Memorial Diesel

It is with a heavy heart and much sadness that I write to tell you that we had to put Diesel down a few weeks ago due to metastasized cancer. We had no idea he was sick except for a infrequent cough which we had been to the vet about several times. One night he just started panting and couldn’t seem to catch his breath. We raced to the emergency vet where some initial diagnostic tests indicated he had a weak pulse, an enlarged liver (twice the normal size), a smaller than normal heart, and many many spots that looked like cancer in his lungs. They gave him some steroids and a sedative to relax the panting and allow him to lay down and rest until morning when we went to our local vet for euthanasia. I still can barely talk about him without crying. I know he was 11 1/2 but he was so full of life. The next morning he was starting with the excessive panting again…he just wasn’t well as our personal vet concluded also. He went at top speed, enjoying life, until he couldn’t. He didn’t waste a minute of his life and he made ours so much more full. He and Jack got along fine. Jack unfortunately died two weeks before but we knew he was sick with cancer so at least it wasn’t a total shock as with Diesel. I just thought he’d be with us for so much longer. October was a hard month for us with dogs. Our house is so empty. I am actively looking for a new adult or senior dog to adopt after thanksgiving.

Diesel was a great dog!!! I still can’t understand how his family gave him up. He never hurt a flea, loved our 3 year old granddaughter, was great with the cats AND with several feral kittens we brought inside to domesticate, and became my constant companion. I still look around in the car expecting to see him sitting in his seat behind mine, just happy to be with us. He had three wonderful weeks at a rental in the Finger Lakes in September with us, his one and only vacation. I miss him terribly.

As to the two pictures, one is he and Jack sleeping on a bag of bedding on our travels to the Finger Lakes. They were leashed into their respective seats but spread out to sleep, always OK being close to each other. The other is his smilling face…what a beautiful face!!

Thank you for Diesel. We loved him so much.