Boo Crosses the Rainbow Bridge

I moved to Colorado ten years ago.  I moved in with my sister and brother-in-law until I saved up and moved into my own apartment.  When I arrived, I was greeted by two Samoyeds - Suki and Boo.  Suki had already earned her Champion points in the show ring 4 years previously, and Boo was one of the puppies from her only breeding.  Boo was three and received an invitation to attend the Eukanuba National Show in Tampa, Florida that year.  Suki became ill at age 14 - old age problems - and crossed he Rainbow Bridge.  Boo crossed the Rainbow Bridge at 9:45 this morning, due to liver cancer. She was 13.  Both of these girls were big loves.  They will be missed with great intensity....

Boo     4 July 2014

(Starquest Princess Suki's Peek-a-Boo)

Starquest Princess Suki's Peek-A-Boo

I moved to Colorado in mid-November of 2004.  Boo, my brother-in-law's Samoyed, was 3 years old and had just been invited to the Eukanuba Invitational Championship at Tampa, Florida.  We were all excited, but the handler/breeder decided that Boo was just too hyperactive to take on a road trip that would last at least 3 days, one way.  For a year, though, we all called Boo "Eukanu-Boo."  Four years ago, Boo started limping on her left hind; it was diagnosed as bone cancer.  Jim and Kathy took Boo up to the Colorado State University Veterinary School, in Fort Collins, and found there was a program of radiation and chemical therapy combined that had proven effective in fighting Boo's type of cancer.
   In mid-May, Boo started to seem as if she didn't care whether she ate, or not.  She was still interested in what were, normally, treats - but she wasn't up and wanting breakfast at the crack of dawn, nor was she eating as if there was no tomorrow.  Soon, she was skipping eating breakfast.  Then Jim went to spend a week with his brother in South Dakota, who underwent brain surgery recently.  Boo wouldn't eat much at all for mys sister, Kathy. When Kathy joined Jim in South Dakota, I pulled Boo over to Rosie's house and kept them together.  Seeing Rosie eat on the other side of the glass door, Boo ate her meals - but not with gusto.
   When Kathy and Jim returned, and Boo went home, Boo stopped eating again.  She'd take a bite of this or that, but had real no appetite. Jim took Boo in for a check-up last week; on Friday, her blood tests came back.  Tuesday, she had an abdominal ultrasound performed.  Her abdominal cavity was full of fluid (the vet removed 1.5 liters) and she had a tumor the size of a baseball on her liver.  Boo is now on anti-nausea medications, and an acid reflux medicine, as well.  The fluid and the tumor press on her stomach, and make her believe that she is full of food and contented.  In reality, her pounds are melting off.  All we can do is make her comfortable, and give her lots of love  - and recognize when she is truly suffering, so we can say goodbye.  
   I met Jim in December 1979, when he and Kathy first started dating.  He has always had at least one Samoyed as a companion...  I'm not sure what he and Kathy will do when Boo crosses the Rainbow Bridge.

Critters

Boo has a great time when it's muddy outside - takes forever to get her clean and dry again!

Maggie always looks startled

Mustang stallion in Utah

Red fox

Last night, around 11 p.m., I was walking back to Maggie's having taken Boo out for a final bathroom break, when I heard the sound of two running animals coming from my left.  I was walking on the edge of the residential street and there are no street lights in the area.  They critters were coming closer, and I was amazed to have a red fox run across my right shoe.  The fox was breathing very heavily and running at full speed; then the chaser appeared - a coyote. I turned toward the coyote, waved my hands and yelled.  The coyote put on the brakes and retreated back into Olivier's yard.  I stood there for a few minutes, hoping to give the fox another chance at a full life.  Then I walked back to Maggie's, not hearing the coyote cross the street.

My Usual Canine Companions

Rosie and her favorite blue bone

 

Remy in his "Help 'Em Up" harness

 

Boo

 

Mona, the Catahoula Leopard dog - She's wearing the cone because she was just spayed...