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I would like to start this out by revisiting the last day we had with Brutus. He had a slight cough for about a week which we thought he may have gotten from us because we had one also. When he started not eating very much I decided to take him to the vet on 1/8/09 since we were going to be gone overnight on 1/9. His glands under his neck were swollen and he had a slight fever so he gave him a couple of shots, gave us 2 different pills to give him and took a blood sample. I came home from work on 1/9 and he seemed to be feeling better & his food was gone so we thought great he will be fine, the vet had called and said his white blood cell count was off the charts and wanted us to come in Mon. for x-rays to see if Brutus might have Blasto. We came home on 1/10 at about 10:30am and he was waiting at the back door with Jade as usual and went outside trotting to the car so he could mark the tires like always. When they came back in the house mom had given them some canned dog food that they got when they were good and he only ate about half of it, we also noticed that he still had somewhat of a cough. He went by mom on the couch and she brushed him out which he enjoyed so much & she noticed he was breathing a little heavy (panting). He went and laid by the washing machine by the back door which was unusual and a short time later Lisa heard a loud noise then Brutus scratched to go outside. Thinking back we think he may have gotten up and collapsed against the washing machine. When I checked on him outside a short time later I noticed he was laying in the snow on the sidewalk in back and panting so I called the vet because we thought maybe his temp. went up. When I went outside to ask if he would like to go for a ride, which he LOVES to do, he didn't even attempt to get up and I noticed his gums were very pale, almost white, which really scared me, I didn't tell Lisa. We had to drag him to the Bravada and lift him in, which is no easy task with 29-30 inch tall dog weighing 175 lbs and he wasn't fat. I noticed he had lost some control of his bladder while being loaded into the vehicle and after we got on the road I called to vet to let him know we would need help getting him unloaded. It took me half the time it normally takes to drive the 6 miles to the vet, praying all the way this wasn't going to be Brutus's last ride. We arrived there shortly after noon, got him onto the floor in the office and the vet looked him over. The glands were not swollen anymore but when he was feeling around it felt like there was fluid in his abdomen and then he felt a hard spot on the spleen. Both vets there felt it and they had both lost dogs to the same thing. They were almost completely sure that he had a tumor on his spleen and it had ruptured causing him to bleed internally, it is Hemangiosarcoma which is a very aggressive cancer and can form on most internal organs and/or skin, something we didn't want to hear. I think since he went so fast he may have had a lot of cancer in him, even though he showed no sign or symptoms. He said we could go to emergency care and have spleen surgery but he thought Brutus wouldn't make it that far, he was right. Lisa was sitting on the floor on one side of him and I was on the other side talking with the vet. Seconds before he passed he lifted his head up and looked for me, I could see his eyes were cloudy and knew it wouldn't be long, I immediately laid on the floor beside him and he put his head down as we rubbed his ears and petted him telling him he was a good boy and how much we loved him, then he went to sleep for the last time, in our arms at 12:45pm. We thank God he didn't have to suffer through a lot of pain and that we had the privilege to be there with him during his last moments, we think he waited for us to get home. I just wanted to say how the grieving is going, Lisa and I miss our Brutus with all of our hearts and even after almost 3 weeks there still hasn't been a day we haven't shed tears. Jade finally started eating her dog food again but it took her almost 2 weeks. The first day or so after Brutus passed it didn't seem to affect her too much but then she must have realized her beloved Brutus was not coming home to play with her, she stopped eating her dog food and spent most of the time laying on the bed in the room with a view of the garage and driveway, looking out the window waiting for Brutus. When we tried taking her for walks she would get to the end of the driveway and keep looking down the road and back at the house waiting for Brutus to come running to join us for our daily walks, but he never came. This made it really hard for us too but she finally started going down the road a little ways before she would not go any further and now she doesn't have too much of a problem going for walks and she doesn't spend all of her time looking out the window for Brutus. A few days after Brutus passed it snowed and even though we have a record snowfall this year, I welcomed it because it covered the tracks that Brutus had left all over the driveway and yard and made it slightly easier to cope. I am going to start with us, in August of 2000 we purchased 50 acres and moved out in the country, we are about 45 min. from Green Bay Wisconsin. We threw around the idea of getting a dog since we were out in the country and I had always like the Rottweiler breed, on February 11, 2001 my grandpa passed away unexpectedly and shortly after that we decided to get a dog to help with the grief. We found one in the paper from a family breeder, he was going to use him as a stud but his wife got pregnant so they decided to get rid of the whole litter and we ended up with a handsome male that we named Brutus Leroy von Eulrich, who just happened to have