Marcello got very sick. I was so worried about him, and as soon as Papa' came home, I ran over to him and ran back to Cello to tell Papa' he was very sick. Papa' took him straight to the 24 hour hospital and Mom met them there.
They took Cello away and gave him oxygen. When I found out, I was very worried, because I didn't like the idea of him having a little oxygen mask. But it wasn't like that --- they put him in a box with a high oyxgen concentration so he could breathe more easily. They also gave him a diruetic for the fluid buildup in his lungs. He got a little better since he could breathe more easily.
The suspected that it was his heart. One of the chords that controled his heart valve broke, and his heart just couldn't compensate for it anymore.
Since his heart valve wasn't working well, a blood clot formed in it. It went to his hindquarters, and his legs lost their pulse and his paws were cold. Mom and Papa' took me to the hospital to see him. He looked really sleepy, but they said that was because he was taking morphine, so he wouldn't have pain.
Then something funny happened. The vet was saying something to Mom and she fainted! They took me away and put me in a cage so they could attend to Mom. That was really unfair, since obviously Mom, not me, wanted to be the next patient.
Mom and Papa' went back the next morning. Cello had worked through his blood clot (yay!) and his paws were warm again. But since he was still on morphine, there was no way to tell if he would be able to walk again. The vet said that he tried to bite her when she tried to give him some medicine orally. That was great news -- he was starting to act like himself! Mom went back after lunch and took him a toy, a purple doggie squeaky toy. That seemed to perk him up a lot, because when she saw him later, he moved around and wagged his tail. Yay! He wasn't paralyzed.
Mom and Papa' left WITHOUT ME to go see him again, and when they got there, they found out his was gone. He felt well enough to drink some water, and ten minutes later, he died. Probably a blood clot went to his brain. It must have been right when they left home.
Mom feels awfully responsible. She thinks he should have taken his coughing mroe seriously, and he could have had preventative medicine. She feels guilty for going on vacation without us (and maybe she should, since Grandma came to take care of us with the Piccolo!). The vet and Papa' tried to convince her that there was nothing she could have done. Also, since he was only 6.5 pounds, it would have been very hard to dose any medicine for him.
Papa' has a slightly different take. He was very worried about the blood clot, and knew that if Cello came home, it would be just a matter of time before it happened again. Papa' said Cello saved him and Mom from a difficult decision of deciding if Marcello should sleep forever or not.
As for me, I miss Cello Bello. We spent a lot of time together, and my parents say I am much more needy of affection now that he is gone. We went for a long walk today, and I got to smell all the places that Cello marked. But I would rather have my brother back.
