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Mandy Moore pays tribute after dog Joni dies 'very unexpectedly'

“My heart is utterly shattered. She was my first love and best friend,” Moore wrote.
/ Source: TODAY

Mandy Moore is mourning the loss of her dog Joni, who died Monday night.

The “This Is Us” star shared a deeply personal and emotional post about Joni on Instagram, which featured 10 photos of the dog.

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“Last night, very unexpectedly, we lost our Joni girl," she wrote. “Yes, she was almost 13. Yes, she had pretty major surgery a week ago to remove a mass on her liver but she was recovering really well. Until last night. I knew something was amiss when she, lifelong food-obsessed, didn’t finish her dinner and couldn’t get comfortable in bed (despite being on pain meds). My mama intuition told me to bring her in and I’m glad we did.”

Moore, 36, wrote that it didn’t take long for her to take to Joni.

"I saw her puppy mug online way back in early 2008 and drove down to San Diego to meet her at @thebarkinglotrescue and was instantly smitten. I’ll never forget the drive home, telling her that it was just us against the world now,” she wrote.

Moore, who is pregnant with her first child, also wrote that Joni devoured food and loved her other dog, Jackson, and her husband, Taylor Goldsmith.

“To know her, was to love her. She never met a stranger. She was waaaaay more human (or muppet) than dog,” she wrote. “She loved ANYTHING she could eat, even if sometimes it was gross (cat poop).

“Seriously, she was a vacuum. She loved her brother Jackson. She loved lying in the sun to catch some zzzzs. She adored @taylordawesgoldsmith. She tolerated her cats brother and sisters. She loved to give very stinky kisses. And I have no doubt she knew what an absolutely indispensable part of our lives and cherished soul she was... right until the end.”

Moore didn’t shy away from expressing just how crushed she is.

“My heart is utterly shattered. She was my first love and best friend. Through every twist and turn of life of this past decade and change, she was right there,” she wrote.

“There’s a deep chasm of emptiness that will never be filled but I am so grateful for her sweet nature and the endless connection, compassion, responsibility, patience and devotion that the love of a pet can bring into your orbit. When mulling over the details of her surgery last week, my husband sorta joked that everything would have to be run by me because I’d had Joni for 13 years and only had him for 5. He’s right. She was the boss and a total mama’s girl.”

Moore also mourned the fact Joni will not be here to meet her baby boy after she gives birth.

“I’m so sad she won’t get the chance to meet her human brother soon but maybe she wasn’t ready to share 😉. Or be a suction cup right by my side every night,” she wrote. “I will love and miss you forever, my Joni. Thank you for beyond a lifetime of love.”

Moore isn't the only TV star grieving the loss of a dog.

Last week, former "Big Bang Theory" star Kaley Cuoco's husband, Karl Cook, revealed one of their rescue dogs, Petunia, had died.

"Petunia it is not the amount of time together, but it’s affects on the soul. You affected everyone who met you," he wrote.