been born the day after my grandpa passed away. The name Leroy was in memory of my grandpa. We never knew you could love an animal so much and since we have not been able to have children yet, he was like a child to us. I am going to fast forward to when we brought Jade into our family for now and may share more stories of Brutus later. It was just Brutus and ourselves for the first 2 1/2 years of his life, which I think is why there was such a close connection between us, he seemed to know how we were feeling and could read our actions. We thought Brutus would like a companion and decided to rescue a Rottweiler from the local humane society, but we thought they should meet first, and since I knew the director pretty good, she let us bring Brutus to meet her. We thought they were going to kill each other the first time they met and the director said this isn't going to work but I wasn't ready to give up. I asked if we could come and walk them together outside in neutral territory, she was doubtful but agreed to let us do it. We did this for several weeks starting with them 20 or 30 feet apart and gradually, when they started getting used to each other, they were walking side by side and weren't fighting so we thought this could work. Since Brutus was the first one in our house when we brought Jade into our family Brutus was still the first one to get fed, get treats, get water and the first one we said hi to when we got home so Jade knew where her place was in our family. This seemed to work very good because they were never in a serious fight, just a little growl or snap once in a while when they were trying to see which one could get the most attention from us. They became the best of friends and if one thought the other one was being threatened they would be right there to protect each other or us, you couldn't ask for things to be any better. 2-12-09 --- Mom and Dad wish you a happy birthday, you would have been 8 years old today. Mom still hasn't been able to add to this page and it has been hard for me also. We still miss you very much and are really going to miss watching you open your birthday and Christmas presents up like an excited little kid, you were a very amazing and loving companion, friend, and like a child to us. Jade says happy birthday too and really misses giving you a hard time and pulling on all of the extra skin around your neck. Love you 04-12-09 Happy Easter Brutus from Mom, Dad, and Jade. We still think of you a lot and miss you so dearly. Love you!!!! 12-25-09 Merry Christmas Brutus and a Happy New Year!! Mom and Dad still think of you all the time and miss you dearly. Jade says Hi also and that she misses you to. It's almost a year since you left but seems like an eternity. Wish you were here. I'll miss watching you open your presents this year. I did hang a toy up on your stocking for remembrance. Your in our thoughts and prayers. Love you!!!!! 02-12-10 Happy Birthday Brutus. Just think you would be nine years old today. We missed having cheeseburgers tonight. We know it was one of your favorite things to eat. We miss you so much. There hasn't been much snow so not too many snowmobilers going by but when they do I think of you chasing the headlights. Jade just watches them go by. She doesn't have the ambition to run like you did. She misses you dearly. Hope your having fun up there. We know your watching over all of us. You will be in our hearts forever. Love you!!!! 02-14-10 Happy Valentines day buddy, mom didn't mention this but I am sure you already know that we got another puppy a couple of months after you passed. We needed someone to fill the void without you around, not only mom and me but Jade was very lonely too. The really neat thing is the new puppy was born on the same day you left us and your dad is his great grandpa, it was like a sign when that kennel out of Minnesota responded after I sent out emails to about 30 kennels around the US. We named him Bruno, kind of in remembrance of you and his dad was named Kuno, so it worked out nicely, Jade has come to love him very much too and I am sure you would like him too, he can be a goofball just like you could be but he is more hyper than you were so he keeps us on our toes. You are still our number one and always will be. We love you!!!! 04-04-10 Happy Easter Brutus from Mom,Dad,Jade and Bruno. We didn't paint any Easter eggs this year or do up any baskets. Just not the same with out you. Hope your day is eggs-tra special. I know you will be thinking of us as we think of you always. Love and miss you big boy. Sending hugs and kisses your way. 10-30-10 Happy Halloween Brutus. Still missing you lots. Jade's been having a hard time with the arthritis. She misses you big time also. Bruno keeps her going though. She knows your watching over us. Have a spectacular Halloween. LOVE YOU LOTS. 11-13-10 Hello Big Guy. How are you doing with all your furry friends? It starting to get cold. I know how you loved to roll in the snow. We had to take Jade to the vet yesterday. She has a bone tumor. Monday we go back to see if it is cancerous. Were hoping not but it don't sound good. I know your watching over us. LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU big guy. Wish you were here. 12-11-10 Hi there Big Guy. Hope your enjoying the snow with all your furry friends. We just starting getting the snow today. Should be a white Christmas but lonely. As you probably already know Jade passed away in her sleep 12-08-10. Hopefully you found her and are showing her the ropes. I know you will take good care of her. No more suffering with the arthritis and bone tumor. Now you two can make dogie angels together again in the snow. LOVE AND MISS BOTH OF YOU DEARLY. Jade McKenzie von Eulrich 9/12/2001-12/8/2010 02-06-11 Hi there Brutus and