Last Days of the Evil One
Today, frostmuffin and xelona took our dog Miko to the veterinarian to die by lethal injection. The alternative was to let Miko gradually die of dehydration after losing the ability to drink.
Miko was a small black mix of cocker spaniel and poodle, whom we had obtained from the local county animal shelter after Melody died. Her nickname was "The Evil One."
Our other deceased dogs--Shadowfax, Melody, and Callie--had died without assistance. Shadow died of old age in her sleep; Melody died of cancer in her sleep; and Callie died of a stroke in the back yard. As a child, Frostmuffin had accompanied her mother to put a family dog to death, but this was the first time she was in charge of the decision. She has been crying on Xelona's shoulder and my shoulder.
Miko had been cheating death for a long time. When we picked her up from the animal shelter five and a half years ago, the veterinarian discovered that Miko had cancer and predicted that she would die during the summer. When Miko survived summer, the vet gave her a year. After that, the vet gave up predictions. Though Miko resisted the cancer, the strain aged her, and though we guess she was only twelve years old at death, she looked like an old dog of sixteen years. She had gone blind two years ago. That didn't slow her down her hijinks. Fortunately, she also lost the strength to climb stairs about the same time, so that we did not have to worry about her blindly wandering off the top of the stairs, except for the entryway stairs at amethyst_dancer's house. This spring, she lost enough mobility that she could no longer head out the dog door to poop, so she did it wherever it suited her. And in the last month, she lost the ability to walk, so she spent her days on an absorbent pad on the heated floor of our new bathroom. (We have been doing some remodeling since July.) Either she was having mini-strokes, or the cancer had finally reached her nervous system.
Death wasn't the only thing she cheated. She earned the title "Evil One" by being a sneaky greedy dog. She had brains and she used them selfishly. She often stole other dogs' food. She thought that annoying persistent barking at odd hours could get her whatever she wanted. She liked to investigate corners and tight places, which was not a crime, but it often lead her to unplugging Frostmuffin's computer. She piddled on the floor of grandma's house, even though she knew how to be let out to pee. Her worst caper--that we know of--was when she pulled down the kitchen trash can to get at scraps and then deliberately lured our other dog, young Kerowyn, into the area in an effort to frame her.
I'll miss her.
Miko was a small black mix of cocker spaniel and poodle, whom we had obtained from the local county animal shelter after Melody died. Her nickname was "The Evil One."
Our other deceased dogs--Shadowfax, Melody, and Callie--had died without assistance. Shadow died of old age in her sleep; Melody died of cancer in her sleep; and Callie died of a stroke in the back yard. As a child, Frostmuffin had accompanied her mother to put a family dog to death, but this was the first time she was in charge of the decision. She has been crying on Xelona's shoulder and my shoulder.
Miko had been cheating death for a long time. When we picked her up from the animal shelter five and a half years ago, the veterinarian discovered that Miko had cancer and predicted that she would die during the summer. When Miko survived summer, the vet gave her a year. After that, the vet gave up predictions. Though Miko resisted the cancer, the strain aged her, and though we guess she was only twelve years old at death, she looked like an old dog of sixteen years. She had gone blind two years ago. That didn't slow her down her hijinks. Fortunately, she also lost the strength to climb stairs about the same time, so that we did not have to worry about her blindly wandering off the top of the stairs, except for the entryway stairs at amethyst_dancer's house. This spring, she lost enough mobility that she could no longer head out the dog door to poop, so she did it wherever it suited her. And in the last month, she lost the ability to walk, so she spent her days on an absorbent pad on the heated floor of our new bathroom. (We have been doing some remodeling since July.) Either she was having mini-strokes, or the cancer had finally reached her nervous system.
Death wasn't the only thing she cheated. She earned the title "Evil One" by being a sneaky greedy dog. She had brains and she used them selfishly. She often stole other dogs' food. She thought that annoying persistent barking at odd hours could get her whatever she wanted. She liked to investigate corners and tight places, which was not a crime, but it often lead her to unplugging Frostmuffin's computer. She piddled on the floor of grandma's house, even though she knew how to be let out to pee. Her worst caper--that we know of--was when she pulled down the kitchen trash can to get at scraps and then deliberately lured our other dog, young Kerowyn, into the area in an effort to frame her.
I'll miss her.