This morning, Ranger earned his true independence.  He was almost 12 years old.

We got Ranger and his sister Libby from some friends who found them on their front porch the morning after Thanksgiving in 2008.  They came to live with us in Houston and throughout the years gave us unlimited love and joy.

In August 2019, Ranger had his teeth cleaned and also had a benign growth removed from his paw.  A couple of weeks after that healed, I went to the grocery store.  Upon my return, Ranger was limping.  He had been inside the entire time I was gone, so could not chalk up the limp to an accident.  We took him to the vet for examination and she decided to take a couple of x-rays.  When she came back into the room, she said that she thought he had bone cancer and referred us to a specialist.  Long story short, Ranger had his front left leg amputated on October 22, 2019.  And now comes Tripawds to the rescue.  Ranger was not a dog that liked change, and having that limb removed really threw him for a loop.  When I became disheartened, I got my strength through my friends on this site.  After not wanting to walk for 9 days, he finally took his first steps.  On to chemo we went, hoping that the treatments would gain him another year or more.  He finished treatments in March with no visible signs on metastatic disease.  He had a check up at the beginning of June which indicated some fluid outside of his lungs.  During his last check up on June 30th, the fluid was gone, but several masses had formed.  We had already decided we would not put him through another round on chemo, and the oncologist agreed.  He told us we probably had another 2 or 3 months with him, but that was not to be the case.  Early this morning, 7/4/2020, Ranger had several coughing spells.  He was a good boy and went outside to take care of doggie business, but once back in, it was evident that we needed to get him to the vet.  We put him in the car, I called the vet to let them know we were on the way;  but sadly, by the time we got there, Ranger was already gone.  But, he was with his human mommy and daddy and for that we are grateful.

Would we do it all over again?  Absolutely!  We did not want to risk Ranger breaking that bone and being in a lot of pain, so in our minds we had no choice.  I don't like how these last few months have been for him, but I am certain Ranger has regained the ability to run, play, and explore.

A heartfelt thanks to all of you who have been through this and are going through this.  I offer my thanks, my prayers, and my love.  Keep it going.

Regards,

Cindy (Ranger's human mommy)