On Sunday night, he received his first blood transfusion because he was in dire need of red blood cells. On Monday, his red blood cell count actually went up and we were optimistic. Unfortunately, his red blood cell count steadily dropped over the next few days and hope as we might, his immune system never responded to treatment despite all the medication the vets tried. He was lethargic and depressed and refused to eat anything substantial. We were visiting him 3 times a day just to spend time with him and keep his spirits up. Last Friday, we drove 1 hour to get some top notch blood for his second transfusion. Lucky for us, we were friends with the head of the Animal Blood Bank and this high quality blood was available to us. We were hoping this 2nd transfusion would buy him time. I personally panicked, calling out Reiki friend and acupuncturist, I was ready to try anything to help Moqui. We prayed hard and so did our friends. We barely slept. We had a glimmer of hope when we saw him perk up Friday night after the 2nd transfusion and he even tried to hobble away from the vets office and towards our car. Unfortunately, by Saturday morning complications have started, he had bleeding in his brain, pancreatitis and jaundice to name a few. On Saturday afternoon, upon the advice of all our amazing vet friends we made the hardest decisions of our lives to let our little guy go, that it wasn’t fair to try to have him hang on while he suffered.

Saturday evening, we decided to bring him home so that he can spend his last few hours at home surrounded by our other dogs. We made a bed for him on the floor and he laid there and said hi to our other dogs and received their kisses. He even walked to drink some water and ate a little string cheese. We sat by him and shared our last hour with him before our dear friend, a veterinary oncologist and internist, came to help. We held him in our arms as he passed quietly and peacefully. As painful as this has been for both of us, we know he is no longer suffering and is in a much better place. He fought valiantly for 6 days and despite all resources, the evil disease just won. What is left may be the pain in our hearts but we have so many beautiful memories of the happy and cheerful dog he was.

Moqui, you were beautiful, you were the bounciest and happiest of all our dogs. You were always the first one to be buddies with each and everyone of our foster dogs. You were always cheerful, you always greeted us with a smile as you hopped and jumped around our feet. I am not ashamed to say that I wish you were home again with us sleeping by my chair as I work. We will always love you and miss you.

At the vets:

Moqui the way we remember him:

We wanted to thank all of our friends both online and not who have offered words of encouragement, support and even their prayers. We are very lucky to be surrounded by such a beautiful community. Thank you so much everyone. And hug all your kids, furry and human, for us.