So today my mom and I took Buffy in to the vet for the last time. We'd taken her in earlier this month to find out why she was coughing so much all the time, fearing it was cancer. The vet told us that lung/throat cancer was rare in dogs and did X-rays. He found a torn diaphragm and that causes her organs to shift a lot when she lays down then stands up. He also found out that she'd caught a disease from ticks (not Lyme. I can't remember the name exactly, but it causes stiffness of the joints). He prescribed antibiotics for Buffy and sent the X-rays off to a radiologist so he could get a second opinion before scheduling surgery for Buffy, telling us to check back in a couple days for the radiologist's opinion. We called back and were informed of our worst fears.

Buffy had cancer.

She was an old dog. Not really sure how old, but she'd been here forever and has outlived every other outside dog we've had, and even some that weren't ours but would move in anyway. She's the Chuck Norris of dogs and a Houdini escape artist to boot. She's lived a good life and she will be greatly missed.