With mixed feeling of profound sadness and also joy, we report passing of Cassie today.  Her lungs got filled with fluid caused by rapidly progressing cancer cells, and even after 2.2 litters of it was drained just this past Tuesday, it became too difficult for her to keep on going.  The way she recovered on Wednesday gave us a small hope that maybe, she would have a while longer to go.  By Thursday evening, hover, her breathing was laboring again, and she could not sleep at all Thursday night.

She was a true trooper to the very end - surviving a rare disease of canine aspergilosis when she was 4, then losing her front leg to the darn bone cancer when she was 10 but thriving as a tripawd and enjoying her life to the fullest for another year, until today. She was a mountain biking, hiking, snow shoeing, swimming, camping, trail working dog that traveled so many places with her pawrents and couldn't ever get enough outdoor time. 

We are convinced that a guardian angel was watching over her because she went over the rainbow bridge in the comfort of her own home as all of her people, including my daughter who happened to come home 2 days ago from Colorado without any knowledge of what was happening, watched over and petted her as she drifted into sleep.  She also got to have her last walk with all of us this morning, with her favorite snow on the ground to boot.

Sadness, because we can't yet imagine our lives without Cassie.  Joy, because we were so blessed to have had 9 fantastic years with Cassie as an integral part of our family. 

Thanks for everyone's advice, empathy, understanding and encouragement during her journey as a tripawd. This site really kept us going when things were tough.  Please give your puppy some extra hug tonight in her honor.