February 15, 2003

By Barb Hall, KC's mommy

We had to put KC down this morning. He was our 11 year old Doxy. We'd had him since late March of 1992, the weekend before I lost my mom.

He was getting sicker and sicker. From what the symptoms were we think he had diabetes, congestive heart failure, and old age.

He had lost a lot of weight, was drinking excessive amounts of water, coughing, and lost a lot of muscle. It was getting harder and harder for him to get around, up in chairs, up the steps, etc.

This morning, when I checked on him; l laid down on the floor next to his bed in the livingroom and asked him if it was time for him to go (he had stopped sleeping with me several weeks ago, wouldn't even come into my bedroom when it was bed time anymore). He crawled over next to me and licked my chin, blinked his cataract covered eyes and sighed. I knew it was time.

Red didn't offer to take him to the vet for me so I knew I'd have to do it. Broke my heart, but someone had to do it.

We don't know if Wiley understands or not. He's been acting a little weird since I got back from the vet. We eventually plan on getting another dog to keep Wiley company but we want to see how he handles being the lone dog for a while.

KC had a good life, full of adventure. He was the best mouser, mole killer, and cat chaser. He loved to work cattle in the chute and at one time wanted to run away from home and be a cowboy and chew sneuce. If we needed help loading a balky horse, KC was there to nip at their heels and they'd load real fast. He was a good watch dog as long as he could stand behind me whenever a stranger came to the house.

And we can't forget the time he got all cut up defending our front yard from a raccoon. He liked to fetch his tennis ball and play pully-pully with an old sock. And he was the best bed warmer on those cold winter nights. We'll miss him.