Goodbye, Doodles! Goodbye, Sophie!
Two of my animal friends passed on recently. Both had lived good long lives, had been weakening in recent months, but were still enjoying their time on earth right up until their last few days.
Sophie was the ancient Lhasa Apso I've taken care for years, along with her feline sidekicks, also grown elderly. (Dave the cat has already passed on. Now only the funny, arthritic Allie Cat is left.) Sophie could go no farther last week, and her people took her to their vet and helped her lay her small, frail body down.
Then my big orange cat-friend, Doodles, the old guy who's been getting the twice-daily insulin injections...for the past five years! Such a tough guy! ...crossed over on Friday night. He was 14. We'd noticed some behavioral oddness lately, but nothing requiring intervention. Last weekend, he spent both days on the sofa with his humans, which was a bit unusual, as he tended to favor a cozy hideyhole under their bed, with just intermittent public appearances. I reckon he was saying goodbye.
Late Friday night, his human mama called me from the emergency clinic, in tears. The Big Orange Kitty had suddenly developed trouble breathing, so while the Dood's human daddy was in with him and the vet, she called me with the inevitable, unanswerable question, "How do we know what to do? Are we being selfish in keeping him here? Are we rushing him?"
There wasn't a whole lot I could say that she didn't already know, but you have to go through the litany. I said, make sure the vet knows that you'll spend the money, that there is no financial limit you're facing. And make sure she knows you two are willing to do any hard work caring for him at home. So it boils down to, "Doc, what would you do if this was your kitty?"
So his human daddy went into the treatment room. Doodles was uneasy until he settled onto his best friend's lap. Then he relaxed, and was petted and consoled until the drug gently overtook him.
So this is how it's supposed to end: both animals well-loved, well-tended, cherished, and assisted in their little critter journeys through the world.
Now it's time for Critter Heaven, where their joints don't ache, and they can see perfectly, and they wake up each morning, warm and snuggled together, little round milk bellies, perky ears. And they doze or frolic. Dogs chase cats; cats chase mice; kitties bat at butterflies, dogs are permanently astonished by their own shadows. The chasers always chase; the chased always escape, and then they all snuggle into a big puppy kitty hamster ferret bunny pile, warm and safe until morning.
Sometimes in Critter Heaven, they have Upside Down Day. They wake up, stretching, having their breakfast, and then.... ooh, they all realize that this is Upside Down Day. Wheee! Cats chase dogs. Mice scamper madly after cats. Butterflies form squadrons, fluttering in great waves over the excited, amazed heads of pups and hammies. Ladybugs gather until they've covered a whole fence with winky blinky red bods, and then, "Ladybugs Scramble!" and they zoom, wave after wave, toppling pups off their big clumsy feet, while the wrens and finches circle overhead, giggling.
Mice encircle kitties and creep toward them, beady eyed, everyone trying to out-tail-twitch the other. Then the kitties leap straight up in the air and the mice scatter gaily. Then, as darkness falls, the fireflies gather into a big tree, the brightest vision around. All the little critters quiver in anticipation, and then the fireflies launch, and everyone tumbles and caroms around in the glitter and light-trails and ecstatic, exhilarating chaos.
But then sleepy-time creeps up, and the warm animals begin to drop in their tracks, hammies next to bunnies, pups curled up with ferrets and kitties, fireflies escorting stragglers to the teeming, shnurfling pile of wiggle warmsters. Then everyone falls asleep, sighs, and burrows in. Upside Down Day is over, but something else good is surely gonna happen tomorrow.
So that's Critter Heaven. Hummingbirds showed Sophie around on her first day. Doodles fell in with a darling Bichon Frise, who introduced him to everyone. Nobody worries. It's Critter Heaven, and it's always, always happy.
Sophie was the ancient Lhasa Apso I've taken care for years, along with her feline sidekicks, also grown elderly. (Dave the cat has already passed on. Now only the funny, arthritic Allie Cat is left.) Sophie could go no farther last week, and her people took her to their vet and helped her lay her small, frail body down.
Then my big orange cat-friend, Doodles, the old guy who's been getting the twice-daily insulin injections...for the past five years! Such a tough guy! ...crossed over on Friday night. He was 14. We'd noticed some behavioral oddness lately, but nothing requiring intervention. Last weekend, he spent both days on the sofa with his humans, which was a bit unusual, as he tended to favor a cozy hideyhole under their bed, with just intermittent public appearances. I reckon he was saying goodbye.
Late Friday night, his human mama called me from the emergency clinic, in tears. The Big Orange Kitty had suddenly developed trouble breathing, so while the Dood's human daddy was in with him and the vet, she called me with the inevitable, unanswerable question, "How do we know what to do? Are we being selfish in keeping him here? Are we rushing him?"
There wasn't a whole lot I could say that she didn't already know, but you have to go through the litany. I said, make sure the vet knows that you'll spend the money, that there is no financial limit you're facing. And make sure she knows you two are willing to do any hard work caring for him at home. So it boils down to, "Doc, what would you do if this was your kitty?"
So his human daddy went into the treatment room. Doodles was uneasy until he settled onto his best friend's lap. Then he relaxed, and was petted and consoled until the drug gently overtook him.
So this is how it's supposed to end: both animals well-loved, well-tended, cherished, and assisted in their little critter journeys through the world.
Now it's time for Critter Heaven, where their joints don't ache, and they can see perfectly, and they wake up each morning, warm and snuggled together, little round milk bellies, perky ears. And they doze or frolic. Dogs chase cats; cats chase mice; kitties bat at butterflies, dogs are permanently astonished by their own shadows. The chasers always chase; the chased always escape, and then they all snuggle into a big puppy kitty hamster ferret bunny pile, warm and safe until morning.
Sometimes in Critter Heaven, they have Upside Down Day. They wake up, stretching, having their breakfast, and then.... ooh, they all realize that this is Upside Down Day. Wheee! Cats chase dogs. Mice scamper madly after cats. Butterflies form squadrons, fluttering in great waves over the excited, amazed heads of pups and hammies. Ladybugs gather until they've covered a whole fence with winky blinky red bods, and then, "Ladybugs Scramble!" and they zoom, wave after wave, toppling pups off their big clumsy feet, while the wrens and finches circle overhead, giggling.
Mice encircle kitties and creep toward them, beady eyed, everyone trying to out-tail-twitch the other. Then the kitties leap straight up in the air and the mice scatter gaily. Then, as darkness falls, the fireflies gather into a big tree, the brightest vision around. All the little critters quiver in anticipation, and then the fireflies launch, and everyone tumbles and caroms around in the glitter and light-trails and ecstatic, exhilarating chaos.
But then sleepy-time creeps up, and the warm animals begin to drop in their tracks, hammies next to bunnies, pups curled up with ferrets and kitties, fireflies escorting stragglers to the teeming, shnurfling pile of wiggle warmsters. Then everyone falls asleep, sighs, and burrows in. Upside Down Day is over, but something else good is surely gonna happen tomorrow.
So that's Critter Heaven. Hummingbirds showed Sophie around on her first day. Doodles fell in with a darling Bichon Frise, who introduced him to everyone. Nobody worries. It's Critter Heaven, and it's always, always happy.