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A friend left me last night

papsrus

By papsrus
in Miscellaneous - Non-Political

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papsrus Newbie

papsrus

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A friend left me last night.

He came to me a little over a year ago, frail, afraid and with failing kidneys. The first few weeks I had him I thought I was going to lose him. But with care, he crept back from the precipice and enjoyed what remained of his life. He was happy and cared for while with me, and I'm grateful for that.

I'll remember him run-bouncing in little circles for his dinner, a low-protein mixture of white rice and deli meat concocted to keep from taxing his kidneys. I'll remember him laying across my chest and rubbing his ears bashfully with his paws as I would tell him what a handsome boy he was. And then he'd rub his ears some more, rolling his head from side to side and slapping my chest with his paws as he did. I'll remember him rolling on his back playfully, his paws in the air, swishing from side to side to scratch his back on the carpet. And I'll remember him curled up in the crook of my arm as we slept through the night.

The last year of his life was good. But he'd endured something harsh before being brought to me by a rescue group after being found, emaciated, on the streets somewhere in South Florida. In a way, we probably cheated death a little bit, Prince and I. But when I checked on him this morning, he did not respond. He was gone. You can't cheat death forever.

He died last night after falling ill midweek and deteriorating rapidly. I've seen it happen this way before. A week or two ago, he was a happy and reasonably energetic dog. But when they're frail to begin with, illness can be harsh. Every effort to treat him only seemed to make him worse.

Yesterday, after returning from the vet where he'd gotten some treatment, I held him upright in a towel against my chest and gave him water and warm soup through a syringe. That was his last meal. As I tried to get this last bit of nourishment in him, he was very still, and stared off into the distance, as if trying to tell me, "I'm dying."

But he'd been that way before and recovered. I've had other special needs animals, too, who would fall very ill, then recover. So you never know when that last time is going to come. And that's why, in part, it's so hard to know when, or how, to let go.

But I'm glad he died here, in his home, rather than in a cold, sterile animal hospital. And I'm glad to have given him comfort and love at the end of his life. I shed a tear for him now, and as always, wish I could have done more. But I don't regret a moment. Not even this one. And I just felt like I should say so.

So long, Prince. I love you pal.

--------------------------------------

Help an animal in need, if you can.

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seeline Newbie

seeline

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Wow. He's a cute little fella, obviously full of love. And you're an amazing man, giving your heart to an animal that obviously didn't have a long life ahead of him. You have my condolences, but also my admiration!

a big "Amen" to what you said, Jazzmoose! :tup

I'll third this.

James, I'm so sorry for your loss... but I also wish more people would care for animals as you did (still do) for Prince. I'm sure he knew how much he was loved. And I am glad, too, that he was with you at the end.

Take care of yourself, OK?

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Tom 1960 Explorer

Tom 1960

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That really sucks, Paps. You probably brought so much pleasure to your buddy. It's never easy to say goodbye and I've been through it a few times. Keep your friend alive in your memories. When enough time has passed, get yourself a new friend. The world needs more people like yourself.

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.:.impossible Newbie

.:.impossible

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I know how hard this must be. We are coming up on this inevitable event with two of our family dogs, one, a thirteen year old shih tzu who my wife has had since he was literally a handful, and the other, a toy poodle on her sixteenth year that lives with her parents.

The shih tzu, "Marley", is suffering from glaucoma. The poodle, "Sadie", is deaf/blind, but still as sweet as can be. You can only prepare so much for the death of a loved one.

Edited by .:.impossible
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papsrus Newbie

papsrus

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Thanks for all the kind thoughts. It has been sort of a rough day, but there's still a few critters wandering around here to keep me company. (One with no lower jaw; one 20-year-old cat, nearly deaf. ... what can I say?)

Prince was an innocent soul who was cast off at some point to fend for himself. And I simply raised my hand when the call went out from the rescue group that scooped him off the streets. I was lucky enough to end up getting him.

I remember the woman who fostered him saying that he collapsed from weakness in her arms when she went to pick him up and she thought he had died right then and there. He didn't, of course, and recovered to a point under her care. But the transition into a new home can be somewhat dicey for a frail animal with special needs, and no sooner had Prince arrived here than he began to fail. It took a couple of days at the vet and a whole lot of intravenous fluids to get him back.

When I went to pick him up, he was laying down in his crate, a plastic tube still stuck in his leg. Although he'd only been with me a week or two, he got instantly excited as soon as he saw me, jumping up and down and barking. I was surprised and delighted, and off we went.

His health would ebb and flow in a certain range, and he required subcutaneous fluids regularly or his appetite would disappear. Overall though, he was doing really well, particularly over the past couple of months. But his decline was swift. I'm sure some of you know this already, but the vet said that with impaired kidney function there is a tipping point. There are X-number of kidney cells functioning, and once that number drops below a certain level, that's it. The kidneys basically shut down.

Not a lot of people want a fatally flawed animal. I understand why, but the reward comes back tenfold when you see a struggling and sickly animal come back and do well, if not thrive. Once they feel better, they don't know they're sick, or slowly dying. And you tend to forget it, too. They play, show affection and want attention just like any other dog. It's great.

Anyways, I dropped off Prince's remains about an hour ago and will pick up his ashes later in the week. I look forward to that.

Thanks again for all the kind words. I know a lot of folks here have gone through the same sort of thing and are destined to go through it again, as am I. And that's why this was a good place to post what I did.

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Big Al Collaborator

Big Al

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I've had other special needs animals, too, who would fall very ill, then recover. So you never know when that last time is going to come. And that's why, in part, it's so hard to know when, or how, to let go.

--------------------------------------

Help an animal in need, if you can.

That's a wonderful thing you're doing. There are a lot of animals whose last days were better because of you.

My condolences along with everyone else's.

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