Honey succumbs to ill health

Honey, the boxer dog who won hearts across the country while battling a terminal cancer diagnosis, has died.

Less than two months after a road trip to see the top of the North Island, the 10-year-old purebred was put down at a vet clinic in Auckland. Her absence has left a hole in the life of her owner, Derrick Marshall.

‘‘Every day I think, did I do enough? But I did give her a good life. I took her everywhere and gave her everything. She spent about $38,000 in the end.’’

Marshall, from Cambridge, travelled with Honey to Northland in January but along the way noticed she was in pain.

‘‘We had to come back here because she was having breathing problems, and the vets said to me: ‘Derrick, the cancer is making fluid, we can drain her, and then you can come back in a couple of days. But we took off down south before having her drained again, and again they said: ‘Derrick, it’s time, you don’t want her to suffer and she’s had a good life.’’

Marshall and Honey pulled up on a beach on their way to Palmerston North, where they met a man who suggested visiting the vets at Massey University. For two weeks, they camped at a caravan park while Honey received treatment. But the prognosis was still bleak.

In early 2018, Honey was diagnosed with breast cancer. Marshall decided to take his ‘‘little girl’’ for a final road trip around New Zealand and the duo also travelled the South Island for a month.

CHRISTEL YARDLEY/STUFF