Post by whispy on Feb 21, 2008 10:04:00 GMT -5
Just to let everyone know our Whispy went to the bridge last night. The cancer had advanced at a much faster rate than we could ever have imagined, so we had to do the right thing. She passed in the most dignified and quiet way. I wrote a column for my newspaper that I wanted to share with you. Here it is:
Saying goodbye to a beloved pet is never easy
By Al Rivett
Pets. You feed them. Love them and, boy, don’t they love you back.
But, it’s a sad inevitability that at some point you have to let them go.
It’s with a heavy heart this week that I let my beloved Greyhound, Whisper, go to the Rainbow Bridge. It’s a peaceful place set out in a poem where pets are said to cross and wait for their masters until they meet again.
She started limping just more than a month ago. We hoped it was simply a sprain or muscle soreness, nothing a few ASA pills wouldn’t cure. But, a visit to the veterinarian, followed by an X-ray, confirmed our absolute worst fears. Cancer. Damned despicable disease.
The vet explained it could take her fast or more slowly -- there’s no concrete way to tell. Never did we believe after just more than a month it would have progressed so quickly.
Her limping had gotten to the point where she couldn’t bear weight on her leg. Drugs, including a particularly strong one, ceased to have their desired effect.
We would have to say goodbye.
It’s going to be tough, to say the least, not having our hound, our sleepy girl, so meek, mild and gentle, in our midst. In her youth, under her race name KAQ on the Move, she bounded around the tracks of Florida -- 67 times to be exact. She was mostly of ‘C’ grade quality, a middle-of-the-packer in the Greyhound racing world. But, once she slipped down to the ‘D’ level, her owners discarded her after two years on the track. But, fortunately, she was handed over to a rescue group, Greyhound Relocation and Adoption Canada of Ingersoll, Ontario.
It was initially the fascination with the Greyhounds’ grace and speed while watching them at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg, Florida that prompted us to investigate getting one of our own. But, upon travelling to GRA some three-and-a-half years ago, looking over countless dogs awaiting adoption, it became clear it was Whisper who was choosing us.
I’ll miss our long walks together through the park each evening. She insisted on her daily complement of outings. And, being a sucker for dogs, I obliged her. She absolutely loved them -- meeting other dogs and especially other people along the way. Whisper was known throughout the neighbourhood as she was hard to miss -- her white coat mixed with brown spots and patches of brindle and her long, lean legs holding up an even leaner body.
Yes, she revelled in her walks, but I’m certain she recognized I might enjoy them, too. And, I did. Whisper urged this hopeless couch potato to get off the chesterfield and get out and exercise each night. I thank her for that.
Goodbye, sweet angel. Until we meet again at the bridge.
Saying goodbye to a beloved pet is never easy
By Al Rivett
Pets. You feed them. Love them and, boy, don’t they love you back.
But, it’s a sad inevitability that at some point you have to let them go.
It’s with a heavy heart this week that I let my beloved Greyhound, Whisper, go to the Rainbow Bridge. It’s a peaceful place set out in a poem where pets are said to cross and wait for their masters until they meet again.
She started limping just more than a month ago. We hoped it was simply a sprain or muscle soreness, nothing a few ASA pills wouldn’t cure. But, a visit to the veterinarian, followed by an X-ray, confirmed our absolute worst fears. Cancer. Damned despicable disease.
The vet explained it could take her fast or more slowly -- there’s no concrete way to tell. Never did we believe after just more than a month it would have progressed so quickly.
Her limping had gotten to the point where she couldn’t bear weight on her leg. Drugs, including a particularly strong one, ceased to have their desired effect.
We would have to say goodbye.
It’s going to be tough, to say the least, not having our hound, our sleepy girl, so meek, mild and gentle, in our midst. In her youth, under her race name KAQ on the Move, she bounded around the tracks of Florida -- 67 times to be exact. She was mostly of ‘C’ grade quality, a middle-of-the-packer in the Greyhound racing world. But, once she slipped down to the ‘D’ level, her owners discarded her after two years on the track. But, fortunately, she was handed over to a rescue group, Greyhound Relocation and Adoption Canada of Ingersoll, Ontario.
It was initially the fascination with the Greyhounds’ grace and speed while watching them at Derby Lane in St. Petersburg, Florida that prompted us to investigate getting one of our own. But, upon travelling to GRA some three-and-a-half years ago, looking over countless dogs awaiting adoption, it became clear it was Whisper who was choosing us.
I’ll miss our long walks together through the park each evening. She insisted on her daily complement of outings. And, being a sucker for dogs, I obliged her. She absolutely loved them -- meeting other dogs and especially other people along the way. Whisper was known throughout the neighbourhood as she was hard to miss -- her white coat mixed with brown spots and patches of brindle and her long, lean legs holding up an even leaner body.
Yes, she revelled in her walks, but I’m certain she recognized I might enjoy them, too. And, I did. Whisper urged this hopeless couch potato to get off the chesterfield and get out and exercise each night. I thank her for that.
Goodbye, sweet angel. Until we meet again at the bridge.