“Just
this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge. When an animal
dies that has been especially close to someone here, that animal goes
to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special
friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food,
water, and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable. All
the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor;
those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just
as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals
are happy and content, except for one small thing: They each miss
someone very special, someone who was left behind. They all run and
play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks
into the distance. Her bright eyes are intent: her eager body begins
to quiver. Suddenly, she breaks from the group, flying over the green
grass, faster and faster. You have been spotted, and when you and
your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion,
never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your
hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into those
trusting eyes, so long gone from your life but never absent from your
heart. Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together…”—Author
unknown
“Oh
Noble Creature the time has come for the two of us to part. And for
you to go to a better place, a place deep inside my heart. A place
where you’ll be be free to chase cars and balls and play. So
go noble creature thru that doggy door. And fetch a stick that’s
thrown by God. And wag thy tail forevermore while a friendly voice
repeats, “Good dog, good dog.”—Author
unknown
“I
am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white
sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is
an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length
she hangs like a speak of white cloud just where the sea and sky come
to mingle with each other.
“Then someone at my side says: There, she is gone!'
“Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast
and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just
as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
“Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment
when someone at my side says: 'There she is gone!' there are other
eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad
shout: "Here she comes!'
“And that is dying.”—Henry
Van Dyke
“In
a place and time not far from here twins were conceived. As they grew
in awareness within the womb they shared the JOY of BEING alive. When
they found their mother's cord they sang: "How great is our mother's
love, she shares her own life with us! But as time pasted and they
grew older great and frightening changes began happening to their
bodies.
"What does it mean?" said the girl.
"It means our stay in this world is coming to an end." The
boy answered.
"But I want to stay here forever!" she cried.
He responded, "We have no choice."
She asked hopefully, "Maybe there is life after birth?
"How can there be? "he said, "We'll shed our life cord,
and life is not possible without it. Besides we have seen evidence
that others were here before us and none have ever returned to tell
us there is life after birth.
No, this is the end."
Despairing she said, "If everything ends in birth, what is the
purpose of life? It's all meaningless! Maybe there is no mother after
all?"
"There has to be," he protested. "How else did we get
here? how do we remain alive?"
"Have you ever seen our mother?" she asked. "Maybe
she lives only in our minds. maybe we just made her up to feel better?"
And so their last days in the womb were filled with fear and deep
questioning. Finally the moment of birth arrived. When the twins had
passed from their world and OPENED THEIR EYES they were DELIGHTED
BEYOND their Wildest Dreams!”—Author
unknown. Artist Nan Sea Love has illustrated
this quote
“Do
not weep for me when I am gone, for I have friends in the great beyond.
All the little ones I used to feed, will come to me in my time of
need.
They will purr and bark in great delight, and I will hold and hug
them tight. Oh what a great day that will be when my furry friends
all welcome me.”—Richard
Severo
“We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary
than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached.
Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would live no other way.
We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding
the necessary plan.”—Irving Townsend from “The
Once Again Prince”
“Somewhere—somewhere in time's own space there must be
some sweet pastured place, where creeks sing on and tall trees grow,
some Paradise where horses go, for by the love that guides my pen
I know great horses live again.”—Stanley Harrison
“When I die if you need to weep cry for whatever separates you
from anyone you love. And when you need me put your arms around each
other and give whatever you need to give or receive from me. I wanted
to leave you something, something better than words or sounds. Look
for me in those I have known or loved and if you cannot give me to
them let me live in your eyes and touch and not in your mind. You
can love me most by letting hands touch, by letting heart reach out
to heart. And by letting go of anything that makes you unfree to love
each other Love doesn't die, we do. So when all that is left of me
is love, give me away to each other”— Author unknown
“Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there. I do not
sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow. I am the diamond glints on
snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain. I am the gentle Autumn's
rain. When you awaken in the mornings hush. I am the swift up-flinging
rush of quiet birds in circling flight. I am the soft star that shines
at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there. I did
not die.”—Mary
Frye
“What
is a man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would
die form great loneliness of spirit…”—Chief
Seattle
“Never does one feel oneself so utterly helpless as in trying
to speak comfort for great bereavement. I will not try it…”—Jane
Welsh Carlyle
“If, as I can't help suspecting, the dead also feel the pains
of separation (and this may be one of their purgatorial sufferings),
then for both lovers, and for all pairs of lovers without exception,
bereavement is a universal and integral part of our experience of
love.”—C. S. Lewis
“And
if I go, while you're still here —know that I still live on
vibrating to a different measure behind a thin veil you cannot see
through.
