by Sharon Meddley
Spanky was born on November, 18, 1989 in Theresa, New York . He was the only buff-colored pup in the litter. We paid for him and took him home at the approprate time. He played with all sorts of things, right down to the dining room drapes, my expensive slippers and our furniture. He was teething so this was let go, kinda. He started to calm down a while later and lived a very comfortable life. During the summer of 1999 he was diagnosed as having lymphatic cancer. He lost a great deal of weight. He ate little and went outside often. He played less and less. The vet had given us some medication to give him that would stave off death for a month or so. It seemed to work, somewhat as his appetite returned and his toy playing was almost back to normal. Unforunately, he started to get worse and worse, to the point of panting for his breathe; his fever returned, as earlier, and his glands that were swollen, were starting to swell again. We decided to put an end to his possible suffering by having him euthenized.
Hurricane Floyd put a kink in those plans when it decided to come near where we were living in Virginia.
The day after the Hurricane went out to sea, Spanky was taken to the vet's, on his last visit. He was escorted into the dr.'s office and she checked him out and just shok her head from side to side.
While my husband sat in the only chair in the room, I sat on the floor with my eyes looking into Spanky's. I watched as a medication to relax him was administered. Then the big-ONE was given and I watched as Spanky breathed his last breath onto my face. Needless to say, I think that it is as bad as loosing a natural child ,for he acted like a child, trying to get his way, throwing tantrums when he didn't, getting into mischief, not following any guidelines and out-and-out being mother deaf when his name was called. He was a playful sort and very nosey , sometimes too nosey. On his very last day , I remembered that he barked a bark, although weak, as someone knocked at the front door. He was still trying to protect us, even though he was dying.
I am glad we did what we did, because it turned out that all his organs were pushing up to his lungs and he was slowly suffocating.
Thre has been some controvrsy over whether an amimal has a soul. If a soul contains the essence of the individual, the personality, and the being of the creature. , as it would in our own souls , then I think that they go to Heaven, maybe not to see God , but right next door in Rainbows Bridge,. God created all the creatures for us to enjoy while we are on this earth. Does it make sense that He would want us to be happy wherever we go. I think so and I can't wait for the day when I can again pet my beloved Spanky's head, twist his ears and rub his nose with my nose.
See you soon, Spanky
and
thank you Rainbows Bridge for making my wishes and hopes more real.
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