Jason had Aspen for almost 2 years before meeting me. It was one of the things that attracted me to Jason. I loved dogs and finding someone who loves dogs as much as me was a plus. I had also wanted to get a dog for awhile so I was happy to "adopt" Aspen as my own. She was a very high strung dog when she was young but when we got Charlie, she became a completely different dog. She was a great big sister and really taught Charlie the ropes. She stopped crying when we left the house and just became more calm and relaxed. Even though he never gave up, she never let Charlie cuddle with her. That was just her personality but you could tell she loved Charlie and couldn't live without him.
We always knew that when one of them would pass away, we would have to get another dog because they loved being a pair. They loved playing and going on adventures together. We just didn't think that day would come as soon as it did.
After Memorial Day weekend, Jason was set to be out of town from Wednesday-Friday. It was also my first week of summer vacation so I would get to be home with the dogs every day. Both dogs and I started going on walks every morning and everything seemed fine. But there were a few things that were somewhat out of the ordinary. At the beginning of the week, Aspen wan't eating very much. I wasn't too concerned at first for a couple reasons. We had just come off the holiday weekend where I knew the dogs had eaten a lot of people food. Aspen only eats when she is hungry so having so much people food could have filled her up for a few days. Also when Jason is out of town, it sometimes takes her a few days to eat normally. She still didn't like when either one of us wasn't there. They other thing that was concerning me was the fact that she was throwing up at least once a day. Aspen often threw up because she cleans herself like a cat and gets hairballs, had eaten a lot of people food the weekend before, and we had been outside more where it was hot and she was still getting rid of her winter coat. I really started to get concerned as the week progressed and it seemed to get worse. She stopped eating all together, even when Jason came home and was still throwing up every day.
That Saturday we decided to head to Smithville Lake to let the dogs go for a swim. Aspen was so excited and loved going for a swim. Looking back now, I am glad we had decided to go and have such a fun time with the dogs. She slept most of the weekend but we just assumed it was from the all the swimming and heat. On Monday morning, Aspen woke me up at about 5:30 to go outside. The earliest our dogs wake us up is around 6:30-7:00 unless they are not feeling well. It had rained that night, so after I let them out I headed to the laundry room to grab a town to dry their paws off. It was dark still so I didn't see the wet spot on the floor and stepped right in it. At first I thought Aspen had thrown up but now I am confident it was actually pee because of the amount and how clear it was. I called the vet at 7:00 and made an appointment for 11:00 to get her checked out.
Before leaving for the vet, I was a little concerned for Charlie. He had never been left alone. Even when we took Aspen to the vet, it was usually on a Saturday and either myself or Jason was still here. Our vet is in Liberty so it takes us a good 20 minutes to get there. The car ride was not good. I didn't think Aspen would make it without throwing up. She looked awful and was shaking. I was so scared and couldn't drive fast enough. Even when I put the window down she wouldn't stick her head out which was a sign to me that something wasn't right.
As soon as we got to the vet office, she was acting like herself and wanted to play with everyone. At that point I thought I was crazy for bringing her in but I am glad I did. The vet checked her over and she had no abdominal pain but when she looked at her eyes the whites were very yellow which is a clear indicator of liver problems. At this point I began crying. In my gut, I knew something was wrong but I just kept hoping it was nothing. The vet took her back for blood tests. The blood tests clearly showed something was going on with the liver. They vet thought it was probably something she ate so they wanted to admit her for X-rays, a ultrasound, and to start her on a fluid and medication regime to flush her system out of any toxins. It was hard to leave her there but I was confident she would get better.
The next day, Jason and I went to visit her and it was one of the hardest things to see. She was hooked up to IVs and was very out of it from all the drugs she was on. She seemed to know who we were and just went to sleep once we were there. We we left, we didn't know it would be the last time we would see her. We got a call the next morning and the vet was concerned. She wasn't getting any better. She hadn't eaten and had thrown up the water she had just drank along with a pill they had given her the day before. She was also showing signs of abdominal discomfort. The vet wanted to do another X-ray with dies to see if there was something blocking her GI system. A short time later the vet called us back and said that Aspen had quickly gotten worse and now she wanted to do exploratory surgery and take a liver biopsy. The vet was quick to say that she was not ready to give up and was determined to find the problem.
We waited all day for the results. We finally got a call that evening around 6:30 with an update. The surgery showed nothing was blocking her GI system but her liver looked pretty bad. The vet thought it was some form of hepatitis but wouldn't know for sure until the biopsy results came back. She prepared us for what to expect when we came to visit Aspen the next day. She said she was very out of it and also was very bloody from the surgery.
A couple hours later we got another call from the vet to say that Aspen had not made it. She had died in her sleep. Both Jason and I were devastated. We just kept racking our brains on what she could have gotten into. To this day it is very hard to believe she is gone. She was was so young and such a huge part of our life. We loved her so much and just couldn't imagine our lives without her. Charlie was actually handling it better than I thought he would. He would just search the house for her and stuck pretty close to either myself or Jason. He seemed lost without her and didn't really know what to do when I let him outside.
We didn't get the biopsy results until the following Tuesday (almost a week after Aspen passed) that her liver was covered with cancer cells. We were happy to have closure and know what the cause was. It also helped to know that it was nothing we did or could have prevented. We just don't know how long she had been sick. We read so much about liver problems in dogs and we learned that dogs don't really show signs of liver failure until it is too late. We have an amazing vet who truly cared for Aspen and was just as devastated as us. We know she did everything she could.
