When my wife moved in with me she always spoke fondly of her dog babies that she had to leave behind when she left her last husband. but she spoke of them often and missed them terribly. So we paid someone to transport the dogs to us in Texas. They rapidly acclimated and started to blossom. They became happier and more active than they ever had before.
They were truly a delight. I’d always liked dogs but never had the patience to raise my own. But these little bundles or hairy energy jumped their way into my heart and I grew to love them as my own.
A couple of months ago, our beautiful little girl-dog, Cassidy developed some rather severe food allergies. That caused some skin issues and a lot of itching and scratching. Her near-constant scratching infected her with a really bad staph infection. Treatment was long and difficult. Daily baths, wrapping her in ace bandages to protect her skin from her constant scratching, putting her in a cone as well to protect her head. While she never liked it she put up with it with remarkably good humor, trusting us to do the right thing.
And she was getting better, or so it seemed. We tried three different medications and only the third seemed to have the fewest side effects. Her loss of appetite, increased tiredness and weakness seemed only side-effects as her skin continued to clear and her once beautiful hair showed signs of returning to it’s former luster.
It seems that the cure was worse than the disease. She passed away last night. We miss her terribly.
If tears could build a stairway
And memories were a lane
We would walk right up to Heaven
And bring you back again
No farewell words were spoken
No time to say goodbye
You were gone before we knew it
And no one here knows why
Our hearts still ache in sadness
And secret tears still flow
What it meant to lose you
No one will ever know
But now we know you want us
To mourn for you no more
To remember all the happy times
Life still has much in store
Since you’ll never be forgotten
We pledge to you today
A hallowed place within our hearts
Is where you’ll always stay
—
(Minor phrasing edits, updated pictures and poetry [unknown author, it’s all over the internet] 8/17/13)