It was an ordinary Friday afternoon; the dogs had been outside enjoying the weather. I let them all in and they were bouncing around trying to tell me it must be dinner time. I told them, let’s wait another 30 minutes. Finn was not happy. I sat down on the couch, and he decided to join me laying across my lap. I sat petting and loving him for the next 30 minutes and then I told them all, ok, time to eat.

Finn immediately jumped up from the couch onto the floor bouncing and barking, yay, time to eat. We all went into the kitchen for food prep. I walked him into the laundry room and placed his bowl in his stand. He immediately started chowing down.

I walked out to the kitchen to feed the other two. I stood at my counter, glanced over to the laundry room, and I saw him laying down. I knew this was so unusual, never had he done this. I walked in and asked what’s wrong? He looked up at me with those soulful eyes as if to say Mom, something is wrong. I tried to help him up, but he did not want to.

I knelt on the floor, held his jaw in my hand and looked in his mouth, a shock and chill went thru me as I saw his gums were almost white. I jumped up and told him to stay and ran down to the other end of my house to get my shoes and phone and he got up and moved to the living room, now lying on his side. I called my daughter to rush over and help me get him in the car to go to the ER.

Within 5 minutes my daughter and her husband were there. We put him on a blanket stretcher and put him in the car. I called the ER on the way, told them what happened. They were waiting curbside when we arrived. I jumped out of the car, we put him on the stretcher, and they rushed him inside. I was a wreck, I knew something terrible was wrong, and it wasn’t good.

About 10 minutes past I was leaning against the back of my car and out of the corner of my eye I saw the Vet and the 2 techs approaching me, I immediately started crying. I heard her voice telling me that he had gone into cardiac arrest by the time they got him on the table. They did get it going again, but… it appears that he has a mass that had ruptured on his spleen and fluid was also surrounding his heart and she said… there is nothing we can do for him.

My heart shattered into a million pieces at that moment. This could not be happening! I tried to get some composure and I asked what you think it was, this was a very healthy dog who showed no symptoms of anything being wrong. She said, I suspect from the echo and ultrasound and what you have told me that it was Hemangiosarcoma.

I buckled at the knees, my boy, my most accomplished Beardie that I ever owned was gone. We weren’t done together; it was so unfair. All this happened within 30 minutes.

As I said goodbye to him and told him I had failed him, there must have been something that I missed, didn’t notice, I am so sorry. I relive this day over and over in my head trying to figure out what had happened. The guilt remains heavy.

I didn’t realize until time had passed, and I began researching this disease, and talking with other owners how many other Beardies had gone thru this same thing.

Mary Maurer