My Dante is gone...

Dante, our silver/gray miniature schnauzer passed away last night.  He was not very old at all and this all came on very suddenly.  He was only about to turn 6 years old.   My buddy Dante has never even been sick before, this all came on so quickly and we just weren't expecting it.  About 2 weeks ago, he just stopped eating one day and after 24 hours of him throwing up, we took him to our vet.  They did blood tests and checked him out.  The vet said she believed he may have pancreatitis, which supposedly is very common in schnauzers and yorkshire terriers.  We have 2 schnauzers and our parents have 2 as well- I had never heard of this!!  Anyway, they sent us home with medication and we were supposed to try and get him to eat.  Dante literally did not eat for 2 full weeks- he was in the vet office for a few nights and got IVs which was great but he wouldn't eat for them either, and then they sent him home hoping he would eat soon. He seemed a little perkier this past weekend and would even bark out the fence in the back and wander around in the backyard with Chaucer, our other schnauzer.  We even got him to nibble on a little chicken at one point, but not much.  I don't think my husband and I realized that it was as serious as it was. We were planning to take him back to the vet but after yesterday it was too late.  Last night, I noticed little Lily was sitting in Dante's kennel petting him (and he NEVER sits still for long if Lily wants to pet him).  She was so excited that he was being still.... I went over and got her out and he was just not moving. It was so scary... and sad... he was glassy eyed and breathing very shallow.  My husband took him to an emergency pet clinic and after a couple hours of trying to get him stabilized, he was not going to make it.  I never thought I would be so upset... I wished I could have been there too.  I wish I could have held him and told him I loved him one more time.  I just can't believe he is gone.  Dante was the best little guy ever! He was so smart and listened to commands amazingly well- he could roll over, sit, shake, speak... he was so very smart. He had the most soulful eyes... and my husband and I just loved his big fuzzy ears and his natural tail that was never clipped.... Today, Scarlett asked about him and her daddy told her what happened. She told me she felt sad and hoped she would see him in heaven someday. She thought it was funny that Dante might have wings and she said he probably loves flying around chasing squirrels- I thought that was pretty funny and cute!  I printed a picture out of him and her together and she has been carrying it around all day.  But she seems to be okay with whole situation... I am glad that she is because I still am not feeling okay at all.  :(  Hopefully, just getting it out there in this quick blog will make it better... but with it being such a rainy, gloomy day- I am feeling just like the weather, very gloomy.