On January 14th, 2003 in Long Island NY,a beautiful springer & her siblings were born. Some were liver & white like her, some were black & white. When she & her siblings were 3 days old there was a big snow storm,so we had to wait to see them & pick our new companion. When we were able to see them,we held the ones still available & told the breeder in order of preference which ones we wanted. The one named Tinkerbell shook when we held her. We think that was our Bonnie, because she later shook on car rides for a while.
On April 14th (palm Sunday then), my parents & I drove back to the breeder to pick up our three month old Bonnie. My mom gave our new puppy her name. I held two of Bonnie’s siblings. They were squirmy in my arms. When I was given Bonnie, she didn’t squirm. Her very first walk,she was scared of the back top, so I had to carry her down the street. It took her a summer to get over that,but when she was nervous on walks, she’d walk on the grass. When she had something in her mouth she wasn’t allowed to have, she was nasty until the object was away from her.As she grew older,she over time grew out of that. Off and on throughout her life, she suffered from urinary tract infections, which made her have accidents. When we left the house & came back, she’d get very excited, she sounded kind of like a monkey.After my mom died in 2011,Bonnie missed her & for a long time when my dad & I came back home, she would look for her. Bonnie became even more bonded to me.She would come back after her morning out & sleep with me like she did with my mom.
At the age of 9, my dad & took Bonnie to Cornell University College of veterinary medicine in CT, to get her cataracts fixed by surgery. The day before it was going to be done, she was given tests.We were told she had retinal atrophy. Her eyesight slowly left her over the years. She never lost her good spirit. In early 2015,she somehow developed kennel cough. 10 days after it was treated, I noticed that one side of her face was swollen. Our vet sent us to Cornell. She was diagnosed with T-cell Lymphoma on April 22nd,2015. My dad & I took her to get chemo treatments there every week. The vets at Cornell were determined not to give up on her. It took about a month to see the change in her from the cancer. The night of June 11th, she peed on herself & couldn’t get up. It broke my heart. She sometimes could get up,but didn’t want to go for a walk with me. Sometimes she couldn’t climb the stairs. June 14th,she didn’t get up to greet us when we came back from church. She cried when I called to her.
On the morning of June 18th, 2015, my dad yelled for me to wake up. Bonnie had a seizure. He told me it was time. I got upset. She heard me. My girl insisted on coming up to my room to check on me. My dad & I took pictures of her in my room, my car(on the ride over) & at the vet office in the room. She paced around the room before the vet gave her the two shots that ended her suffering. My dad had to almost drag me out of the room. It was an interesting journey with her.She was on this earth for 12 years, 5 months and 4 days,but it didn’t seem long enough. Bonnie was beautiful, smart,loved to snuggle, understood what you said,sometimes naughty & acted almost human. After she died, I let her dog friends sniff her collar which I put on a stuffed animal on my bed with my two previous dog’s collars. Thank you my Bonnie monkey girl for all that you gave me. You’ll live in my heart forever.
Always love you,
| Bonnie |
| 18, June 2015 |
| Cynthia Dean |