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Chelsea Handler loses beloved dog: 'I couldn't bear to have her fight anymore'

Chelsea Handler wrote a touching Instagram post Friday on the loss of her rescue dog, Tammy, who she featured on her talk show.
/ Source: TODAY

Days after talk show host and comedian Chelsea Handler posted on Instagram about her dog Tammy's kidney problems, she updated her fans on Friday that she had to say goodbye to her furry canine friend after two years together.

"I lost my bear today," wrote Handler. "She was struggling and I couldn't bear to have her fight anymore."

Handler adopted her fur baby – who had her own Instagram account – two years ago, she said. Tammy even had a hashtag, #TeamTammy, for posts about her made by others on Instagram.

In her introductory post, the dog stated that she was originally a street dog from Mexico who had found her "forever mama" in Handler, and that she was now "spending the sunset of my life in lower west Bel Air."

Over the four months of her Instagram presence, Tammy wound up with nearly 20,000 followers. In one post, she even celebrated the success.

But while Tammy played the foil to Insta-jokes likely penned by Handler herself, on Friday the television star sadly recounted all the ways Tammy had become her loving fur baby, alongside her other dog, Chuck.

"If my door was closed, she slept outside my room like a security guard," she wrote. "Dogs give you something you never knew was missing. I love you, bear. Thanks for being such a girl. I will get another dog that needs a home and it will remind me every day how much I miss you. Lub lub lub," she posted.

Days before the dog's passing, Handler had posted a photo of Tammy looking out of a window with a gauze wrap around her front leg, and posted, "My whole family is falling apart. Poor @realtammyhandler is recuperating from renal failure while remembering happier times...Fight like a bear, bear."

On Tammy's feed, the Instagram account said, "It is with a very heavy heart that we must inform you of the passing of our beloved bear, Tammy. She lived life to the fullest and never let her struggles bring her down. We love you, Tammy, and we will miss you dearly. Please keep her and her mama in your thoughts and prayers tonight. Forever and always, Team Tammy."

Tammy was regularly featured on Handler's set, and is survived by Chuck, Handler's other dog.

Rest in peace, sweet little bear!