Posted on 04/22/2022 12:42:48 PM PDT by Twotone
Mushroom, our beloved and unbelievably elderly dog, finally passed away. There was a day when he simply pulled his snout back sharply at the offer of food, and from then on, his decline was rapid.
There was a day when I would come into the house and find him slouched like a little black and white parcel in unusual places such as the corners of the dining room, or else I’d see him oddly trying to stand behind the wood stove. There were days during which he lay in his bed, curled in a furry round circle as usual, but scarcely moving; the concern, practically the breath, of angels, was palpably over him.
Brian, my husband, made broths, and tried to feed him with a spoon. At last the spoon was refused, and we knew we did not have long with him.
We called two vets; both were compassionate, but brisk, and quick to suggest euthanasia. “There’s a vet service that comes to your house, very sensitively, to put your dog to sleep,” explained one veterinary assistant. “This woman is great — you will love her.”
“I don’t think I’ll love anyone who is coming over to euthanize my dog,” I blurted out.
The other vet, a little less alarmingly, said that if we brought Mushroom to them, we could hug him in the back seat of the car while they “put him to sleep.” With a heavy heart we made the appointment.
That was one of the worst days of Brian’s and my life. We both felt such a sense of wrongdoing, of negative, inharmonious, even profane forces around us.
We tried to prepare the car to take Mushroom to the vet, but everything went wrong.
(Excerpt) Read more at naomiwolf.substack.com ...
Beautiful.
When Miss Kitty developed tumors all over her body and reached the point of hiding under ar ecliner and unable to crawl out, I made the choice of taking her to be ‘put to sleep;’. Just writing this is starting the tears again. She was purring as I stroker her and the vet injected the postassium chloride to stop her heart. I watch the ‘light’ go out of her eyes, a phenomenon I witnessed with my brother as I held his hand when he slipped into the deep coma he never came out of this side of Heaven. Excuse me, I need to find a handfull of tissues now.
>> a phenomenon I witnessed with my brother as I held his hand when he slipped into the deep coma he never came out of
Condolences.
From the article:
“Mary showed me the empty physical body of Mushroom, truly spent, almost broken with age. It was not a kindness to wish him back inside that body. And she then showed me with a gesture a lovely sight — Mushroom, but in a just-grown-past-puppy body, sleeping peacefully, the warmth of health and youth on him again. Wherever he was, he was fine.”
I have had pets and relatives come back to me in a dream but wondered if it really was just a dream.
Then when I was dying after being run over I spent the entire night going from house to house in my mind, even though I was in a coma. I kept trying to get into my friends’ dreams and tell them they could come see me after surgery. If I didn’t make it this would be my goodbye.
Years later I was wondering about this. When I left my body the rain was bothering me. Looked up the historical weather, that night there was light rain. How did I know that when I was in the middle of a building, no windows, while being unconscious?
Mushroom is in a better place and yes he did come back in Naomi’s dream. It’s real. Good luck little fellow.
What I lovely article.
I do not follow Naomi Wolf, but I know she was a very vocal abortion supporter, and of course a strong feminist. I also know the Left now attacks her over her stance on masking, covid, vaccines, etc...
I wonder if she has a different view of abortion now? If so, when will she admit it?
Had to get a kleenex.
Not for me and not what I thought it was when I clicked. I’ve seen too much death and feel too much sadness. I am tired of being angry, anxious and sad.
For all the good any of it does I’d love to be able to stick my head in the sand and just peacefully wait.
I am so sorry for your loss. It’s just awful to see your doggie slip away like that. It happened to me some years back when my little Abby-girl got cancer. They just don’t understand what’s happening to them with the pain and lethargy. I’ve come to love dogs more than I do humans. Don’t bother to ask.
I think she probably accepted abortion, but didn’t like the hypocrisy surrounding it:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naomi_Wolf#Feminist_issues
She also coached Al Gore. God is not done with Naomi Wolf yet. It is up to Him when He offers the Gift of Faith.
Her thinking has always been complex, and the evolution of it has been interesting. We’re all ‘works in progress’.
Had to put down our 14 year old mix breed about two months ago. He was already struggling with congestive heart failure, then he slipped a disc early one morning. He was in lots of pain at the end. It was a relief to see him drift away and the pain end. He was too good a buddy for too long a time for him to needlessly suffer. Great dog. One of a kind. A super companion and a true family member. We miss him and we hold on to many happy memories. Will see you again, my friend, Bear!!!
