We named him ‘Chisai’— little one — with the hope that whatever breed of dog he was crossed with was not a big dog. We intended to have him mostly in the house and wanted a dog that we could cuddle with
(one not too big).
Shortly after the first few weeks after we brought Chisai home we had him out in the yard to play on the grass with us. He was a inquisitive little fellow. Along came a honey bee since the early spring day was warm and the bees were beginning to enjoy themselves. Chisai began snapping at the bee as it flew around near him. Then, it nestled in the grass and just as I reached to hold Chisai back, he dove for the bee and was stung on his snout. Within a few minutes it became evident that Chisai was in trouble. His snout and eyes started to swell and he started staggering. We picked him up to rush him to the Vet. As I held him on my lap in the car he continued to get dozier. After a few minutes more he went limp and quit breathing. A moment or two of panic set in with me as I didn’t know what to make of the situation. And then I quickly put his nose and mouth to mine and blew a few breaths into him and he responded, sputtering. As I began to study his awakening he barfed all over me and the seat. But I didn’t care……..he was alive again. When we got to the Vet she said that he has an allergy to honey bees so she fixed him up with a shot of antihistamine. We brought him home and he recovered after a few days.
He was stung another couple of times on his snout through the course of his life, each time, treated at home now with an simple antihistamine we kept on hand for him just in case.
The day before we had to put him him down was another such time. But, he was already not well, since he had many problems in his old age — kidney failure, prostate cancer, and a heart problem. He was a very sick little guy. I took him outside for his early evening rounds and he was stung again, but this time on his paw. Within an hour later he seemed to be having another heart attack. Since it was tooo late in the day I couldn’t get him into to see the Vet until I could try the next morning. He suffered all night with me by his side constantly. It was excruciating to see him go through this and I felt so helpless. When I was able to get the Vet to see him we were told that it was not a good situation that he was in. We were told that we should consider what is the inevitable given his age an all of his health issues. It tore at my heart.
As we came home that day without our beloved pet, the thought occurred to me — how strange it was that his little life began with a bee sting and his tortured life’s end was finalized with bee sting. It makes one wonder about the meanings of your path in life.
We miss him terribly and
there will always be a piece of each of our hearts missing.
Love to you, my baby puppy.....
| Chisai |
| Elayne |