COMPANION ANIMALS PART II

December 16, 201

Did I get sidetracked? I mentioned losing two companion animals. My reality gets hard to live with sometimes.

The Flame Goes Out

Who names a dog Flame? My son wanted to know. Well, when you have a Dalmatian mix dog, an EMT would. At one point I rented out a room to help with expenses. You'd be surprised at who will rent a room and some of them if you'd love not meet. More on this in future blogs. One of these roomers was a young woman – an EMT. She saw an ad in the paper for a lost dog. Please, please, I'll take good care of him, just like my own kids. I gave in. Soon after that she lost her job. She had named him Flame. It didn't take long before she could not pay the rent and had to move out without the dog. Flame and I quickly bonded. At first, I kept them in the garage as I had my son's part chow with me as well as 3 cats. With chronic illnesses and living alone, I was often too tired to take the dogs for a walk or fix dinner for myself.

 

Drug Bust

My son's dog died from cancer. Not long after that, some drug addict busted my living room window out in the middle of the night. I managed to get to the garage door and let in Flame. He promptly planted himself in front of the window on the sofa. When I told the man I was calling the police. He split. This is when flame earned a sacred place on the living room sofa and in my heart (most of the time). As he matured, he settled down into the dog that lives at my feet on the rug, yet who could also intimidate any stranger. He was my bud challenging me to longer walks and making me feel safe in a big old house.

He was an exceptionally beautiful dog who carried himself as if he were royalty instead of a mixture. On our walks, everyone had to stop and pay him compliments, while I had to keep him from taking a nip out of their dogs.

 

Honey I'm Home

Flame would wag his tail so enthusiastically that his whole body would move too. He always greeted me at the door when I came home doing a two-step dance routine. He and Mr. Pink Nose cat would follow me around the house until I came to sit on the sofa. Then they would compete to see who got to sit in my lap-70 pounds of dog or 10 pounds of cat, so we compromised, dog paws and cat paws and chest.

A Flame Goes Out

It was a Thursday evening and I called my son to tell him about Mr. Pink Nose dying. After supper and dishes, I got Flame's leash to let him out. I had to be up early the next morning. The dog had a hard time getting his back legs under him to stand up. He had been fine and showed no signs of illness at all. I thought he was getting some arthritis. We got outside and he dropped his head down and could hardly walk stiff legged halfway around the house. Usually he is dragging me. Well we got into the house. He collapsed. He could not get up enough to get into the kitchen from the living room. I had to drag him on a rug. All of a sudden time was spiraling out of control. My brain would not compute. What was happening? Flames feet were freezing. He no longer connected with me. He started to breathe heavily and his gums turned pale pink, all in the matter of 10 min. I felt so helpless. It was 10 PM, and I couldn't even lift him into my car. By morning, he was gone. I cursed at God. Losing one companion animal was tough enough, but two in a row? Those guys help make life bearable on many, many days. I have lost many animals. But the pain never gets any less. The following day I had a deceased 70 pound animal in my living room. I canceled out of a substitute job. I had no plans for burying him, but I found a lot of kind and compassionate people who helped me including one of the angels in T-shirts. He came over and let me cry on his shoulder.