I’ve felt compelled to write about our mortality and the death of our pets. I believe that when our pets die, we see our own demise and it might scare us a bit. Our lovely pet that we have loved and has loved us back, is no longer with us; how will we move on? This is a comment I’ve heard before. I don’t have any words that can bring back their beloved pet, but I can say we experienced an emotion that was deeper than we could have imagined we could experience. This depth of pain is unbelievable.
When our English Mastiff passed away, I remember looking into her eyes and seeing an understanding that her time was short. I leaned into her and whispered, “Thank you, for being so wonderful and I’m sorry I couldn’t love you as much as you deserved but I hope I did good by you.” We can never repay our pets for their loyalty toward us. I also don’t believe we can ever love our animals the way they love us, and no - pets don’t love us unconditionally. This is a lie people have told themselves in order to get away with mistreating their animals.
Our veterinarian was puzzled; he had given her all of the medication and she was still alert. I remembered Gil was standing behind me and she raised her eyebrows a bit. I told Gil to say good-bye, and he leaned over to say his good-byes. Hasna then finally laid her head back down, after she licked his face, and closed her eyes to leave this world and move on to the next. Come September, she’ll have been gone 2 years, I believe. You see, her memory is very much alive in my heart and mind.
My hope for you all that either have lost your lovely furry family member, or maybe you have never lost a beloved pet, is that you enjoy the time you have with them. She/he won’t live forever, their time is short. The pain from losing a pet is real, their existence was real, so why not the pain we feel? I know that Bronwyn, our Border Collie, missed her (Hasna). How do I know? Hasna was usually laying down under the birch tree when the girls (dogs) would come out and Bronwyn was always the first to run towards her and lick her “droolsicles” off her face – yuck. After Hasna wasn’t in her regular spot for maybe 3-4 days, Bronwyn finally stopped looking for her, but was not outgoing for a few days thereafter.
Animals feel the void too. I have held Bronwyn’s puppies as they have died in my hands whilst in some cases, she has tried to revive them by licking and nuzzling them until she turns her back and goes back to her litter. This is her way of saying it’s time to quit. There is love and hurt in her eyes, and I hurt for her, but she moves on to the living and so should we.
My purpose for this post is to encourage you (it's true) to keep loving your pet(s), and don't prohibit your pet from enjoying life too. Don’t be afraid of your own mortality or theirs; you can’t do anything about it any more than you could have stopped your beginning. We are not like these beautiful creatures, yet they have an ending and so will we.
Our pets don’t concern themselves about their demise, but they love life and live life to it’s fullest. Let’s learn from them.
Happy Joyous Tails 🐾
Commentaires