Sadly, I can relate to this all too well. Our family dog died a few years back from problems not unlike the ones yours had. She was pretty old, I got her when I was 14 and she was just a puppy. She was very much a member of the family.
Thanks you guys. I've been a wreck all day, thankfully a girl I work with volunteered to take over my shift today so that I could stay home. I ont think I would have done well going in to work.
The family dog (who lived with my uncle and technically was his), Ginger, died a couple months ago, she was almost 20 years old :disappoin Older than me.
My own dog Lance is constantly sick but always seems to get better in two or less days =( He has the tail biting problem right now but its not as severe as it was over the summer.