Most of you know that we had to leave our sweet beagle, Jenni, in the US when we moved to China. It was a very difficult decision that was only made after many tear filled conversations. She was really too old to be put in cargo for a 13 hour flight and we had no idea what kind of vet care we could find for her in China. We were very grateful that my brother and sister-in-law offered to take her in. This past November my sister, Steph and mom and dad began sharing responsibility for Jenni because Rob and Steph were getting ready for Kylee (niece) to arrive! Every time we saw Jenni we were so thankful she was being taken care of and loved just as she would have been if we were home. I truly thought that we would even be able to take her back once we moved back.
Unfortunately in the beginning of March, Jenni started going downhill. She was losing weight fast. My mom sensed that something was wrong, but I think she wanted to believe that Jenni had eaten something or had a virus. Finally in the middle of March while Jenni was being loved on by Steph and Jeff, it was obvious to me that she needed to be taken to the vet. Steph bravely took her in hoping she would be picking her up in a couple of days. Unfortunately, our family vet found a tumor in Jenni’s stomach. He knew she would not survive an operation and told us that the best thing we could do was put her down. We have used this doctor since I was little and my entire family has complete trust in him. Through many tears on the phone, I had to give my mom permission to put sweet Jenni out of her pain. It was terrible not being able to be there and hold Jenni for one last time - she was a part of our lives for 13 years. However, when we decided to leave her in the US we were fully aware that this might happen and there was absolutely no way I was going to try and put my family through trying to keep her alive for a couple of months because of my own selfishness.
We have all had a good cry here in China, but will probably be faced with more tears when we go “home” and she doesn’t come running out the door howling her ridiculously loud howl!!
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