I have written several stories for my beloved pets in the last 4 years. Each time I lost one of my beloved friends, Whitney was there to console me and pick up my spirits. She was there to lick the tears when Mom died in 2000. She was there whenever things were good and things were bad. Little Whitney the 7 pound Yorkie was a family member here for over 16 1/2 years. She was a constant presence in our home and made it a fun and crazy place to live. In June of this year I was looking forward to 3 months at home with my little Yorkies and Maltese.
Just the week after school let out, Hannah our 16 1/2 year old Yorkie died from kidney failure. I was so sad and upset and Whitney was once again there to help me deal with a great loss. At just about the same time Genie who was Hannah’s 14 year old puppy got sick also. We tried so many treatments but just 5 weeks later we lost Genie also to kidney failure. I felt this was more than I could handle. As soon as I got home, I picked up Whitney and she licked my face as if to say, I know Mom how hard it is. Then just a week ago Whitney started to not eat well and she had a strange sound in her bones in the back. A trip to vet showed 3 broken ribs. This along with an enlarged heart and liver and collapsing trachea was taking Whitney away from us.
She was so brave and never complained.
We took turns sleeping downstairs with her so it would not hurt her to pick her up and take her up to bed. As was always the way it was with Whitney, she was fine with doing that. She did not seem to feel any better and on the day I started back to school I felt an unusual dread of leaving her. My friend is my pet sitter and comes each day at noon to feed my dogs and take them out. She called me and said she could not wake Whitney. I rushed home and she was then awake but very weak. I called the vet and we stopped the pain meds hoping that was why she was so weak. That night I slept downstairs with her and she was restless. She had an upset stomach and just could not seem to rest.
I went upstairs and told my husband he would need to stay home as we needed to put Whitney to rest. About an hour later she because very limp and I thought she was going to die but a little later she got up and walked around a little. I called the vet and she said she would come in early and put her to rest in order to avoid any struggle that might happen at the end. This little girl did not deserve to struggle and we went to the vet in the morning at 8 am.
I placed my St. Francis medal around her neck to guide her gently to heaven. I have done this with each of my dear friends. They gave her a shot to help her sleep before the final injection. She fought the shot and did not fall asleep as soon as expected. When she did the vet gently let her go to heaven to be with her “brother and sisters.”” She went very quickly and I thought my heart would break. My husband and I both held her at the end while she made her final journey with both Mom and Dad there. He held her on the way home and I drove.
| ♥Whitney♥ |
| John and Vicki Manker |