💔

I lost my oldest nugget this morning. Dolce had been diagnosed with Congestive Heart Failure back in late October. He was on a cocktail of medications and a special diet to help prolong his life, but he lost the battle this morning.

We brought him to the vet yesterday when I noticed he had started breathing very heavily and coughing. We did what we could there and made an appointment for him to go have another echocardiogram done with a cardiologist tomorrow, but I knew in my heart he probably wouldn’t make it. He wouldn’t stand to pee and couldn’t move much on his own by yesterday evening, but he mustered up the strength to come into the room and wake me up at 6am to say goodbye. He passed before I woke back up at 8:45. My dad reminded me this morning that my grandfather passed away at 6:05am on 06/05, so I’m (probably strangely) comforted by the fact that he came to get my little man and that they are together.

I was somewhat prepared for this after the scare in October, but I’m still shocked that it actually happened. He went from acting like a puppy and doing his little spin moves for food in the morning to gone in less than 24 hours. It was heartbreaking to watch him struggle to breathe. I miss him, but I’m glad he is no longer in pain. I’m so thankful for the time we had together. ❤️

Dolce fun facts: I got him in my senior year of high school and used to sneak him into my Key Club meetings in my jacket.
He went everywhere with me, including dance class where he picked up all the ladies. Though I think he preferred men.
Which brings me to him loving to wear clothes. He particularly liked the pink cowboy hat that Bruce bought for him.
He was less than 1lb when I got him! He fit in the palm of my hand!
I got a crazy discount on him because his balls dropped and they were so big that the breeder thought he had a severe hernia. 😂
He has moved with me all over the US: San Diego for college, NY, SC (Columbia, Mount Pleasant, and 2 different houses in Aiken), and 2 different houses in FL. He was my co-pilot for many years.
He was completely obsessed with squeaker toys and tennis balls. I had to stop buying tennis balls years ago because the fuzz would get stuck in his teeth, yet he would somehow still manage to make one appear every now and then.
He knew that he was allowed in bed after a bath, so he would immediately run to the side of the bed and whine until you put him in it.
He burrowed under the blankets and had to be touching me when he slept in my bed.
He should have died about 10 times by now between getting his butt kicked trying to mess with dogs bigger than him (he thought he was 150lbs), picking on the cats, falling, food allergies, and a flea medicine scare (do not use that Walmart flea junk), but he was one tough cookie.

I’ll have scheduled posts going up, but please excuse my silence for a couple of days with responses. I had to deal with that this morning and immediately get on the road to SC for a graduation ceremony tonight, then driving all
the way back to FL tomorrow. I just need a minute to breathe and I’ll be back at it. Work/normalcy help me get through times like these. I still have some Dropbox stuff to send out and people to add to Snapchat, so hang tight! Love you guys! Hug your furbabies for me— Or tweet me pictures of them! ❤️