Our entire family will be walking in the K9 Cancer Walk, sponsored by the Morris Animal Foundation, in San Diego Feb. 18. As our fundraising page is lacking, it doesn't allow us to provide more than one photo. But that doesn't do justice to our cause.
As we began this fundraising effort, we found that many of our friends have also been touched by dogs who have been lost to cancer. The beagle with the beautiful smile below is Blaze. I dare you not to smile when looking at him! He was owned by my friends, Chris and Ashley Borniger, and was so loved that they were the first to donate to our cause. I can still remember his adorable old man bark and all the stories Chris told of the beagle who could eat anything! We miss you, Blaze!
My friend, Lindsay Jones, lost her first dog as an adult to cancer last year as well. Her name is Lucy, and according to Lindsay, in her couple of months in her new home, chewed up two cell phones and three digital cable remotes! But she went on to become Lindsay's best friend, and
she is missed every day. We miss you, Lucy!
A few days after Muggsy passed, I received a wonderful email from one of my very favorite cousins, telling me that he had recently lost his beloved pet, our second Lucy, to bone cancer. The doctors thought she had a torn muscle and postponed treatment too long. Just like Muggsy, Lucy was my cousin's first pet as an adult, and as you can see from the picture below, she was a sweet, loving friend.
While this is officially a K9 Cancer Walk, we hope that strides made in curing canine cancer will help with feline cancer as well. We are friendly to all in the animal kingdom, and just this week my dear friend Karin lost her beloved cat, Kayla, to a mass in her lungs that was likely cancer. As with Muggsy, Kayla didn't live to hear her diagnosis, but she was a sweet, loving cat who survived crazy cat roommates and stood by Karin through a couple of major life changes. We will miss you, Kayla!
Toby was a favorite around our house as he and Chubbs often sympathized over what it was like to have a sibling who wasn't that fond of them. He was one of the nicest dogs you'll ever meet, eager to greet and please everyone. He was taken from us quite recently and suddenly as a result of liver cancer. We miss you, Toby, and will be proud to walk in your honor. (Toby is the golden closest to the camera!)
Like Muggsy, Charlie Brown died five months after his 10th birthday. For reasons that are currently unknown to us but are being researched thanks to funding from our K9 Cancer Walk, goldens are very susceptible to cancer. Charlie Brown died suddenly, leaving his owners devastated at the loss of such a sweet, loving friend. He is still missed, two years after his death.
Now, we are walking for Muggsy, Blaze, Lucy, Lucy, Kayla, Toby, Charlie Brown and Scotty, who isn't pictured but was so loved that his owner still talks about him and yearns for a Scottie a decade later. I hope we can make enough money to improve diagnostic tools and treatment so fewer owners lose their beloved dogs before their time. To donate, visit http://support.morrisanimalfoundation.org/site/TR/Events/CCC?px=1085188&pg=personal&fr_id=1190. Thank you!
Love, Robby, Melinda, Chubbs and Fenway
I'm so glad you're doing this walk, Melinda. Lucy died on Feb. 15, 2011 at age 8 after a yearlong battle with canine lymphoma. She went through two full rounds of doggie chemo and twice entered remission, though the second time was brief. She started her life in Florida, but was never happier than when we moved to Colorado, where she could roll in the snow and run around in the mountains with her doggy cousins. She spent the last 3 weeks of her life sharing her house with a precocious labradoodle puppy, Ewing, who came to stay with us under horrible circumstances. She was so sweet and patient with him -- she let him chew on her ears, bat her head with his puppy paws, and she taught him Big Dog things like how to go up and down the stairs and how to go to the bathroom outside. Lucy was such a brave, strong girl throughout her whole fight with cancer. It is so unfair that lymphoma took her from me far too soon. - Lindsay
ReplyDeleteThank you for writing this. As I didn't know Lucy, my words can't do her justice the way yours do. She sounds like an amazing dog and great friend, and I am very sorry she was taken from you after only 8 years. Cancer sucks.
ReplyDeleteHi Melinda,
ReplyDeleteThank you for doing this...9 of our 12 family dogs all died of cancer; the most recent one in November. As you know, I just had to put down my little Kayla yesterday...she was my dear 4-legged feline, but like your Mugsy, she had extreme difficulty breathing and had a large, dense mass lodged on her lung. It was so large that it blocked the outline of her heart/lung in the xray. Basically one side of her chest cavity was white and the other was clear. Because she was 12.5, I didn't opt for internist tests, ultrasounds, etc... plus there was additional fear that if samples were taken her lung would collapse and/or there would be too much bleeding. I did not get confirmation that it was cancer, but it would be a pretty good assumption based on her very low white blood cell & platelet counts.
So please walk for Kayla even though she is a feline, as well as all our other Malamutes that succumbed to cancer: Rowdy, Cola, Jake, Brandy, Tika, Gent, Stormy, Tika and Shana.
I will, Karin! And if I can find a feline cancer organization, I will donate to that in Kayla's memory. I'm so sorry to hear that. It's exactly what Muggsy went through, and I can tell you that at that point, there's not much you can do. I'm sorry for all your losses, and I hope we can find better techniques for helping animals battling cancer.
ReplyDeleteWhat a wonderful thing you are doing for Muggsy's memory, Melinda. I'm so proud of you. Who knows, maybe all these animals will be walking with you in February - and Muggsy will be right by your side making sure none of them get too close to his mommy.
ReplyDelete