Well as you might imagine this is not really a post I wanted to have to write anytime soon. I had to travel for work in January and I was a little bit worried about him before I left. But there was nothing obviously wrong with him. And he seemed ok when I got back. A couple of days later he wouldn't lift his head up so I took him to my regular vet. She thought that it might have been pain related (a reasonable assumption with his spinal arthritis) and gave me some prednisone for him. He had his regular chiro appointment scheduled for the following day and she thought that was a good idea. Took him to see Dr Linda on Tuesday and what was supposed to be just a chiropractic appointment turned into another full fledged exam. Dr Linda is one of the most intuitive vets I have known. She did not like the was his pulses felt compared with how hard his heart seemed to be working. She didn't think the lifting his head was really pain related though it was hard to tell with the prednisone on board. She recommended I take him back to my regular vet and get a chest x-ray. Took him back down to my regular vets office even though my regular vet wasn't working that day. An ultrasound showed a tumor in Keegan's heart. :-( They said it could be weeks or it could be months before I would have to make any decisions. What was really freaky was his diagnosis was on the day that I lost Logan two years ago. Unfortunately it was only a week before I made the decision to let him go. He had stopped eating and really couldn't move without help. When he didn't even wag his tail when my dad came to visit I knew that it was time to let him say goodbye. I think both my vet's were almost as upset as I was on that day. I will be forever grateful to have had vets that care so deeply about my dogs. And the support staff from the receptionists to the to the vet tech's were great.
Keegan taught me way more than I ever thought I wanted to know about dog behavior and brought me several close friends that I will always be thankful for. I will be forever grateful for the things he brought into my life.
I know he touched many lives in his travels and he will be missed by many of my friends as well.
Here he is at a nosework trial last September doing his container search. He loved nosework and I am so glad that he was able to have something to do after Logan died.
And some video .... This is of an interior search early last year.
I'm going to miss my boy - but I know he has many friends at the bridge to keep him company.
