Otis 2007 - 2018

We said goodbye to our beloved Otis on February 5, 2018. 

He had been getting increasingly lethargic for a week or two and finally on the weekend of Super Bowl, he was barely moving around. We just had him at the vet three weeks before that because he had a couple wetting accidents, which was so unusual. They did some tests and everything came back fine. On Monday February 5, I called the vet and explained what was going on and they asked me to get a urine sample and bring it in. When you have a dog like Otis who never wanders off, you never really watch them urinate, but when I got the sample, it was obvious that something was going on because his urine was so dark, almost brown. I ended up bringing Otis to work with me in the afternoon because the vet squeezed us in for an appointment at 5:30. I picked up Parker and we headed to the vet. 

The reason he was so lethargic is because he was severely anemic due to numerous large tumors on his spleen. If we hadn't brought him in, he probably would have died that night from the anemia. They were 90% sure the tumors were malignant and the option to try and fight that involved surgeries and had only a slim chance of working. We decided to put him to sleep. Greg and Graham came to the vet office's and we left without him that night. Here is his last photo.

It was so hard because we didn't expect that to be the outcome. We still miss him every day and the kids still talk about him too.

Here are the photos I put on Facebook to remember him:

He really was an amazing dog. So loyal, he never wanted to leave our sides. He was happiest when he was outside. If we weren't out in the yard to play fetch with him, he had a couple favorite spots to lay and keep an eye on the backyard and the street. As you can tell by the photos, he loved to swim, but mostly he just loved to be with his family. 

When we get another dog someday, he/she has some VERY large shoes to fill.