Gobo Update

My poor little boy didn't have as much time as any of us hoped he would. Sunday, July 31, 2011, Gobo passed away. He'd basically stopped eating Friday and wasn't drinking much on Saturday. He sat and stared at the wall for a bit and was very lethargic. I honestly didn't expect him to make it through the night, so was very happy when I got up Sunday morning and he was awake and alert. He followed me around most of the morning and early afternoon. I thought maybe he'd gotten a bit of energy from somewhere, but he still refused to eat or drink anything.
Then, shortly after 3 PM (I'd just texted with my husband to let him know Gobo was still hanging on...) his legs gave out on him. Based on how things had gone with Rocky 4 years ago, I thought we had a few more hours. I wrapped him up in a towel and his blanket so I could hold him for a while and he went limp on me but was still breathing; then he started coughing. I thought maybe he needed to stretch out more so I moved him onto the couch and he just kept coughing up blood for a minute or two; still had no control over his muscles, he was completely limp. He finally quieted down and then he just stopped breathing. He was gone. From the time his legs gave out to when he was gone, was about 15 minutes. 3:20 and he was gone.
He'd been my baby for 4 years and I've been completely devastated by his sudden loss. The girls were out camping with their sister and brother in law that weekend, and Hubby was still away at work far off up on the slope. I miss him and want him back. I had to put this post off until now because I just couldn't handle writing it. Honestly, I can barely handle it now. I still cry sometimes and keep calling the other dogs by his name. We've lost other dogs before, but his hit me hard.

Why is it always weekends??

I was planning on trying to get a bunch of things done yesterday. It was warm and sunny, there were things I could do in the yard. We have a neighborhood meeting Tuesday night that I need to get paperwork ready for. I was trying to clean my desk and the kitchen. Laundry would have been nice to get done. Gotta start getting things ready for my step daughters to arrive in a month. Lots of things to do...
Nope. Instead we had a crisis. A small, furry crisis.

The big baby of the weekend has been our little 3 year old Pomeranian, Gobo. He was born with several birth defects and has had ongoing problems of one sort or another it seems. Last year he started having all sorts of skin problems and fevers. Vets couldn't figure out what was going on, because he'd always clear up the day before his appointment. We thought we'd figured out that he was having a food allergy, and after a few changes, she seemed to be all clear again. Yesterday something set him off and I discovered that he had chewed a large strip of fur and skin off his back. Not good. So I gave him a good shave and rubbed him down with some ointment and gave him some benedryl (vets had said it would help with the itching and fever) and put then he got all dressed in his little purple pj's to keep him from getting to it.
He was still all jumpy and itchy and the only thing that would calm him down was if I was holding him. So I spent most of yesterday with a little dog pouch strapped to my chest.
This was not the first time, and probably won't be the last time with him. I actually managed to get a few things done, (ok, I got my desk partially cleared and watched a bunch of Doctor Who online while he napped) so I was happy. Even though I didn't get all the things done that I'd really wanted to do, I simply can not feel as though I "wasted" a day being tied to the dog.
He is feeling better today and is currently napping on the other side of the room, though I suspect he will come over soon and want me to pick him up. Now that the swelling and redness have gone down, it looks like this round might have been due to some sort of bug bite or sting, which is much better then the other options for what might have caused it and it should start healing soon, though he will be in the pj's for a while.. (The bare patch is about 1 inch wide and nearly 3 inches long, so gonna have a big, itchy scab for a while..)
And yes, yes, he was named after Gobo Fraggle, though if people ask who are not familiar with our weird Muppet ways, we tell them it was a contraction of "good boy".. it just saves the headaches of trying to explain the entire history of Muppetdom.. and, honestly, that is kinds of how I got the idea for his name.. we couldn't decide which Muppet to name him after and once when I was telling him he was being a "good boy" it got kind of slurred into Gobo and it just kind of went from there.. though he's not much of a brave explorer... unless mommy's there to protect him. lol