We miss Aspen everyday. I was so excited to see how she would be with our baby. I thought she would become a little mama protector and bond with the baby. I have pretty much cried the entire time writing this post. I know that I will eventually be able to talk about Aspen without crying but will never forget her.
Goodbye my beautiful princess.
We always knew that when one of them would pass away, we would have to get another dog because they loved being a pair. They loved playing and going on adventures together. We just didn't think that day would come as soon as it did.
After Memorial Day weekend, Jason was set to be out of town from Wednesday-Friday. It was also my first week of summer vacation so I would get to be home with the dogs every day. Both dogs and I started going on walks every morning and everything seemed fine. But there were a few things that were somewhat out of the ordinary. At the beginning of the week, Aspen wan't eating very much. I wasn't too concerned at first for a couple reasons. We had just come off the holiday weekend where I knew the dogs had eaten a lot of people food. Aspen only eats when she is hungry so having so much people food could have filled her up for a few days. Also when Jason is out of town, it sometimes takes her a few days to eat normally. She still didn't like when either one of us wasn't there. They other thing that was concerning me was the fact that she was throwing up at least once a day. Aspen often threw up because she cleans herself like a cat and gets hairballs, had eaten a lot of people food the weekend before, and we had been outside more where it was hot and she was still getting rid of her winter coat. I really started to get concerned as the week progressed and it seemed to get worse. She stopped eating all together, even when Jason came home and was still throwing up every day.
That Saturday we decided to head to Smithville Lake to let the dogs go for a swim. Aspen was so excited and loved going for a swim. Looking back now, I am glad we had decided to go and have such a fun time with the dogs. She slept most of the weekend but we just assumed it was from the all the swimming and heat. On Monday morning, Aspen woke me up at about 5:30 to go outside. The earliest our dogs wake us up is around 6:30-7:00 unless they are not feeling well. It had rained that night, so after I let them out I headed to the laundry room to grab a town to dry their paws off. It was dark still so I didn't see the wet spot on the floor and stepped right in it. At first I thought Aspen had thrown up but now I am confident it was actually pee because of the amount and how clear it was. I called the vet at 7:00 and made an appointment for 11:00 to get her checked out.
Before leaving for the vet, I was a little concerned for Charlie. He had never been left alone. Even when we took Aspen to the vet, it was usually on a Saturday and either myself or Jason was still here. Our vet is in Liberty so it takes us a good 20 minutes to get there. The car ride was not good. I didn't think Aspen would make it without throwing up. She looked awful and was shaking. I was so scared and couldn't drive fast enough. Even when I put the window down she wouldn't stick her head out which was a sign to me that something wasn't right.
As soon as we got to the vet office, she was acting like herself and wanted to play with everyone. At that point I thought I was crazy for bringing her in but I am glad I did. The vet checked her over and she had no abdominal pain but when she looked at her eyes the whites were very yellow which is a clear indicator of liver problems. At this point I began crying. In my gut, I knew something was wrong but I just kept hoping it was nothing. The vet took her back for blood tests. The blood tests clearly showed something was going on with the liver. They vet thought it was probably something she ate so they wanted to admit her for X-rays, a ultrasound, and to start her on a fluid and medication regime to flush her system out of any toxins. It was hard to leave her there but I was confident she would get better.
The next day, Jason and I went to visit her and it was one of the hardest things to see. She was hooked up to IVs and was very out of it from all the drugs she was on. She seemed to know who we were and just went to sleep once we were there. We we left, we didn't know it would be the last time we would see her. We got a call the next morning and the vet was concerned. She wasn't getting any better. She hadn't eaten and had thrown up the water she had just drank along with a pill they had given her the day before. She was also showing signs of abdominal discomfort. The vet wanted to do another X-ray with dies to see if there was something blocking her GI system. A short time later the vet called us back and said that Aspen had quickly gotten worse and now she wanted to do exploratory surgery and take a liver biopsy. The vet was quick to say that she was not ready to give up and was determined to find the problem.
We waited all day for the results. We finally got a call that evening around 6:30 with an update. The surgery showed nothing was blocking her GI system but her liver looked pretty bad. The vet thought it was some form of hepatitis but wouldn't know for sure until the biopsy results came back. She prepared us for what to expect when we came to visit Aspen the next day. She said she was very out of it and also was very bloody from the surgery.
A couple hours later we got another call from the vet to say that Aspen had not made it. She had died in her sleep. Both Jason and I were devastated. We just kept racking our brains on what she could have gotten into. To this day it is very hard to believe she is gone. She was was so young and such a huge part of our life. We loved her so much and just couldn't imagine our lives without her. Charlie was actually handling it better than I thought he would. He would just search the house for her and stuck pretty close to either myself or Jason. He seemed lost without her and didn't really know what to do when I let him outside.
We didn't get the biopsy results until the following Tuesday (almost a week after Aspen passed) that her liver was covered with cancer cells. We were happy to have closure and know what the cause was. It also helped to know that it was nothing we did or could have prevented. We just don't know how long she had been sick. We read so much about liver problems in dogs and we learned that dogs don't really show signs of liver failure until it is too late. We have an amazing vet who truly cared for Aspen and was just as devastated as us. We know she did everything she could.
We miss Aspen everyday. I was so excited to see how she would be with our baby. I thought she would become a little mama protector and bond with the baby. I have pretty much cried the entire time writing this post. I know that I will eventually be able to talk about Aspen without crying but will never forget her.
Goodbye my beautiful princess.
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