Saying goodbye to a furry loved one

Hi Everyone!  I'm back. Dave and Keaton keep asking if I've been blogging and I said I haven't been.  The reason?  I Just haven't wanted to post about our dog Cleo and I knew that would be the first thing I'd have to do.

Our dog Cleo was put down to sleep last month.  She was only 8 yrs old.  She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma(bone cancer) only a month before and it was very aggressive.  It was so hard to see her go and I don't ever want to make the decision to put a dog down again.   She picked us, our son, when she was a puppy and that made her even more special to us.  She was such a joy and brought so much happiness to our home and to those who came over to visit.  Cleo was so vocal, looking out of Keaton's bedroom window barking at passer by's or animals, greeting Dave when he would get home from work or whining because she wanted us to pet her.   All of those things we now miss.  Even until the end she still had a wag in her tail.   We will miss her each and every day.  We are lucky to have Ace dog during this time of change in our family, but his personality is just so different than Cleo's.

                                                       She'll always be our (Queen) Cleopatra.

                                             R.I.P.  Cleopatra Teabag Blues  5/1/03-8/31/11

When I first found out about her cancer the first thing I thought of was...What did I do wrong?  Then I started doing research on canine cancer. I was also finally able to track down the couple who own Cleo's dad, they also kept one of her siblings.  They told me that Cleo's mother died from cancer 3 years ago which would put her at about 8/9years old.  The pup they kept and another sibling has tumors starting to grow but they are not cancerous.  Another sibling has hind leg issues.  The rest so far are healthy like the father who is still alive at age 13.  So it seems that the  mother passed on some unhealthy genes but like humans I do believe in diet and disease.

I then started researching more about dog food.  I already try to feed them the best kibble but even at that I'm always on the lookout for something better. .  What I have found out is that the more fresh a dog's food is the healthier it is for them.  Like us humans, eating cereal and processed foods only....we are not going to be the healthiest.  When we eat fresh foods that's when our health is optimal.  Dogs are the same.  The first dry dog treat was invented in the 1800's than after WWII dry kibble became popular because it was less expensive.   Feeding our animals human grade food or fresh food rather than a kibble just makes more sense but it does come with a price tag.  My goal is to slowly add more fresh food into the diet of Ace than hopefully completely change over.  I'll let you know of a couple of good pet food companies I've found in my research next post.

Until then...which I promise will be sooner than later.