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| LooLoo, Olaf, and Dottie... before Dottie took Olaf's face off... |
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Hi all!
Be ready for tears.... this is a tough one.
October has been a difficult month here in the Winn household. Our little LooLoo passed away a week ago today. She spent the last 3 days of her life in emergency vet care in an oxygen kennel. Despite the doctors and staff going above and beyond to try to help her, our little girl had fluid in her lungs and was working so hard to breathe. At 4 am on October 4th, I received a phone call letting me know it was time. LooLoo was exhausted, she couldn't sleep because breathing was work for her, and her condition was not only not getting better it was getting worse, rapidly. She has crossed the rainbow bridge and is now resting with our German Shepard, Lilly, and her grandpa, who I know she has missed.
LooLoo came to us about 4.5 years ago, she was a Pomeranian/Chihuahua mix. When we got her, she was a grumpy old woman who barked out a tooth in our bed, the first night we got her. She had several medical issues, a skin fungal disease, several teeth that needed pulled, worms, and hip issues.
Our poor little girl had been living a rough life, she was not very trustworthy of people, hated Dottie, and was terrified of kids. Despite all of that, she had our hearts immediately. We worked with our vet to get the medical issues taken care of, and under control. Taught her that she could trust us, and tolerate Dottie and other dogs, and that kids, while clumsy have so much love to offer.
LooLoo, aka Little Bear, aka, Tinkerbell, aka our little monster, was a huge fan of pillows. She would commandeer couch cushions, bedroom pillows, laps, chests, anything that was soft and fluffy. She did a happy dance or circles whenever she was excited or when she wanted something! She spoke for Dottie, who doesn't tend to let us know when she's hungry, wanting to go potty, etc. Would tell her Daddy to go to bed or get up if he was taking too long... (hehe) and would demand that someone be present while she ate her food (off the floor, bowls were scary!)
This last week with her being gone has been more difficult than I can express. In order to help myself come to terms with the fact that my baby would in fact not be coming home, I created thank you card for the two amazing vets that took care of our little girl the last few days of her little life.
This first one, I was determined to use only
Stampin' Up products. I needed something to make me focus. I can't tell you if half of these items are still available, and it's a little rough if you look too close, but for the local vet, who took care of LooLoo at 3 AM on Friday when I came in with her breathing rapidly, I think it's perfect. They let me cry, made sure I was comfortable with her condition prior to my leaving her there, and when it was time to send her to a specialist, they did all of the research, found one in Tacoma for us, made sure they were aware that we would be on our way, and provided a portable oxygen kennel for us to use on the 30 minute drive.
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| LooLoo in her travel oxygen kennel. |
The next card, for the doctors and staff at the specialty ER vet, was a bit more personal. I used stamps from Unity and Paper Smooches, I colored them with my Copics, and finished it with a few Pretty Pink Posh sequin stars.
These people took care of LooLoo for almost 3 full days. They reached out to their associates who were on days off to get their opinions, one even both an in flight wifi package to review her x-rays, loved on her when we weren't there, promised me that someone would be with her she ate, so she wouldn't be alone, allowed my husband and I to visit every single day, talked to us like parents, not owners, she was our child, not our dog. I could go on. They set it up to we could hold her before we left each day, made sure that when my little sister came with to visit she could see then helped us get her hot cocoa to just the right temperature so that she could have it to comfort her, allowed my other sister and her boyfriend in to the ICU to say goodbye and love her as well. They made sure we were prepared for the worst but strove for the best possible outcome... I know we paid them to do a job, but I owe them my heart for loving my little girl and taking care of her the way a mom can only hope her child is taken care of.
Good night mommy's little girl, daddy's little princess. We miss you each moment of each day. Watch over us, and remember that sometimes, we will need you to put your little paw on our shoulder to let us know it's going to be alright.
Love,
Mommy and Daddy
If you are interested in helping make an animal's life a little better, and can't bring a pet (or another pet) home, please donate in LooLoo's name to the
Thurston County Animal Services.
