My Beautiful Woodrow <3 Options

[HolliWood]

My best friend, soul mate and little brother Woodrow passed away yesterday morning March 3. Woodrow was a miniature dachshund who I fell in love with the moment I met him when I was five years old. We grew up together and spent the next 17 years by each others side. We played together as kids and helped each other through the loss of our mother and other dogs. We had a special bond that cannot be explained - I absolutely adored him, and I know he felt the same!

On Monday morning I arrived home at 1am after work to find my housemate sleeping on the floor next to Woodrow's bed. Apparently he had been vomiting all day and was lethargic. I picked him up and he just flopped into my arms and I asked him 'is it time?' He looked up at me and I knew. He had always been in extremely good health, but being 17 years old, I knew his time was coming. I spent the next 5 hours holding him tight, if I left his side for even a minute, he would begin to cry. It was a restless night for him, he got very little sleep but he was not in distress, I knew he was going into kidney failure, and that his body was going to systematically shut itself down. I called my Dad at 6am and told him he needed to come over. We spent two more hours cuddling together, then Woody walked over to his bed, wagged his tail, and flopped down. We took him to the vet who confirmed my suspicion and gave us the option of euthanizing or letting nature take its course. We knew he was in very little pain but I could see all he wanted was to go to sleep. He was tired, his body was tired, and we all decided that it was time to let him rest. He slipped away in my arms after the vet injected the meds.

I have no qualms about the decision. He was ready to go, it was his time and we needed to do this for him. He more than deserved it. I've been through the loss of my companions before: Baxter in 2003 and Holli in 2012, both of whom Woody will be so excited to see again. But this feels different. Its not just him I say goodbye to, its my childhood, its my other lost loved ones. Woody was the link that held it all together. He was there when Baxter, my mother and Holli passed and its as though I'm grieving his physical loss and the loss of someone who loved the same people I did and went through the same experiences as I did. Like I'm re-grieving their losses through him. As I said, we shared a special bond running deeper than love, he was my connection to my Mum and dogs, whom we both loved and lost. Now That's gone.

All I can do now is take comfort that he lived a long amazing life, sneaking into the hearts of so many. He passed peacefully just like he deserved and will be remembered always.