The Rainbow Bridge
I’ve had dogs all my life and it is never easy having to say goodbye to one at the end of their life, and so it was today. This little girl didn’t have the best beginnings in life and my wife and agreed to take her and rehome her to someone. But, we couldn’t. This sweetheart, named Daisy at the time, stole our hearts and giving her up to someone else became out of the question. She was ours forever, good or bad. But it was all good. She was sweet, funny, smart, demanding, and begging to be loved. And love her we did. How could you not?
She had a bigger than life presence and let you know about it. She also had horrible separation anxiety from the get-go, with a ton of swear words to go with it and didn’t mind spouting them off if you tried to leave her behind, even if it was just to go to another room. She let our other dogs know she was in the house to stay and she was bound and determined to be alpha dog despite the fact there were a number ahead of her in line. And she was quick to bite them if they got too close or tried to take something of her. So quick we actually called her movement “the snake”. Oh yes, she nailed us a couple of times, too, but she never meant it. I think!
She was definitely mommy and daddy’s little girl and loved us both so much. She loved sleeping with us, usually between us, and as close as she could get. After our divorce and once I moved into this apartment, Lily loved sleeping with her head on my left shoulder. It was something so special that moving was out of the question, even if my shoulder went to sleep. When I started sleeping in my easy chair because of my back and hips, she slept on my right leg, sometimes by my left leg, and when she did that brother Bentley usually ended up on the couch or on the floor. Her bestest friend in the whole world was Bentley, and they played endlessly. Until Bentley’s cancer caught up with him, and even then, the few days before he died, she tried hard to get him to play to no avail.
After Bentley crossed the Rainbow Bridge last year he took some of Lily with him, and her health began to slowly deteriorate. She already had pancreatitis before he died, but she developed diabetes and then her eyesight began to fail because of cataracts. She was just 13 then. Soon, she became blind except to light, so she could see movement. She never really came out of her depression, but she did perk up some and I began looking for another dog. I hoped to have found one that she could play with, even being mostly sightless, but it wasn’t to be, and then puppy Roby came into our lives. While he was good for me, I’m not so sure he was all that good for her because he was like all puppies – rough and tumble and full of play with razor blade teeth. She couldn’t see him, but gamely tried to play “teeth” with him only to find him pulling her hair and her ears and yanking her around the floor until I stepped in and stopped him.
And then her health really took a turn with her pancreatitis flaring up a lot and becoming dehydrated a lot. Lots of IV fluids and medicines to keep her going. And the little Yorkiepoo with the beautiful hair started losing it, as many an older dog will, and then we found her thyroid wasn’t doing its job, so another medicine. And LilyCatherine stepped on the path to the Rainbow Bridge. All I wanted was for her to make it to her 14th birthday on July 4th. We weren’t sure. But she made it and seemed strong – for a while – only to falter again and again.
LilyCatherine was telling us it was time to go, that she was tired. She was done. My strong, brave little girl tried for me, but I couldn’t be selfish for her. After discussions with her two vets we decided it was time for her to cross the Rainbow Bridge on September 7th. It was not to be. Over the weekend, LilyCat stopped eating, although she continued to drink. She was telling me and so it was decided that August 31st, 2021 she would cross the Rainbow Bridge and go find her bestest friend who would be waiting for her.
I will miss this cute, sweet and loving little Yorkiepoo, but I am so grateful we were blessed and graced with her soul while it was here. I told her while kissing her between her eyes: “Lily, this is where God kissed you when he sent you here to us and God has kissed you here telling you it’s time to come back Home”. And so it was.
I am so grateful to the dedicated and loving vets, techs, and staff at City Vet Addison [TX] for their care and love that they have shown LilyCatherine over the years and especially over the last eighteen months and for their compassion and kindness they have shown me over the last few months. A hard transition for all of us, but made easier by these special people.
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