Gonzo passed away peacefully with the aid and compassion of Laps of Love at Calvary Cemetery, surrounded by a few close friends and family, laying on his boy’s grave on Sunday.

Unfortunately after my last post, he took a bad turn. He did not respond well at all to chemotherapy  hours later, and he woke me up frantically pawing to get outside in the early morning hours after he already had had several episodes of bloody diarrhea in the house.

He was admitted overnight to the MedVet ICU and they felt he had developed a GI illeus. They took impeccable care of him and he was sent home with a new regimen of medications that were supposed to help him feel better and stimulate his appetite.

He declined quickly, and despite all of the medications and a buffet of options for him to choose from, he refused to eat. He could not get comfortable…getting up and moving constantly. He was miserable and exhausted.

I asked him if he was ready to go see Grady, and despite his extreme weakness due to significant weight loss and lack of rest for weeks, he looked at me with those beautiful brown eyes, sadder than I have ever seen, and placed his paw in my hand. I knew that I had to keep my promise to provide him with the best quality of life, and I was no longer able to keep that promise if we kept trying things that clearly were not working. It was time for him to be with Grady, as soul crushing as it was to make that decision and beyond disheartening that all our collaborative measures and valiant efforts to help him fight this terrible disease were not going to be the answer or the solution. By Sunday he had gone 4 days without eating. We could no longer watch him suffer.

I know so many of you are heartbroken by this news. I honestly still feel numb and can’t imagine our lives without him. He literally went everywhere with us, and was instrumental in helping us all cope with the loss of Grady James.

Thank you for all of you who have always showed nothing but love and support for Grady, Gonzo, our whole family, and beyond. I can’t fathom life moving forward without him with us…and witnessing all the joy he brought to everyone he met. Just like his boy.

Watching his sister saying good bye to her fur brother is a pain that I can’t even put into words. She has been through more than any 12 year old should experience in a lifetime, so please keep our sweet girl close to your hearts and in your prayers.

Grady and Gonzo are now together forever…in the grass forever green…in a time that’s now a dream. They will both be missed every single day and the only solace I can grasp for is that they have eachother…doing all the things they couldn’t do before.

Part of Gonzo’s ashes will be buried with Grady. Ironically Grady’s headstone came in…but the final design has not been approved, and it sickens me that where we have Gonzo’s paw print with his birthdate on the side of the stone with a dash…there is now a date that will be filled.

Hold on to your babies…both human and fur babies…family and friends…life is beyond precious, and there is obviously no guarantee of tomorrow.

I will forever be grateful to all those who helped bring Gonzo into our lives, and most recently, who tried to keep him with us…the generous donations and fundraisers…the years of continued support. Please continue to support 4 Paws for Ability and Ellie’s Rainy Day Fund. They changed our lives…just as you have…and now we all need to navigate how to continue both Grady and Gonzo’s legacies…not a small task for two Superheroes.

Love to you all