Goodbye Micky, our little ray of light

 

It has been a quiet, sad week here.

On Monday we said goodbye to our sweet prince Micky, 14 years young.

Over the past month he had started limping but we didn’t know how he’d hurt his leg.

It wasn’t getting better so we investigated further. An x-ray showed he had aggressive bone cancer which had eaten away his pelvis and when it reached his hip joint is when he started having trouble walking.

Sadly there was nothing that could cure him, only pain relief for comfort, and even that didn’t stop him moving around trying to ease the pain.

Micky is now flying high with all our other pets who have departed over the years. He had had two little ‘turns’ earlier in the year and so I think that was the beginning of things.

 

 

 

I have always asked the Universe to give me a clear sign when it is a pet’s time to go, and I was given that for Micky.

I also always think of things from the pet’s perspective. Yes we could have brought him home for another few days with us on painkillers, but it would have been for us, not him.

Micky came to live with us four years ago aged ten, when my brother moved overseas. He has been a wonderful member of our family, giving our other two dogs more confidence and being a ray of light in our household.

How cute is his first-vet-visit puppy photo? 

 

 

 

Micky was so gentle, loving, relaxed, and sociable. A real extrovert. He was half Jack Russell, half Shih Tzu, and his Jack Russell side meant that walks would take twice as long as necessary due to all the sniffing.

 

 

 

We took Daphne and Chloe out for their first walk without Micky the next day and Paul commented that the walk was so quick without all the extra stops to sniff. Too quick when he was used to standing around waiting forever for his boy.

 

 

 

Paul was the ‘pawbearer’ and I let Micky ride home in the front seat, me in the back, since the front seat was his favourite. He and Paul would often go out for a boys walk together, and if I joined them with our other two doggies, Micky would be quite miffed that he couldn’t ride on the front seat. 

 

 

 

He is now buried at home in a lovely sunny spot up a hill. We are going to plant a little tussock for him as he loved to fossick around in the tussock along the waterfront.

 

 

 

In his final months I put a blanket over him often, and he looked like a mermaid when walking off with it on. And one day he couldn’t get back in the cat door due to the stuck rug :)

 

 

 

Goodnight darling Micky, we were so lucky to know you. Sleep well.

 

~~

 

 

 Just last week, on one of Micky’s favourite walks at Ahuriri, Paul and I had sushi on the waterfront, rugged up in the winter sunshine.

It was such a nice few hours to have our lunch outside and walk the doggies, and aren’t the colours of the salmon and avocado bright and luscious?

 

 

 

The lemonade can adds a pop of colour as well.

Because... thrifty... we brought our own cans from home, and I brought myself a straw too because I do love a straw.

I don’t usually drink fizzy with my meals, but it felt festive to take one with us for our lunch plans.

It’s fun to make your own outing for not much money, making the most of natural areas around you.

There are public outdoor tables where we went available for anyone to use, but otherwise we could have sat on a picnic blanket on the grass or sand.

We didn’t know it would be only days before we had to say goodbye to Micky, which makes it all the more of a precious outing. Micky loved being out and about with people.

Give your pets an extra big hug today for our buddy boy.

x Fiona