It is with great sadness, heavy hearts and lots of tears that we share Hedwig's final update.
Hedwig had an amazing weekend at home with our clinic manager and vet tech, Erica. He made new four-legged friends, including cows and other dogs, soaked up as much sunshine as possible, and couldn't stop wagging his tail. He was happy couldn't help but show it.
On Sunday, the 15-16 year old basset hound who was found close to death last week started going downhill. He showed signs of an upper respiratory infection, expelling mucous from his nose and mouth and he refused to eat anything. He kept vomiting mucous and was having difficulty breathing.
Dr. Sumner, our shelter veterinarian, worried that Hedwig could be suffering from either pneumonia or cancer. X-rays hadn't been done up to this point because Dr. Sumner worried that he wasn't stable enough and he had been making such great improvements that we wanted to keep him as stress-free as possible. However, they were now vital, and because of your amazing donations towards Hedwig's care, we were able to rush him to Adrian Animal Clinic for these x-rays that would tell us what was happening to our old guy.
X-rays at Adrian Animal Clinic this morning revealed a large tumor pressing painfully on Hedwig's lungs, along with several smaller tumors scattered throughout his lungs. His cancer was terminal.
We made the difficult decision to prevent Hedwig from suffering. Erica held him in her arms as he crossed the Rainbow Bridge and reminded him how much he was loved during his final days.
Thank you for your love and dedication to Hedwig. His "family" now spans across the entire country, with many of you asking about him daily. Although he wasn't with us long, you made sure that his life mattered and that he will always be remembered. You smiled with us, cried with us, and now unfortunately, grieve with us.
Thank you for giving Hedwig the gift of life, love, and freedom during his final days. He was so blessed to have you, and so are we.
