I would like to thank Monica, from Singapore, for this sharing. Monica has given me permission to publish her entire email here:
I came across your website during the time of the `Klang Rescue’. Since then, I have never failed to drop in to your blog everyday,if possible.
It is heartening to know of someone who is putting heart and soul to the care of the strays…It is not easy and I really salute you for all you have done.
Last year, I lost my dog of 12 years. Winnie is a long haired Chihuahua. We got her from the pet shop and she was our first dog. My daughter doted on her and my son, who later got another dog, a Pom, also loved her very much. When both of them left Singapore to go for their tertiary studies in Australia, they never failed to check on her well-being each time they made calls home.
As it is, on the 13th of March 2009, I realized that Winnie is not her usual self. She just cannot take any solid food and she was lying in the same position with no energy to move. It was 7.30am. I needed to go to office at 8.00am to settle some work before going to the Airport at 10.00am for my business trip to China. When I saw Winnie’s condition, my heart told me that it was about time that Winnie will be leaving us. It was only a question of what time, next day or the day after. As I would be in China for a week, I knew that Winnie would not be able to hold that long but knowing her, I knew she would try to hold on. My mum and maid also realized that it would be tough and suggested that I put Winnie to sleep before I fly off.
It was a heartbreaking decision – my children were away in Australia, I had to go for my business trip, my mum and maid were ignorant on how to handle Winnie during my absence…….
I sat down next to Winnie and started talking to her. I had put a cushion under her head and she was looking at me wide-eye. In between my tears, I told her that I have to leave for my business trip in a short while and if she was to hold on for me to come back, it would be a week later. I told her that I don’t want to see her suffering and I would have no choice but to let her have her peaceful sleep before I leave from China. She was listening for the whole half hour that I was talking to her.
The time was already 8.05am when I told Winnie – ` Winnie, I promise you that when you passed on, I will have you cremated and bury your ashes in our garden. Then when sister and brother are back from Australia, they will know that Winnie’s resting place is at the corner of the garden. However, if you are to pass on in my absence, then I am not able to make all these arrangements….’
The most marvelous thing happened when I finished saying the above: Winnie lifted her head from the cushion, lie flat and breathe her last…Words cannot express my emotion at that moment, my dear dog is so thoughtful. She left so that I can personally arrange for her cremation. The urn with her ashes was returned to me one week later when I returned from my business trip. I definitely leave Singapore on that day with a heavy heart but at the same time also found peace within myself as Winnie had not made things difficult for me. She was so lovable, understanding to the end. We missed her, no other dogs can take her place. The other day, my daughter called from Australia (she is now working and bought a house in Melbourne) and told me that she had adopted a little puppy (8 weeks), a cross-breed between a Pom and a Chihuahua. Well, my daughter says that what striked her was `her face looks like Winnie’. So, I feel that Winnie has come a circle and is now reborn back to Australia (the country where she originally comes from).
Thanks for hearing me out…..I feel that time heals but sharing this story to someone who loves animal so much makes all the difference.
Cheers and a Happy New Year. May you enjoy good health and happiness always….
All the Best/Monica from Singapore
I’ve had similar experiences before, too, when my pets passed away peacefully and naturally.
My childhood dog, Puffin, chose to pass away peacefully surrounded by my entire family, on the 7th day of Chinese New Year. He was my brother’s favourite, and my brother had just come back from Singapore. That morning, Puffin was his usual self, quite happy (but he had been getting seizure attacks for months before that), and my brother had just given him a bath. Puffin was frolicking in the sun, looking like a little puppy again. Within hours, he collapsed in our shrine room. We sat around him, and chanted prayers for him, and watched him breath his last. It was very peaceful. Puffin was 14 years old.
My other childhood dog, Remirth, was Puffin’s niece, and long-time playmate. After Puffin passed away, Remirth refused to take her medication and grew very withdrawn. Remirth was suffering from a form of cancer of the stomach. She was 12. On the full moon day of the 2nd month of Chinese New Year, Remirth went into the shrine room and lay down. My father indicated to me that her end was near and I quickly went to the phone to call my mum back (mum was still teaching then). Then, I whispered to Remirth and said, “hang on, hang on, mummy is coming back, hang on, please.” Remirth was my mum’s most faithful companion and was totally devoted to her. Mum rushed back from school, just in time to see Remirth. The moment she saw my mum, she looked at her, then she turned to look at my father, and then at me. She looked at me for what seemed a “very long time”, and I felt she was saying, “I have to go now and I cannot look after you anymore, please take good care of yourself”. Lastly, she arched her head laboriously and looked at the image of the Buddha in our shrine room. That was the last image on her mind. She then took a long deep breath and passed on. It was so peaceful and calm.
Both Puffin and Remirth were cremated and their ashes consecrated in a running stream.
If you like, you can read the full story of their lives in my first book, Pawprints on My Heart. The ebook is available here: http://tiny.cc/paws or here: https://sites.google.com/site/kindnesstoanimalsinc/pawprints-on-my-heart
Vixey and Mac also passed away peacefully last year. I have written a detailed account of their last days in my fifth book. I don’t know if I would ever publish this book. Maybe later…
For those of us who would like our pets to pass away naturally, we can certainly help each other by sharing our experiences.
Thanks for the sharing, Monica. Animals can will themselves to go when they are ready. Wendy is obviously, still not ready. We think she has a karmic link with her adopter, and there is some unfinished business between the two of them. Perhaps the universe has a lesson for both of them, and they have to go through it, somehow. Despite the pressure from others, the adopter feels very strongly that Wendy is not to be euthanised, and that she must be allowed to go only when she is ready.
Our entire team, right now, though we are all at work, is radiating positive and loving thoughts to Wendy. He adopter has spent almost every moment of his waking hours with Wendy, urging her to relax and let go, and be at peace. Wendy is now surrounded by the loving-kindness chant, and lots of love from near and far.