Coping With Pet Loss

I was very pleased by the way my 19-year-old shepherd-coon hound mix passed on. Even with bad arthritis in her hip and some central nervous malfunction, she was a happy girl ’till the end. She decided her own time to go and was very considerate about it, choosing not to bother anyone else in the process.

After being Travey’s (Travey was short for traveler, because, as I explained upon bestowing that name on her on my sixth birthday when we were introduced, she “traveled so far to get to us”) primary caretakers for 13 years, both my mother and I found ourselves living where we could not possibly care for her. We were very fortunate to learn that the very founder of the shelter where we adopted her wanted to take her in.

Travey spent the last year of her life in the company of several other aged canines in an idyllic farm setting. One day, we got a call from Mardene that a few days before, Travey had been let out in the yard and just never came back. She and some younger help searched and called for her, but did not find her. It seemed clear that Travey had just decided to go off into the woods to find her rest.

I cannot think of a more natural, healthy, and dignified interment for myself when my time comes. I shed my tears on several occasions, particularly when writing to the humane society about her passing, not out of grief, but with a sense of relief and with gratitude for having had such a kind, gentle, and loving friend in my life.

~g