Anyone who has ever cared for a pet should be able to identify with Apple and her posting about her dog named Janet. Saying she found the then-four month old pup in Los Angeles’ Echo Park 14 years ago, Apple described the relationship that developed between the two of them.

“She slept in bed with me, her head on the pillow, and she accepted my hysterical, tearful face into her chest, with her paws around me, every time I was heartbroken, or spirit-broken, or just lost, and as years went by, she let me take the role of her child, as I fell asleep, with her chin resting above my head.

“She was under the piano when I wrote songs, barked any time I tried to record anything, and she was in the studio with me all the time we recorded the last album.”

Apple described her dog’s medical problems, including a tumor in the chest as well as Addison’s Disease, which makes it difficult for the pooch to travel.  Because she wants to be with Janet during the dog’s last days, she told her fans that the South American tour scheduled for late November/early October just wasn’t possible.

“If I go away again, I’m afraid she’ll die and I won’t have the honor of singing her to sleep, of escorting her out,” Apple wrote.

“Sometimes it takes me 20 minutes to pick which socks to wear to bed. But this decision is instant. These are the choices we make, which define us. I will not be the woman who puts her career ahead of love and friendship. I am the woman who stays home and bakes Tilapia for my dearest, oldest friend. And helps her be comfortable, and comforted, and safe, and important.

Apple’s South American tour included stops in Brazilian cities Porto Alegre, Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro as well as a performance at the “Personal Festival” in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At this time there is no word as to whether the dates will be rescheduled.

To read Apple’s entire posting about her four-legged best friend, click here for her Facebook page.