| I had been married 3 months when
the phone rang and my mother was on the other end saying
that there were basset hound puppies for sale in the
newspaper. I was 21 years old at the time and it
had been 3 years since our female basset named Sissy was
put to sleep. I had grown up with her since I was 4
years old. She had heartworms and years ago,
prevention medicine wasn't available. When the vet
caught it, Sissy was 6-7 years old and we were told that
she probably would not make it thru the surgery.
So, we gave her lots of TLC & medicine the vet gave
us till she left this world at age 14. Anyhow, we
called about the puppies for sale and we were told to get
off the interstate in a nearby town and then take our
first left. Little did we know, that the first left
turned out to be 50 miles into our beautiful state of
Florida. When we finally arrived, we found a sweet
little female tri-colored basset pup that we took home
and named Missy (Because it was a name close to my Sissy)
Cuddles (because she liked to be close to people).
My mom came with us to get her. Missy was very tiny
for a basset and my father didn't think that she would
make it thru the night. I guess he thought she might have
been the runt. She was so small that she would fit
into my husband's boot. Missy became the light of
our life even though, we had to go thru that terrible
chewing stage with her. One time, she even found a
fishing pole on our back lanai & got a hook stuck in
her mouth. We ended up having the veterinarian cut
it out. I remember taking her on bike rides in a
basket and putting bows on her head at Christmas.
We even bought a wind up basset hound toy which she used
to play with and bark at. Our house, which we were
renting was located about 3 blocks from my parent's
house. My parents soon sold their house to people
in NY who weren't ready to move in yet. So, we
moved in and rented it from the new owners for a few
years. We weren't really supposed to have dogs in
the house where we were previously at. My parent's
house, where I grew up, had a large fenced-in
backyard. Sissy was buried there, too. Missy,
eventually, had a litter of 8 beautiful puppies (4 female
& 4 male). We ended up keeping two of them-
Jimbo (the cutest male) & Lucky (the female runt we
saved). Lucky wasn't breathing when she was
born. They are tri-colored like their Mom.
There really isn't anything cuter that seeing 8 basset
puppies running around and playing with their mom in the
backyard. She was such a wonderful mom. In 1987, we
bought our own home on the East side of town while I was
pregnant with our son Chris. Missy, later developed
arthritis and with the help of glucosamine & rimadyl,
she lived a long life. Her last few years of her life,
she had slowed down in her eating & began to lose
some weight. Near the end, she became quite a picky
eater and eventually, she gave up on dogfood. I
would boil hamburger & rice for her and sometimes
give her chicken, too. But, when she hardly would eat at
all and began to throw up, too, I knew it wasn't
good. My heart just ached so much when she would no
longer eat her favorite meal-chicken and I had to beg her
to drink & walk. So, we took her to the vet
immediately. He did blood work on her and told us
the unfortunate news that her kidneys & liver were
totally shot. I wanted to bring her home to die,
but the vet told me that she would most likely die a
horrific & painful death. He said that her
stomach could burst and that she could go into
convulsions. So, I was told, I really only had one
choice. I still don't believe that we put her down.
I held her in my arms with my husband, John nearby, but I
couldn't watch what was happening. I wanted her to
know that we were there, that we loved her & that we
would take care of her babies. I never thought I would
have done it. I came to the vet that day wanting to
know what the problem was and I intended to bring her
home. Her last meal was her favorite --
chicken. I miss her so much, but I know she lived a
very long life. Most bassets live no more than 12
years. I had my baby for 15 years and 8
months. She was born July 22, 1984 & died March
18, 2000. Her so-called pups just turned 14 years
old July 11, 2000. We found another male
tri-colored basset hound almost 3 years ago. We
tried to find the owners, but had no luck. So. for
a couple of years, we actually had 4 bassets at one
time. We named the dog Bogie or Bogart. He
has turned into a real gem and is probably almost 4 years
old now. At the dog's last checkup at the beginning
of March, the vet informed us that Jimbo now has
congestive heart failure & Lucky has an irregular
heartbeat. He seems to think Jimbo will also have
to be put down someday, too. Eventually, he'll
probably get fluid in his lungs and cough more at night,
but he said he has medicine to help. I hate to go
thru all this again, but I don't want him to
suffer. He seems to think and hope Lucky might go
someday in her sleep with her irregular heartbeat.
I know I don't have a lot of time with them yet, but
we'll make the most of each day! Bogie is doing
great and is becoming a great playmate for our son, Chris
who is now 12, soon to be 13. I still think of
Missy a lot and tomorrow would have been her 16th
birthday! I have not been able to write about this
until now. I really forgot what the pain feels like
when you lose a pet. It's almost been 20 years since I
experienced it. I keep seeing her lying in her bed
licking it. Missy used to talk to me in her baby
talk ways! Boy, I miss that and holding her
close. Her flowers on her grave are so lively &
beautiful now! It rained the day she died right
after we buried her and as my girlfriend, Randi said, I
know the angels were crying! But spring officially
began 3 days after we buried her, and flowers were
blooming everywhere. It was as if God was telling
me that she is with him and that, like Jesus, she is
alive! I know I did the right thing, but I still
have some guilt. I didn't want to have to make that
decision. I wanted God to, but I couldn't put her
thru anymore pain. She was far to good of a dog for
that. She honestly never once growled or tried to
bite anyone. She was and still is an
"angel." That's why I also bought an
angel statue for her grave. I'd give anything to
hold her one more time or see her, especially tomorrow,
to wish her "Happy Birthday," but I'll know God
will reunite us once again at that "rainbow
Bridge" and I "ll just have to wait for now and
know she is happy and probably playing with my friend's
dog "Jessie" who passed away not too long
ago. We saw a lot of our own dog's in each other's
dogs. Please God, take good care of my Missy
Cuddles. Give her a hug & kiss for us and tell
her we love & miss her. She was our 1st baby
&she deserves nothing but the best! |
