Wednesday 22 October 2014

Bleak day

Yesterday was a bleak day for us,
and I think these photos capture the mood that I was feeling.
 
 
I knew as I was taking them that Mike was on his way,
and at the vets
with Paddy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
It's the same walk I did with Paddy, Jewel and Rufus,
all lost to osteosarcoma now,
back in August 2008
After we'd walked round the tarn,
we went into the tea room for a cup of tea,
no cake for me.
The very same place
where Paddy
finished off someone's ice cream that they had dropped.
Fond memories.
 
 
 


Monday 20 October 2014

Paddy



 
Very sad to say that we lost our Big Boy, Paddy to osteosarcoma today.
He was diagnosed with heart problems a year ago and was given medication on the understanding that it would give him a further 6- 12 months.
On Wednesday, he was diagnosed with bone cancer.
 
Today Mike drove to a special place to spend some time with Paddy,
just the two of them together.
He says,
'It seemed a special moment in time that we were both caught up in....'
 
Later, he says that feeling continued, so that when the time came....
'.. it was as though Paddy was calm and as easy as a sleeping baby
and drifted away with only a sense of being at ease.'
 
I am only sorry that I am in England and unable to share that time with them.  

 
Paddy
February 2003- 20th October 2014

 
 
 
There's no two ways about it
Paddy was special.
 
He was often anxious, and sometimes fretted.
We could never stay long at a friends house,
knowing that Paddy would be wondering where we were.
The other thing he fretted about
was
Food Time.
I don't know why
because his meals were at regular times every day.
But he loved his food,
right up to the end.
He's the only greyhound I know of that had to go on a diet.
One of his favourite things to do
was to lick all the dishes clean.
Our other greyhounds would stop eating their food part way through and swop bowls.
Not Paddy,
no one swopped with him
because there was nothing left to swop!
 
He was a most handsome fellow.
He couldn't understand it if we passed people on the footpath and they didn't stop to stroke him.
When people did stop to say hello,
it was Paddy they were drawn to,
and Paddy who would push his way through to be closest to them.
He was a charmer and loved to be stroked.
 
There will be a big gap in our lives without Paddy.
 
 

 
Left to right: Jewel, Paddy, Rufus, all lost to osteosarcoma,
but together again now.
 
If you click on 'Paddy'
at the bottom of this post,
you can see more photos or stories about him.