Good-bye, Faithful Friend

Good-bye to our faithful friend, Jake.

Jake went to Heaven yesterday. He was not feeling well for the last 2 weeks and was diagnosed with abdominal cancer. He had a large tumor in his abdomen and suddenly developed ascites (abdominal fluid) and pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs) over the last 2 days. He was having trouble breathing and went down hill very fast. We had to euthanize him yesterday... we had no choice. It was very sad for us and it still is difficult to think about it. He was truly a member of the family.

Jake was 12 1/2 years old. Jack has had him longer than he has had me! Of course, I welcomed him as a family member and he was "adopted" by me as a family member when Jack and I started dating 10 years ago. I took him to a small animal vet yesterday morning and then to the office with me yesterday. I had to call Jack "on emergency" because he was failing so fast- I did not think he would make it home for Jack to say good-bye. Jack had to cancel some important meetings and rush over to my clinic to say good-bye to Jake. It crushed us. We took him home and buried him and took the rest of the day off.

I tried to explain to Devin about Jake- but, she really doesn't understand. I told her Jake was very sick and died and went to Heaven. Devin & I are making him a grave stone with his name and dates on it. For those of you who are animal lovers, you will understand. For those of you who are not... they are truly members of our family. This sums it up... When I ask Devin who is our family members... she says, "Chase, and Chisum, and Moon, and Jake, and Bear, and Natalie, and Bo, and Roxy, and Mommy and Daddy, and Devin." She got it right.

Good-bye our dear friend Jake. Say Hi to Austin in Heaven- we miss him too.