Jade. Hopefully you two are having lots of fun together again. Running and playing in the deep snow. How we know you love the snow. Happy Birthday Brutus on the 12th. Just think you would be 10 years old. How time flies. Happy Valentines Day to you both (Brutus and Jade). We miss and love you so much. 10-14-11 I was just thinking about you buddy and thought I would say hi, still miss you. Happy Halloween, things could be better money wise but we are trying to make it. Love you!! 11/20/2021, I know we haven't been on here for quite some time but we still think of you all the time. After Jade passed we did get another friend for Bruno, her name was Jewels and they got along great. She was a retired girl from a friend in Minnesota. We had some great times with her but sadly she got cancer and a tumor formed on her jaw making it hard for her to eat and drink. She was able to drink for a few months and Mom was hand feeding her soft food to keep her healthy but she was losing weight and after she was no longer able to drink we had to make a very hard decision, on January 31st, 2014 we had to send her across the rainbow bridge. I hope you guys are all playing and not getting on each others nerves too much. Jewels Louise von Eulrich 3/20/2006-1/31/2014 Bruno started acting not like himself in October of 2021, we took him into the vet after a couple days because he was getting weak and bloated. He has been in such good health and energetic with no hip problems or anything for his age. We suspected the worse (Hemangiosarcoma of the spleen) and after the vet confirmed that with a blood test and physical exam. He said it was leaking(bleeding) causing the bloating and it was only a matter of time. We decided that we wanted to take him home and let him go when he was ready. Even though we expected the news it was still very heartbreaking for us. Mom took half days and worked from home to be there for him, I couldn't do much about work but try to get home earlier to spend as much time as possible. He started getting weaker and we would wrap a blanket around his abdobmen to help him get down the steps without falling down when he had to go potty. Luckily the weather held out pretty good so he got to spend more time in the sun, there was still some 70 degree days and pretty much averaged in the mid to upper 50's the whole month of October. Even in November the temps were in the mid 40's to upper 60's most of the month so he was able to have nice weather his remaining days. There was a few accidents in the house but we couldn't blame him at all and we did what we could to accomadate him and make him comfortable. He was eating less and less and not drinking as much either and we just started taking him on the front deck when he needed to go outside so there was not steps while he was still strong enough to get up. In the early morning hours of November 19, 2021 he peacefully crossed the rainbow bridge. I am sure he met up with you guys and you are all frolicking around together. Bruno you made it longer than any of the other guys at less than 2 months shy of 13 years old and we cherish all the time we had with you and miss you more than you know. Zoey is doing ok and I think it was easier for her because she could be there with her daddy when he moved on. Bruno Leroy von Eulrich 1/10/2009 - 11/19/2021 Zoey was doing so good and adapted very well to being the only dog in the house the last couple years. With that being said, We came home from a meeting on Sunday, January 7th, 2024, and noticed Zoey was moving slow and panting a lot. Since we have experienced this before, we thought she might have a hemangiosarcoma tumor on the spleen that was leaking but waited a couple of days to see if she was just not feeling well. On Tuesday, January 9th, we took her to the vet to get a blood test since she had not improved and wasn't eating or walking around much, which is totally unlike her. We took her to the vet, and he confirmed our suspicions. The blood test showed red blood cell count was down, and he thought he could feel a tumor on her spleen as well as fluid in her abdomen. We knew it would be a matter of time since that's what happened to you Bruno, and we only had a few weeks before you passed. He gave her a steroid shot and sent us home with some prednisone pills, which could help the bone marrow produce red blood cells. We got her unloaded from the car, and mom took her to go potty and go in the house in the back while I put the car in the garage. Zoey went potty, went up the steps fine, and went into the back door. Once in the back door, she collapsed against the washer and drier. She turned and looked at mom as she was collapsing, and mom was trying to catch her, but there was nothing that could have been done. I came into the house from the garage within seconds of this and got her laid out straight on her stomach where she fell, but she was already gone. I believe the tumor must have had a major rupture, and it took her pretty much intantly. We are so very heart broken because we thought there would be a few more weeks to spend with her! Zoey I am so much going to miss you coming into the living room carrying a sock so that we would try and take it from you and never chewing it up but just trying to get attention. Every time I open my jar of peanut butter I will be thinking of you because I always had to share some with my sweet little Zoey. It has been 23 years since there wasn't at least one dog in this house and it feels so empty now. We loved all you guys so much and were so blessed that you all chose to be part of our lives!!! |
Brutus Leroy von Eulrich's People Parent(s), Keith & Lisa, would appreciate knowing you have visited their Brutus Leroy von Eulrich's Memorial Residency.
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