Missing Levi
by Mike Hughes
My wife and I were married in July of 2000. I brought two wonderful, sweet Yorkies into the relationship. It took no time at all for Maxx and Maci to love and adore their new Mommy, and their Mommy to worship them. We often talked about getting a third baby so that she could raise him or her, and give Maxx and Maci a playmate. We looked and looked for another Yorkie and then finally, this past March we found a breeder in a neighboring state, went out and looked at a litter that was just ready to go to homes, and there we found him. We both knew immediately that he was the one. He was a silken haired, big eyed, wet nosed, playful little guy. We brought him home and named him 'Kennedy's Levi Windsor" after our granddaughter Kennedy, and his sire, Windsor. He immediately became the center of our world, the older two Yorkies loved him, the cat loved him, and we loked forward every day to coming home and playing with him, and watching him interact with his new brothers and sister. Last night, I noticed he didn't come bounding out of his kennel as usual when we got home, he slowly walked out with his head down, so we rushed him to the vet, who said he thought he had swallowed something and gotten choked. They said they needed to sedate him and do some x-rays. When I didn't hear back right away I called them to check on him, only to find out that he had suffered cardiac arrest and died on the table. Imagine our horror then, when we saw on the chart that he weighed 10# when he actually weighed less than 5. He was only 5 months old! Of course the clinic won't admit responsibility, but to me, it is obvious that when a dog that weighed less than 5 lbs was given anesthesia for a 10 lb animal, and his heart arrests almost imediately, that there was a serious and deadly mistake made. I guess it doesn't matter now... our little guy is gone and nothing will bring him back. Levi... Mommy and Daddy miss you so much already. I will miss you barking through movies and making it impossible to hear them, chewing my shoes, dragging everything you can get in your little mouth underneath the nearest bed, and your sloppy kisses. We always jokingly said we couldn't wait for you to get through the puppy stage - but you didn't make it that far. I can't believe you are gone. I would give anything to have you here to chew up my shoes. We love you so much baby boy - I only hope that in your tender few months of life you felt just how much. I know you are romping and raising a ruckus in Heaven... we love you. - Mommy and Daddy
Comments would be appreciated by the author, Mike Hughe