On Wednesday, Feb 3rd, she woke up having a difficult time breathing, but still did her normal activities, ate breakfast, and went outside via her 2 doggie doors.
By 10:30am she was quite anxious and pacing, then went out the doggie door and promptly collapsed. Over the next 4 hours she would get dizzy when she walked, only able to go 4-5 feet. We decided to call the vet because she was suffering. As a nurse I clearly recognized all the signs of congestive heart failure. Her lungs were filling up with fluid. It was heart-wrenching.At the vet's office she was treated with such sweet compassion. I held her as Dr. Wynn put her to sleep... finally getting relief from her struggle. We brought her home and buried her in the southeast corner of our yard.
She has been such a sweet blessing to our family. My favorite memory of her is her innate ability to be reverent. When we would have kneeing family prayer, she would get her "rag bone", bring it to the circle, put it between her paws (like she was praying) and suck on it quietly while we prayed. We have missed her friendly greeting at the door since she lost most of her hearing last year. It was a tender mercy we were home with her these last 18 months since returning from Portugal.
She is gone for now, but will never be forgotten.....