So so sorry to hear that. My current rescue is the love of my life. She’s getting older and I dread the day...
I have put three dogs down that I dearly loved. The first one was “Pup”
In memory of Good Dog, “Mr Pup”.
It has been 8 years since “Pup” died.
Diane and I adopted Pup after his owner, Diane’s brother, Joe, was killed in a motorcycle wreck. We brought him down from Jacksonville and added him to our family. After a rough start when Pup tried to be the Alpha Male dog to his bigger, younger lab brothers and got his ass kicked, Pup settled in.
Sometime after that, a large tumor appeared on his left side. We took him to the vet and a biopsy revealed that it wasn’t malignant, had the vet drain it and paid the bill. The tumor returned three months later. Seeing how Pup was 10 years old, the tumor caused him no evident pain, and the last vet visit bill was almost 200 bucks, we decided to let it ride. But knew his days were numbered. He carried that tumor for 3 more years without pain until he finally passed away.
Once Diane passed on in 2012, the financial stress to me of caring for 2 cats and 4 dogs made it impossible to do anything more for his tumor and as long as he was not in pain, I would let him live as long as possible.
So today I am re posting this in his memory:
.......................................................................................................
“Pup gave me lots of laughs and smiles. He was always so excited at feeding time. Jumping around like a young puppy with joy and anticipation.
When that stopped and he barely would eat, I knew his end was near.
He started to whimper and cry two days before he died. He had wandered down the hill and couldn’t climb up and was stuck in the hot sun when I found him. I should have put him down that first day but he would stop whimpering when I touched him and even when I carried him up the hill he was silent, so I figured that he was not in physical pain, but just distressed from being stranded in the hot sun.
I put him in the shade under the porch and he stayed silent while I dug his grave nearby. A ray of late afternoon sunlight coming in at a rare angle lit him up for a short time. I thought how symbolic this was, reminding me of that line from the classic gospel song, “Angel Band” about life’s setting sun.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_M65lcDk6o
I knew this would be his last sunset on earth. I hoped that he would go peacefully in the night but it was not to be.
I heard him crying during the night and resolved to put him out of his misery in the morning. At first light, I crawled under the porch to get him and even when I dragged him out to where I could pick him up and carry him to his grave site, he never made a sound.
Again I thought that he must not be in physical pain as the rough handling didn’t cause him to cry so I put him on a pad near the grave and put off killing him.. I had dreaded doing it and would do it only if he was in pain. It was Sunday and the Vet was closed so I knew I would have to do it myself. He fell into a peaceful sleep for several hours,
A gentle cool breeze and bird songs seemed to sing his last farewell. The cows grazed up to the fence. It was an idyllic scene. I thought maybe this would be the end and he would just slip away peacefully.
Suddenly he gave out a agonized cry so loud that it spooked the cows who ran off into the pasture. He tried to rise and started making gagging sounds. The time had come.
I put the other dogs inside the house so they would not see him being put down and turned up the radio real loud so they might not hear the gunshot.I said a quick prayer for him. Gave him one last pat on the head and ear rub.
Then Bam! A 45 bullet to the top of his head! Lights out!
Instant death and instant relief for my Good Dog Pup.......
Peace.... At Last..... Forever!....
When the deed was done I knew I did the right thing.I had agonized over making this call for days and had probably waited too long to do it.
Now Pup’s grave is in the family memorial garden next to his Daddy, Joe, who was killed in a motorcycle wreck in 2010, and his Aunt Di who passed on in 2012.”
Driving home yesterday I witnessed a man walking his older dog and the poor pup’s hips just gave out and down went his backside. The owner lifted his rear up and gently patted his head and spoke to him....I knew what was going on as I had my dog Joe and we went through that same type of situation. God if I didn’t tear up for the whole ride home knowing what was going on between that man and his lovely dog. Heck I teared up reading this....The comfort and love from God is the only thing that softens the loss of all we get to love in our lives.
My Havoc left me last week. I had to make that horrible decision. Is it time? Almost 25 years he was my BFF. His ashes are placed next to my mothers. The woman killed by remdesivir. Couldn’t see her or protect her. A week later my younger brother died unexpectedly of a heart attack. I sit here with such a heavy heart. Little light at the end of that tunnel. I miss them all. Life has gotten too hard.
Correction. 15 years
He was a wonderful canine companion for me and everyone else in our family. He is remembered with great fondness.
My youngest daughter would dream about our late corgi. She was convinced that he was still in the house with us.
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