Day 329 – Thursday 23rd March 2006
Not the best of days today.
I took Cleo to the vets today to get an X-ray and possibly biopsy done. It’s a sedation job for Cleo, so I left her in the vet’s good hands. When I returned I got kp up and we had a nice breakfast although were both a little quiet, probably anxious about the outcome with Cleo.
kp went back to bed after breakfast and about lunchtime the vet phoned with the bad news. Cleo has bone cancer and the growth in her ankle is a large tumour. They couldn’t be sure if it had spread yet. The vet didn’t recommend amputating her leg as this is not always a good idea with larger dogs. The prognosis is it’s terminal and just a matter of time. The vet hinted at putting her to sleep now, but I am normally good at telling when the right time comes and it isn’t now. She loves her walks so much despite it being a 3-legged affair.
I had to break the news to Karen which was very hard and she got very upset. During the day, she picked herself up and her mood is better than it was but she is still subdued. She was due to dine with Sue tonight at Chevitas in Durham, but she didn’t feel up to it. Sue was understanding.
I picked Cleo up from the vets and we spent quite a bit of the afternoon with all 3 of us (kp, me and Cleo) on the sofa. Here is Cleo (the leader of the pack) on the sofa doing her “soulful look”. It’s a real killer. 
Generally a sombre afternoon.
kp has just gone for a lie-down. She is ok. We had a bit of a chuckle in the bedroom. She sat on the side of the bed before flinging her legs up on to the bed. Just before she flung her legs. I said……..
dp:- Do you remember when I used to get you into bed ?
And I did the usual routine of grabbing her legs and lifting them on the bed. She laughed.
dp:- And when I used to turn you on to your side ?
And I went through the commotion of that routine, which involved putting my hands underneath her and pulling her over.
More chuckles
It’s nice that she can laugh with such bad news. Distraction is definately the key at the moment.
March 24th, 2006 at 12:09 am
Hi kp and dp, so sorry about CLEO,you both know what a softy i am, ( home coming dvd etc )glamourous gussy goes home looking like she has done ten rounds with mike tyson,i am sure all your friends and loved ones have shed a tear or two.So after a brief blog update twitters is the twisted one so that makes me bitter,,,,,, ( with a LEMON TWIST()) Great pictures on the blog of you KP,and who s that cute dogy walker,,,HA HA , has he got a brother….. !!!!!!as you can see david i have found my !!!!!!!!! You two take care and if you need us we ll be there,twitters will grab her SUPER NICKERS, more of a bloomer really………..OUCH !!!!thats for the clip I ll get of debs tomorrow for the bloomer gag ha ha …and i ll grab a lemon and be there in a flash ….. Lots of love to you both and all the fury babies…. LYDIA XXXX
March 24th, 2006 at 11:43 am
Absolutely gutted to hear about Cleo. Really really gutted.
Don’t know what else to say about it – I know you will both know when the right time is.
March 24th, 2006 at 10:42 pm
Hi ya you two,
Friday evening 10.30 and there’s been no blog today obviously. The news about Cleo has hit as hard as we all knew it would. I was telling my friends about Cleo in the pub tonight, the only thing I could think last night was, why Cleo, why your dog, why now. Even though she and her sister had me heart in me mouth in the middle of the night when going for a pee, many moons ago, but like us all, we ve got to know each other much more.
The dogs even put up with Janes snoring and as always they couldn’t be more loving.
Take care you two
I’ll be there this time in 7 days
Lots of love
Veronica
XXXXX