This coming Tuesday, May 9, will mark a year since the day we had to take our pooch Bailey to the vet and have her put to sleep.
My wife Pat and I think of her frequently. In fact, we often catch ourselves saying something to our cat and calling her Bailey.
She brought us a lot of joy during all the years we had her.
We had her cremated, something we never have had done with our other pets.
Her ashes are in a little brownish box with her name on it sitting in a bookcase in our den.
Bailey was a really special little companion. She was so much a part of our family.
My wife Pat believes, and I totally agree with her, that maybe what made her so special is the way she came to us.
Mary at the groomers we’ve used throughout the years called me one Friday morning when I was at work. She said a customer walked in that day with her pet to be groomed and she also had this little stray dog who had wandered up to her house that she had been taking care of a short time but could no longer afford to do it.
Unless the groomers knew of someone, she was going to have to take it to the animal shelter.
I called Pat and asked her what she thought. She asked me the same question and we agreed she’d go take a look. I somehow knew this little dog would be ours that day.
About mid-afternoon, Pat came home with the little Shih Tzu, all groomed and pretty.
We took her to be checked out the next morning by our vet. She only weighed six pounds, but she was ours. And the vet thought she was at least 18 months old and he said she’d already had at least one puppy.
From the beginning, she showed her unconditional love for all of our family.
Bailey had such a sweet personality. She fit right in. A unique trait we found out about her quickly was she hardly ever barked. But when she did, we better pay attention because she was alerting us about something.
She loved to go in the car, liked going with us when we went down to our place at Lake Eufaula, and begging us at the table was just part of life.
In December of 2021, our vet discovered she had congestive heart failure. He started her on a couple of medications and added another one later.
On Mother’s Day evening a year ago, she started breathing differently. We could tell she was struggling.
The following morning, I took her to the vet and he confirmed it was time to put her to sleep. Pat and I cried our eyes out but we knew it was the right thing to do.
The joy and comfort our pets bring us is really irreplaceable.