}

Tuesday, February 02, 2021

Farewell, Sunny

Today our beautiful girl Sunny told me it was time for me to take her to the vet for the last time. Special thanks to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, who went with me. It made it much easier for me than it otherwise could possibly have been.

Sunny died peacefully with her head in my hand and my other hand slowly stroking her. She knew I was there, she knew she wasn’t alone, and that she was loved. She was also clearly ready, worn out from her health battles. Now her struggle is over and she’s at peace.

I don’t believe in an afterlife in any common way that people think of one, and neither did Nigel. But I like to think there could be some sort of plane of existence after this one, as unlikely as that may be, one where Sunny gets to once again jump on the bed with Nigel, her paws on his chest as she licks his face. If such a thing exists, then they’ll both be very happy to be together again.

Those of us left behind will adjust, in time, and I certainly do know it was best for her, and my responsibility to her. I know all that. But that doesn’t make it the least bit easier. And now I also know it’s possible to further break an already broken heart.

Goodbye, Sunny. Thank you for the honour of being your furdaddy. And if there is something after this life, then please give Daddy Nigel an extra kiss for me, and also kisses from Jake and Leo, too. ❤️

Me holding paws with Sunny on January 7, 2021.

The photo up top is from Sunny’s 12th birthday last July
. I took the photo at the bottom of this post on January 7, 2021, when I first thought Sunny was heading out. She rallied right after that, and continued her roller coaster back and forth from good days to bad days and back again, until today.


Related:

“Sunny’s bad time” – The point where her final health journey really began.
”Sunny’s not well” – The start of Sunny’s decline

2 comments:

Roger Owen Green said...

Sorry, Arthur. Very lovely in the telling.

This stuff is one of the reasons I resisted having pets for 30 years until my daughter wanted one, and we ended up with two cats

Arthur Schenck said...

It's the responsibility that comes from taking a furbaby into our lives. Every time I have to do right by them, it hurts terribly. And every time I'm also reminded that we're kinder to animals than we are to our fellow humans. 😕