[Dailydrool] Onslow Update

[Onslow Basset]

I hate to be another sad posting as there seems to be way to many of these, but we had to let our fine friend go. We are desolate, heartbroken, in shock. It was so swift. The kind of cancer Onslow had - Hemophagocytic histiocytic sarcoma - was so aggressive and pervasive and accompanied by severe anemia. It was inoperable and virtually untreatable. He had one blood transfusion that helped him briefly, but then it became apparent that the merciful thing to do was to let him go. We would only prolong the inevitable - and his suffering. He was only 8.75 years old. He had been in excellent health with the exception of a little arthritis. These kinds of cancers don't show up in blood tests - he had just had his senior wellness exam about 4-5 weeks ago. A week or two ago, he started acting sluggish (could it be the weather we thought? it had been so cold and snowy), then wouldn't eat his breakfast.. but even then his vitals looked fine. Perhaps more arthritis meds were all he needed we thought. 5 days later no improvement and then pale gums and evident anemia. That was tuesday night. We let him go this Friday morning at about 4 a.m. Horribly, terribly swift. If you can afford to have your dog peridocially checked with ultrasound or some other kind of scan that can detect this sort of thing, do it. We  had no reason to look - and if we had, we might've caught it sooner and been able to treat it. 

Onslow was incredibly sweet fellow - very peaceful most of the time with an occasional outburst of pure Bassitude just because he could. He 'chose' my husband and in doing so, 'landed in clover' as we have always said. He was a beautiful Basset with a majestic head and countenance. But it was his spirit that has changed us. He was an example of God's mercy to us. God intended that he be with us for a time - it just wasn't as long as we wanted it to be. 

We are grieving big time. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers... 

Sue & Brian 

P.S. He is in the Drool Calendar on 9/29/14 - what would've been his ninth "gotcha day." A good likeness. He will ever be in our hearts.
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