Sad, sad day for my son and his best friend. FINAL UPDATE

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I have mentioned our son's Ridgeback mix, Leroy, before so some might remember him in some posts. He had been very weak and not eating over the weekend. Our son brought him in to the Vet on monday morning and Leroy was xrayed and blood tested and sent home to wait for results, thinking it was Valley Fever as it is quite prominent here.
The Vet called my son this afternoon to say, it's not Valley Fever, but worse, he has acute Leukemia and at best only a few days to two weeks to live.
As many of you may know this is a fatal disease and there really is no use prolonging the inevitable. Tonight he is very weak and having a very difficult time breathing. He can barely walk to go outside to go potty, so he is going downhill very quickly.

They are hoping he doesn't die at home as their 3 year old would certainly not understand why his "Bubba" won't get up and play with him, so they are considering taking him into the vet in the morning to help him pass without any suffering.

UPDATE: Sat. morning
My son and DIL are just in shock and feel this is just a punch in the gut, as Leroy is a strong, 98#, muscular, fit, running, hiking machine and we all expected him to live forever! He is only 6 1/2 yrs old. My son rescued him from someone who was on his way to bring him to a kill shelter when he was just a pup.
Leroy is his first dog in his whole life, as we never had dogs as the kids were growing up. He was his dog as he moved from apartment to apartment, as a single guy, as he met and then married his wife, as they had their dear little boy and woke up every single time that little baby cried and went to lay down by the rocker as my DIL breastfed, anytime, day or night. Leroy always lets my DGS crawl, grab,pinch, pull, poke, and play with him like the big gentle giant that he is. and because of how much my grandson loves his "Bubba" we used him as the theme for his 3rd birthday party in July. So we had a "Bubba Birthday" party.

 

Our son and wife are taking Leroy to the vet at 10:30 arizona tiime and unless the Vet can give them some time and Leroy can be very comfortable during his last days, they will put him to sleep today. I am getting my grandson this morning and saying my goodbyes to Leroy and then try to help them explain to this sweet 3 yr old, where his "Bubba" is. 

This is my favorite picture of Leroy and my grandson. Leroy weighs 4 times as much as Ethan and walks right by his side.

I guess I just needed to write this to make it seem real, and ask for prayers for Leroy and his family, at this difficult time. Thank you.

FINAL UPDATE: Leroy passed over the Rainbow Bridge at 11:20 Arizona time. Less than an hour ago. They are sad and going to miss him terribly for a very long time. Thank you everyone for your kind thoughts and words.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

So sorry to hear about Champ. None of us in our family have lost a pet yet, so this was traumatic to everyone as Leroy was the first of the family dogs. Now we all can relate with much more empathy when we hear of others loosing their pets. Imagining how awful it will be and actually going through it is worlds apart.

[shelly]

I am so sorry... praying for your son,his family and you! Heart wrenching!

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Sending prayers to your family on losing Leroy.  Leroy, big guy, rest in peace and know that you were very much loved.

[Barbara B., Sasha & Oliver]

I'm so sorry for your loss Sue, it is so heart breaking when you lose a family member.  Leroy is a peace now, no more suffering... and he is in your heart for always.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Yes, my son texted me last night that it was so tough watching him suffer and it was a sense of peace when he passed. They have an amazing new vet who even let my son do the injection as he wanted to be the one to do it, for it to just be he and Leroy together, alone with his wife. They said he took 3 long breathes and then his whole body relaxed and they both said he looks like himself again, peacefully resting. So it was a very sweet good bye.