Ginger April 5, 2002- January 21, 2014
Ginger was the last puppy remaining from a litter that was born at the Longmont Humane Society. She was adorable! We felt so lucky when we brought Ginger home. She was spunky, independent, self-centered, and bossy from the start. She made sure that she was the center of attention, and if anyone paid too much attention to our labrador retriever, Jazz, she was sure to knock her out of the way.
At 6 months old, we noticed Ginger began itching and biting herself a lot. She eventually began taking steroids to help with the itching. The medication helped a bit, but Ginger always had a wound or two on her legs and bald patches on her body from the itching. She would go off in secret and nibble at her arms.
Ginger eventually became our only dog, as we lost our labrador due to cancer. We believe Ginger was secretly pleased that she didn’t have to fight for anyone’s attention anymore, as she became the main dog with Jazz out of her way.
We grew close to Ginger, and she to us, after the loss of Jazz. We learned from the loss of our other dog how fast the time went, so we made sure to give Ginger kisses and hugs, and tickles everyday.
Over the past year, Ginger’s appetite had changed. She was still hungry, but she wouldn’t eat certain foods any longer. Apparently her kidneys were failing and it was affecting her appetite for certain foods. We resorted to fast food hamburgers or anything we could get her to eat. The past couple weeks of her life, we were lucky to find anything she would eat. We bought every different kind of dog food, treat bags, fast food meals, but she wasn’t interested. She backed away in horror of the smell of food. She began vomiting each day. We knew the time had come. It was an agonising decision.
We know Ginger is at peace now, eating all the food she wants now, and knocking Jazz out of the way. We miss having our snuggle fests and we even miss her gas bombs. We were lucky to have her and we were lucky to be able love her everyday.
Julie, Mallory, Zach, and G & G