Anyone who knows me knows that I love my dogs. All dogs, but even more so my dogs. They are pampered and spoiled and human to me. Ridiculous maybe, but I don't care. There are more dogs than humans in this house. Well, there was. My precious fur baby, Oscar went peacefully at the vet's office on October 3, 2014. He has been my beloved companion since Christmas 2001 (born 11-14-01.) I picked him out of his litter when he was a week old. I chose him because he had a darker tail than his siblings. His mother was my sister's dog and at the time, the kids were calling him Chex. His official name became Oscar Mayer the Wiener Dog. He was my cuddle buddy, my leg warmer (he liked to sleep under the blanket in the crook of my knees), and my solace when I was sad. He was there through some bad breakups, the death of his canine brother, Buffy, a marriage (and was a bit of a traitor when Eric came along, I might add), and a couple of moves. He would bark at me when I walked in the door until I came and opened the bedroom door.
I know he was old at just shy of 13. I know that he wouldn't live forever no matter how much I wanted him too. I just didn't expect him to go so fast. He had been snubbing his food for a couple of weeks, but we had changed him to a softer food and we thought he just didn't like it. He always ended up eating it when he thought one of the other dogs might. He started eating less and less though. I was starting to worry a bit, but he was still trying to take our food and peanut butter. I did notice that his ears weren't as pink as they had been, but chalked it up to age. Then, he turned his nose up at peanut butter - his favorite thing in the world. Then, I was worried. Wednesday night I noticed he was breathing hard (not panting), even though he was just laying there. I called the vet Thursday morning and we took him in to see her. Dr. Darrow (amazing vet and wonderful person) called me Thursday afternoon and said that I had a very sick little guy. His red blood count was 11 and should have been in the 55 range. He needed a transfusion and would need to be transferred to a critical care vet to a tune of $700-$1000. I wish I had all the money in the world for my dogs, but I just don't. She went on to say that sometimes they just developed this form of anemia where the body attacks the red blood cells, but it is usually from cancer. I asked her if he would make it through the night so Eric and I could be with him to put him to sleep. She didn't know. I went to the vet after work and just held him for 45 minutes. He was so cold. His body was cold, his breath was cold, and when I finally got him to give me a kiss, his tongue was cold. I talked to the vet some more and she said he was cold because he "had no blood." He wasn't in pain, which I am so thankful for, but he was definitely suffering. I asked him to try and make it until morning so we could be with him and called the vet as soon as they opened. "He's just looking at us, but he's still here." We made an appointment for later that morning. We went about an hour early so we could spend some time with him. We stopped to get some breakfast because I was getting a headache. As our food was being delivered, the vet called. Oscar just passed, she said. I think I asked her if she was kidding and she said no. She said they had given him a blanket last night and that he had wrapped himself up with it. He was watching them do their work and then went to sleep and passed peacefully. I told her we would be there to get him soon. We got there with his sleeping towel and they went to get him for me. In the process, we made the poor lady in the waiting room cry because we were bawling like babies. They handed him to me all wrapped up and we headed to my parent's house. Eric and my dad dug a hold near the dog we had when I was growing up (Buffy was 15 when Oscar came to live with us and they were buddies) and we buried him there. I ordered a memorial stone for him just today.
My heart is broken, but the other dogs seem to sense this and are sticking close. Dora and Cookie do not seem too affected, but Katie seems a little down. She is definitely careful on the bed because when she used to accidentally step on him he would bite her. On the other hand, she has had no problem taking his place on the bed between Eric and I.
I cherish the time I had with my sweet Oscar. It was a fantastic 12 years and his memory will live on with me. RIP. 11/14/01-10/3/14
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