tags: ,

Kylie was 15, we had already begun plans for her Super Sweet 16 Party in April. Lots of people consider 15 old for a dog but with modern vet care and the multitude of healthy options in pet food it just isn’t, unless maybe we’re talking about super-large breeds. And Kylie was definitely not an old dog. She ran and played in her backyard everyday, rain or shine and especially in the snow. She loved going for long walks, and a good game of keep-away with pinky. No matter how many ramps we put in front of the furniture to encourage her to go easy on her joints she still prefered to jump more often than not.

This picture was taken in her beloved backyard just about a week before Kylie got sick.

kfence

We’re not saying Kylie’s life wasn’t long, it was, and it was most certainly full, yet the end came  so suddenly and unexpectedly we still can’t make sense of it.

Kylie had a brain tumor. After a really bad nights of pacing and walking into corners we took her to her wonderful vet, but by then she seemed much improved. After another night that was even worse we took her to a neurologist. When we got there her temperature was almost 106. They had to put her in cold water to lower her temp but it wouldn’t stay down. This told the doctor that there was a tumor in the area that regulates body temperature which happens to be a location that makes it inoperable. There were options but none that were remotely worth the pain and trauma it would have caused with almost no hope of a positive prognosis. Our only choice was painfully, horribly,  undeniably, unthinkably clear.

They were thankfully able to give her an injection that would keep her temperature down for a few hours. So we took her to her regular, wonderful vet who turned over a room to us, let us put blankets on the floor and call friends to come and visit Kylie.

Thanks to the medication she was feeling better, relaxed, and hungry. She ate two jars of baby food, and a handful of cheerios, then dear friends brought her a hamburger, tater tots, and a sundae from sonic. Which she thoroughly enjoyed!

Kylie was surrounded by her friends and family when we said our tearful goodbyes in a room full of so much love…

It was the hardest thing we could ever imagined having to do, yet at the same time in the million times we’ve gone over it and over it and over it, we can’t imagine how it could have been better for Kylie. It was peaceful, she wasn’t alone, or scared, or in pain; she was surrounded by her favorite people with a full tummy. How rare is that?

About as rare as finding such an amazing little soul as Kylie, our little unicorn.

So again we wanted to get the sad stuff out of the way first, so that while we continue to grieve our loss we can look back on all the happy times, of which there were thousands, and somehow find a way to move on.