Goodbye MooDoggie

Mushka was always his own dog and much the individualist, and so his cancer was very different than Sam's cancer. That didn't make the last few days, and especially today, any easier.
After doing more research on the tumor growing on his spleen and liver, we realized we were gambling with time if we kept him for very long. His fever kept cycling higher and his appetite was diminishing even while offering him chicken. We spent all day Friday and Saturday with him trying desperately to appreciate every second. Last night and this morning we tried to use cold compresses to bring his temp down but it didn’t seem to work. He ate a small breakfast and we gave him his meds but the fever stayed high.
Today, six months after we lost Sam, we had to say goodbye to Mushka. Dr. Stoll and Charman came to the house at 11am and were as caring and supportive as Dr. Stoll and Dawn had been with Sam in February. Sadly, Dawn had a car accident today and wasn't able say goodbye to Mushka. Our hearts broke when we heard her news. We are very grateful that they would come to our house for our final goodbye. Mushka was not a fan of Vet offices, but did enjoy his time outside. Ever the guard dog, he got up and summoned his last bit of energy to bark at them when they came into the screen porch. We were able to calm him and had him lay down between us while they setup his IV. We were there for Sam in February and we were there for Moo today, telling him we loved him and that he was a good dog.
After Dr. Stoll and Charman left, we spent quality goodbye time with him under his favorite cherry tree. We kissed on his snout more than he ever would have allowed when he was alive. That Moo Doggie did have a kissable snout!
At 2pm we took Mushka to Southeastern Pet Cremation. Christy Blanton was there to meet us and was very supportive. She'd lost her shepherd, Fletcher, recently so we shared shepherd stories while she made a paw print of Moo's back paw. The day was eerily like our last day with Sam. We helped her place Moo in the same cremation unit where we'd said goodbye to Sam.
We chose to sit outside in our car and look at photos while the last of Moo left us. The same type of bird that flew overhead on Sam's last day was back, but this time there were two of them, flying together.
We brought Mushka home and placed him along side our SamDog.
They are with us for too short of a time, and when they go, it is so fast. Mushka was our first dog together. We adopted this four month old 32lb pup from the Chapel Hill Shelter Nov. 6th 1998 and our lives were forever changed. Today, we said goodbye to Mushka and again, our lives are forever changed.
We love you Mushka and we’ll never ever forget you.