I posted on Facebook two weeks ago that we had finally caved and adopted a dog for Stella from the local humane society. After MANY trips to the shelter, we (I) finally decided on Jenie because she was the right size, she was 10-years old and she did great when they tested her with a cat. The rest of the family was lobbying for a cute little Jack Russell Terrier that was quite cute, but a little too much energy for this mama.
We were told at the shelter that she didn't have any major medical issues that they knew of after being checked out by the techs and a rotating vet. They also told us that we should expect that it would take her a few days to get into a normal eating schedule after being in the kennel. We did notice that she wasn't eating too well and seemed to like to sleep a lot. We just figured that it was because she was getting used to her new surroundings. Since she needed vaccine boosters, I made an appointment to have her first vet appointment. I was so surprised to get the call from Aaron that the vet wouldn't do any of the routine work because after a physical examination they determined she had a large abdominal mass that was most likely a cancerous tumor. They wanted us to do blood work and x-rays that would have cost $500 and then possibly face a surgery of another $1500.
What???
We'd only adopted her the week before. We spent a few days trying to decide what to do. Within those days, Jenie started going downhill fairly quickly and was having a hard time eating, walking and going to the bathroom. I made an appointment at a different vet office for yesterday for a second opinion. I had a meeting at work, so Mr. Yost ended up going with Stella while Grandma Candy had Hudson and Vivian in the waiting room. I was devastated to read a text as soon as I was done with my meeting that Mr. Yost and the vet had to make the tough decision to put her to sleep at the appointment because the cancer was most likely all through her body and she was in rough shape. My heart broke for the sweet little dog and for Stella to have wanted a dog for so long only to have it put down after 2 weeks of getting her.
If I look for the silver lining to this dark cloud, it would be that we got to have Jenie Dog in our life and show us how wonderful it can be to have a dog as part of our family. She also proved that Stella really can take care of a dog by walking her by herself and picking up the poop :)
In her short time with us she got to go on many walks around the neighborhood, go to farmer's market, each lunch downtown at the co-op with a special dog-bone treat, play in Hyalite reservoir, meet a lot of my co-workers at the office, spend a day at Pouli and Yaya's and a nice summer evening out at Zach and Meggie's house. She got special treats from one of my co-workers, canned dog food, lots of crumbs from Vivi at meal time, quite a bit of Maple's cat food and so many good pets and hugs from all of us.
We are already looking for another dog to adopt. Hopefully we can find another one that will be such a great part of our family. Thank you for being a part of our family, Jenie!
Here she is getting out of the van for the first time when we got home.
I thought it was so cute that Stella took her job of having Jenie on a leash very seriously. Every where she went, Jenie had her leash on.
It didn't take her long to settle in.
This is the card Stella made for Jenie after they got home from the vet's office. *sniff*
