Tag: Frise

End of life

What’s the hardest decision you’ve ever had to make? Why?

That has to be ending the life of a much loved and cherished member of the family, a pet.

In our married life we have had three wonderful little Bichon Frise dogs, who we have rightly or wrongly treated as our children, they have wanted for nothing and had the best that we could bestow on them. We have never had children as we can’t, we obviously upset someone in a previous life and that privilege and pleasure has been taken away from us. We needed surrogates and the dogs were those stand ins. We were very happy.

There comes a time where you have to let go, you notice changes in an animals behaviour, the little whimpers, the constant sleep and the inability to do things, the little looks you get and the realisation that their quality of life is deteriorating. Decisions have to be made.

That final journey to the vets, me driving, my wife cuddling the little package on the back seat and the fight to see through the flood of tears that are clouding your eyes.

The vets bench, the dogs wagging his tail, he’s ok you think, but he’s not. The injection to subdue him, he rests, the second injection and then he’s gone.

The lonely drive home knowing you have left a family member behind, the sadness you are going to feel everyday going forward.

The little things you miss, the what ifs? that suddenly come to mind and the guilt you feel for ending a perfect little life.

We’ve done that three times now and it hurts so damned much, I don’t think we will ever be able to do it again as the pain is just unbearable.

Life is full of hard decisions, but when it ends in the death of a much loved companion, I just don’t think there are many such decisions that are harder to make.

Peace to all. Be safe.

Thoughts 6/4/24

What animals make the best/worst pets?

I’m going to be quite boring and predictable here, I’m a dog person having had the same breed of dog (Bichon Frise) throughout my married life, about 33 years now. Alf has been our constant companion for the last eleven years and is just an all round super fellow, funny little bundle of joy.

Alf – our little fellah

I’ve put Cats here as the worst, not that they are a particularly bad pet, but for me I have a severe allergy to them and their fur, so for me they are not a practical pet to be in my presence if I want to maintain an acceptable level of breathing. I used to have one as a pet as a youngster and that’s how I found out about this allergy.

Tabs – Feral cat

However there is an aside to this. When we purchased this house a few years ago there was a cat in all the outside photos of the property and we assumed the previous owner had one as a pet. We were very wrong. No one owns this cat known to us as “Tabs”. She is a feral cat that took ownership of this area many years ago and we live on her property. She is not scared of any animal, absolutely loves our Alf as she knows he is a right softy.

This garden is her territory, she chases foxes and any other uninvited visitors to the garden, she is an excellent mouser and will also bring evidence to the back door to prove this, much to the displeasure of the wife. She’s fed regularly by us as a result, and she is always missed if she goes off wandering for a few days as she often does.

So really there is no best or worst here, Im basing it solely on my own selfish “health” problems. She’s a lovely cat, I can’t touch her (she wouldn’t let me anyway) so we have a mutual distant respect for each other. She’s the dogs best friend though and they get on fantastically.

The dog has been through so much with us, helped us through some very tough times just by being a lovely form of stress relief for us. His companionship is without condition and his loyalty is unique. He’s my boy, he deserves nothing but utter love and respect. A true pet lover would understand.

Have a wonderful day