Max came from the local animal home following incessant pleading from my two children. He was a delinquent initially and cost us a fortune in plants, lamp shades and even a sofa !
Eventually he calmed down and became one of the family – my wife sometimes threatened to send him back to the home – but I knew she did’nt mean it.
In his later life, he became rather portly after years of good living (and too many snacks – mainly provided by me !) His good life eventually reached a point where we had to place him on a diet, in order to get his weight down. Things were slow to start, but then the weight started to drop off him. I thought – WOW – this diet is really good, but after checking with the clinic, we discovered the real truth – he had a problem with his neck muscles and he was unable to swallow his food. We tried to get around this by liquidising the food, and whilst it worked to some degree – he tended to vomit most of his food back again, and soon our lounge carpet was looking a real mess. But – we were prepared to put up with that in order to prolong Max’s life.
However, it was a losing battle, and with no other alternatives, my wife and I prepared ourselves for the inevitable. Soon, his once sleek flanks looked like a bag of bones as his body weight halved. We knew it was only a matter of time but because he was in no apparent pain, we were glad to have him with us for as long as possible.
By March 2nd he was so weak that he was starting to fall over and the dreaded call had to be made to the clinic. Arrangements were made for our daughter to return the next day at the same that the Vet would attend. Shortly before he was due, my wife let him out in our garden where he collapsed – he was carefully picked up and laid out on the sofa. Just then the Vet arrived, and a short time later, Max was just a memory.
Although we knew had been expecting this for the past few months, both my wife and I were devastated. My best friend had gone, despite all the love I had lavished on him and all we had left were lots of photographs, and loads of happy memories.
It still hurts – We had Max cremated and we intend to scatter his ashes in his favourite places.
Running around the fields, in heaven
| MAX |
| Ken Milne |