Gigi by James & Cat / James & Cat

My dog Gigi just died 06/23/04.
I had Gigi when she was a puppy. We were not allowed to raise pet because we lived in an apartment in Hong Kong, but I went ahead and bought her from a pet store. She was carried home in a grocery bag.
After 2 yrs of hiding, she was reported to the manager and either she or we had to leave. I begged a friend to take us for couple months and finally, we flew on the same plane to L.A. My husband and I were so relieved because we no longer had to worry about Gigi being reported again.
She was a dog with extremely good health. She only visited the vet 2 times in her first 12 yrs. One for diarrhea, and one for ear infection.
On 06/18/04, we noticed that she hadn’t been eating for 6 days, we took her to the vet, he recommended us to take her for a ultra-sound. They found 2 tumors in her ovary, and the artery leaded to the spleen was not normal, and the tissue around it didn’t look good…..If we needed to know more details, she needed to do the exploratory surgery. The regular vet said it would not do any good to Gigi since she was full life already (almost 14 years old), he said it’s better to put her to sleep. I didn’t want to do it cuz’ I could still see her have a strong will to live. So the ultra-sound vet gave her some medication for anti-vomiting & appetizer stimulant. She said if Gigi would start eating by herself, she would last a few more weeks…Since she didn’t eat, so we had to force her by using the syringe. Every time I saw her struggle, my heart ached. I believed the struggle aggravate her pain, but I had no choice. I still believed in miracle….
She hadn’t been eating for 8 days, she became so weak, collapsed couple times, we had to take her to the emergency. Once she was in the lobby, she stood up, no one could tell she had been starving for 8 days.The nurse said there was nothing that they could do at that time, unless we wanted to put her to sleep. She told us to spend more time with her, if she was ready to go, she would tell us….
On 06/22/04, it was 5:00 in the morning, I heard “thud” “thud” — noise coming from the kitchen. Gigi tried to walk but collapsed again..Must be very weak, had not eaten for 10 days. We took her to her bed, comforted her for half an hour. All of a sudden, she walked to the front door. She wanted me to open the door for her. I told her it was too cold, but she insisted. We spent 1 1/2 hr at the front door together. In the afternoon, when I was still at work, my parents accompanied Gigi. She walked thru the doggie door, climbed a few steps to the patio, lingering around the barbecue area, roamed to pecan tree which was her toilet area, took a last look of the house, walked back into the house, went into my parents bedroom, stayed there for 3 minutes, looking around, … My bedroom door was closed, she stared at the door and looked at my dad. My dad asked, “Gigi, do you want me to open the door?” The door was opened, she got in, any stayed for another 3 minutes.
When I arrived home, she still came and wagged her tail. She was a fighter, she did not want to show her pain….I noticed every time she wanted to lie down, she looked around first, if we were there watching her, she would not do it … We hid and peeked, we saw her had a hard time lying down….she just did not want us to know how painful she was….
On one side, I don’t want her to suffer, on the other side, I still believe there would be a miracle. Too disappointed, no miracle this time… we have to put her to sleep.
Now she is in the doggie heaven. I will always remember her as my baby — part of my family.

 

With Love
Gigi
James & Cat