She was a Christmas present to me that year from Mike while we were still just dating and to us, she quickly became known as Ginger Gurl. Our precious corgi had s***k and energy and sass and was immediately part of the family. She would hunt for lizards, attempt to herd members of our family and lean out the car window to bark all the way down the street as we would leave my parents house--she was
a constant source of entertainment and delight to us. In November 2014, Mike and I began to notice her breathing had gotten really heavy and distressed. We took her to her vet at Newport Harbor Animal Hospital where she received some medications to help relieve her symptoms. When they didn't improve, however, we took her for another visit and learned that cancer may be the culprit of her decreasing health. We were referred to the Veterinary Cancer Group in Culver City where Ginger would undergo tests and be diagnosed with Lymphoma the following week. What we had thought to be an infection, was found to be a serious disease as the shock of our new reality began to sink in. Upon learning where we lived, the Culver City office recommended making their Tustin location our new home for Ginger’s treatments, and after our first visit to the new office, we were sold. Greeted by Dr. Julie Bulman and technicians Alison & Alishia, who would become the team we'd work with for over two years, greeted us warmly and explained what we were in for with our Gurl’s illness. Lymphoma had no cure, but many forms of chemo had been proven effective to help many pups maintain their quality of life. So Ginger would visit on a weekly basis to receive her treatment and hopefully go on to live a fruitful life for years to come. We were so grateful for how the team at the cancer group handled our Gurl and as our weekly appointments became apart of our regular schedule, we got to know the staff more and more. In December 2014, with the news of Ginger’s cancer still fresh in our minds, we decided to make an Instagram devoted solely to her that would capture the memories of our remaining time with her; no matter how long or brief that would be. Sharing photos of her introduced us to the corgi community we had no idea had existed! We got involved with the So Cal Corgi Community and the seasonal events they arranged: Corgi Beach Day, the Long Beach Christmas Parade, even the Corgi Christmas card exchange. The positivity of being in contact with other Corgi owners and their stories brought us such joy during the up and down seasons of Ginger’s journey. The next year for Christmas we decided to show our gratitude for the staff we had grown so close to over at the cancer group by making blankets for each of the exam rooms. There were ten rooms in all that hosted the pups that came in for treatment, so we thought blankets would be the perfect gift for helping to make these rooms feel like home for them. After all, with Ginger visiting every week, we understood what it was like for a dog to feel out of place. Ginger’s battle with cancer lasted two and a half years with improvement, remission and recurrence of the disease. In that span of time, our weekly visits to the cancer group only paused for six weeks. Ginger Gurl’s health began to decline this early Spring of 2017 when her body seemed to stop responding to new cancer treatments. And on April 9, 2017 we said the heartbreaking goodbye to our little Gurl as she crossed the rainbow bridge. Ginger had been apart of our lives for almost ten years, we wanted to somehow keep the memory of our happy Corgi alive and soon thought of creating blankets with her image. Snugs & Cuds was envisioned with the memory of our frequent snuggles and cuddles with our pup, we hope that our blankets with enhance your time with yours. With each blanket sold, a portion of the proceeds will go toward the funding of more being made for our continuing support of the Veterinary Cancer Group and other various helpful organizations. We hope you enjoy our product, we thank you greatly for purchasing.
