This week marks Penny's 9 week birthday and also her 2 month birthday. The past two weeks have been busy with a mix of the sweet and the very, very sour.
As noted in a earlier post, Hunter passed away this week, on Monday, November 28th, 2010 at approxinately 12:30pm. He was just over eight and a half years old. Hunter demonstrated symptoms of an illness about a week before Thanksgiving. He stopped eating all of his food. Since Hunter was always game for eating anything and everything in sight (that was edible), we knew there was something wrong and made him a vet appointment. At the vet, his bloodwork was inconclusive, indicating only high bilirubin levels (by-products of red blood cell destruction) and a high white blood cell count. So, we took Hunter home and started him on anti-biotics, hoping that he had a weird infection or a tick-borne infection. Three days later, Hunter stopped eating again and was driven to the vet where he stayed over-night, was rehydrated and had more blood work and an ultrasound. Again, nothing conclusive was determined. So, Hunter came back home after one night. Two nights later, Hunter was admitted to an emergency veterinary hospital for a blood transfusion because he was now severely anemic. He also underwent another ultrasound and biopsies of his liver, spleen and bone marrow. Hunter returned home the next day. The following day Hunter was feeling pretty well and let us give him plenty of cuddles, spoil him with human food and he even played a little. The following day, Hunter had trouble standing up. As Tim took him back to the emergency vet, I received a phone call informing me that Hunter had acute lymphoblastic anemia - cancer. I drove to meet Tim at the emergency veterinary hospital and we had Hunter put to sleep together as Hunter was clearly in pain and we were informed that chemotherapy was unlikely to be successful. His passing was witnessed by both Tim and I. It was incredibly peaceful and also incredibly sad.
Hunter on November 27th, having a great day
Hunter was a wonderful dog. He had the best smile I had ever seen on a dog, he was unable to act cruelly to anyone, he loved cats, dogs, adults, and chidlren of all sizes. His only flaw was his desire to steal food from counter-tops and the fact that he tugged to hard on his leash. He was, in fact, the best dog I have ever owned and loved. We will remember him always as our smiley boy who was addicted to chasing tennis balls.
In happier news, during the interim of Hunter's illness Sophie and Penny have established a daily tradition of playing on the playmat in Penny's room followed by Sophie pretending to read to Penny while laying on Sophie's bed.
We girls also drove down to NY to spend Thanksgiving with my family. Sophie had a fantastic time playing with her cousin Naomi and her Uncle Mike. She also had a wonderful time bonding with Grams and Gramps. Penny was shown off to the entire family as the newest edition where she met many of Mommy's aunts, uncles and cousins. Daddy stayed up in MA, caring for Hunter. But, he did have a pleasant evening out with Grandpa.
Enjoying our Blackberries
Penny pooping on Gramps
Sophie with cousin Naomi
Finally, Penny had her first playdate this week. We went over to visit Mommy''s friend Kim and her son, Theo. He also had another friend over named Dominic. Penny enjoyed staring at both of them.
