Bye Lily

It is with great sadness that we report that we lost a very special member of our family last night. At 10:20 PM last night, we had to put Lily "Pooshin" Anderson to rest. Lily has been part of our life for over 12 years now, and her spirit will be in our lives for some years to come, just as those who have been in our family before and proceeded her across the Rainbow Bridge.

Lily left us in the same city that she came to us basically, Sacramento. We purchased her from a breeder 12 years ago and she has experienced much of Carol's and my 16 years of life together. She has been through every home with us together and always been an extremely important member of our family. We've had other Boxers Hannah, and Tyson who have passed before her. All of them have been special in their own ways, each individuals with their little traits that make us laugh or make us cry and every one of them hold a very special place in our hearts. Lily was something special though. Most boxers don't live past the age of 8 or 9, but with the help of Dr's Port, Wong and McKai of the Sacramento veterinary referral center her in Sacramento, Lily beat the odds the last four years of her life.. Despite her 3" medical file that would give the impression that she had a very rough life, she always went through life with a twinkle in her eye and a wagging of that longer than average, but none the less docked, Boxer tail.

For myself, I will always remember how much she loves us. She was always happy to see us when we would come home, which for a dog, that is nothing un-usual. Lily's special something with me though was that she always wanted to clean my ears, sometimes after cleaning profusely, some un-desirable body part of her own. I've felt bad for her the last year or so, as she has lost weight, but we've known for sometime that something was going on with her. Because of her Severe heart disease, she has never been a surgical case but for over the last couple years, we've known that her digestive functions haven't been right. The type of food that seemed to agree best with her was canned dog food. She seemed to digest it alright, but between that and other things like maybe a tumor that was going on inside of her, we just couldn't put weight on her.

Over the last week or so, she has been fighting a bladder infection. Though her appetite seemed ok, she seemed to struggle lately to finish all of the food we put out for her. Last night when we put her down, she had gotten to a point where she couldn't breath and she couldn't find a position to lie down to get comfortable. Though her tail was still wagging, her eye's were telling us she was sad, and that it was time to go.

She leaves behind more love than anyone can imagine. And though a loss of a great loving dog like Lily is so very hard, her spirit will always be with all of us that had the honor to know her. Run free little "Pooshin Pup" run free! We love you and we always will! Tell Papa Calvin, Roxy, Hanna, Tyson and all of the rest, "We will see you on the other side!"

Love, Eric