few weeks, we hope to post some of our favorite photos of Mia to honor her life.