You will not see me, so you must have faith. I wait the time when
we can soar together again, both aware of each other. Until then,
live your life to the fullest. And when you need me, just whisper
my name in your heart—I will be there.”—Pauline
Hitchcock
“I
believe that the loss of a beloved companion animal is like no other
loss because our relationships with animals are like no other. Our
culture tells us that an animal companion is an engaging toy, and
that our grief over its death is alarming and ill-paced. And our culture
is just flat wrong. As a survivor of advanced cancer myself, I believe
that the love and comfort of animals in great measure graced me with
recovery. This being the case, I would not be one to take kindly to
any cultural diminishment of our relationship with 'the other.' Bluntly
put, 'Them's fightin' words' in my world. Animals are more to us than
we know. Their partnership with us is a holy one that endures across
a lifetime and possibly beyond.”—Susan
Chernak McElroy, in “Grieving the Death of a Pet”
by Betty J. Carmack
“If
we go to heaven, so do they…because if dogs are not there, it
is not heaven.”—Elizabeth
Marshall Thomas
“May
all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of body and mind quickly
be freed from their pain. May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those bound be free. May the powerless find power, and may
people befriend all life. May those of all species who find themselves
lost, the young, the aged, the unprotected, be guarded by beneficent
celestials, and may they swiftly attain Buddha hood.”—Buddhist
Prayer for Peace This quote on Greeting
Card
The
animals of the planet are in desperate peril…without free animal
life I believe we will lose the spiritual equivalent of oxygen.”—Alice
Walker
“A
Robin Redbreast in a cage Puts all Heaven in a Rage.”—
William Blake, Auguries of Innocence
“When an unloved creature suffers and dies heaven rages and
angels cry.”—Nan Sea Love. This quote on Angel
Greeting Card
“I know no greater proof for the existence of a benevolent God,
no greater Heaven than holding a purring cat. Those who hunger for
love need look no further. God has put opportunities to love and care
all around us.”—Nan Sea Love this quote on Greeting
Card
“The fate of animals is of greater importance to me than the
fear of appearing ridiculous.”—Emile Zola
“The
soul is the same in all living creatures, although the body of each
is different.”—Hippocrates
“Animals
possess a soul and men must love and feel solidarity with our smaller
brethren…as near to God as men are.”—His
Holiness Pope John Paul II. This quote on Artwork
Consider
a portrait of your beloved pet on a
Bereavement
Treasure Altar Keepsake Box
“An
angel came to me one day,
A ball of fur in hand.
The angel gave the ball to me,
As we stood there in the sand.
She said to me, "It's just a loan,
For only a short time."
And she would surely return one day,
For the ball of fur wasn't mine.
I looked down at the ball of fur,
Two eyes stared back at me.
I fell in love upon that day,
As I held it close to me.
Years went by and my love grew,
As close friends we became.
I looked down at my ball of fur,
Life was never again the same.
No matter where I found myself,
My friend would be there, too.
Then one day the angel came,
I didn’t know what to do.
She said that now the time had come,
To take my friend back home.
I watched her leave with tear filled eyes,
As I remembered “It's
just a loan.”—Hoyt
Northcutt
“Pets
are loaned to us by God for a short time to teach each of us humility
and unconditional love.”—Hoyt
Northcutt
“Only
animals were not expelled from Paradise.”—Milan Kundera
“ALL
beauty is but Art that thou canst not see,
ALL chance direction unknown to thee,
ALL discord harmony misunderstood,
ALL partial evil, Universal Good.”
—Alexander Pope
The
decision to euthanize is always extremely difficult especially because
an animal cannot tell what he or she really needs. No matter how intuitive
you are, how much you pride yourself in your ability to communicate
with animals, or how certain you are about such concepts as an afterlife,
you cannot know for sure what an animal is feeling or what
happens to its soul when disconnected from the body. To impose our
mere beliefs or what we hope is true on an animal that is at our mercy
may result in great, if unintentional, unkindness. I believe even
world-renowned wise persons or spiritual leaders could be arrogant
if they impose their perception of reality or belief system on beings
entirely at our mercy. The Pope, Swami Muktananda, and the greatest
leaders of Islam cannot all be accurate about afterlife and the souls
of animals. For the animal’s sake we need to be humble in our
beliefs.
I
wrote the following just one week before our other veterinarian (our
home veterinarian was out with an injury) suggested that in my sweet
dog friend, Monte's best interest we release him. I knew all day long
this was a real possibility. But it was a trip of thirty miles and
I was sick. I just wasn't up to going and he seemed better. I have
long felt Monte picking up communications from me, and I felt for
the first time during or after any death that communication. I spoke
to the vet, a really great guy about my concerns about the letting
the sedative work long enough and my husband held the phone to Monte's
ear as i talked to him—but for once words did come easily. I
experienced racking sobs and great sorrow, and for a while intense
anger at my life and body for being sick so that I was not physically
there with Monte. I hope no one read the following before I qualified
this as in this time of grief you don't need one more reason to feel
badly. We all do the best we can. If I could have had it different
it would be.
In
the following i am sharing another personal story or a far more "ideal”
euthanasia, (if such a thing can be said of killing someone you love)
and experiences in the hope you may find it a helpful guide when your
animal friend’s death becomes inevitable. In retrospect I chose
to release my beloved Precious a week later than what probably would
have been best for him. I loved him so much, yet my need for him blinded
me. I kept thinking we would defy the odds—great nutrition and
every alternative therapy I could find kept me clinging to a hope
for a miracle. I had never been one to cling to anything, and never
will again.
Death
can cause very unpredictable behavior. Be prepared for this time if
at all possible. I wasn't and perhaps caused my beloved
unnecessary pain, something I deeply regret. The animal's feelings
must always come first, they depend on us to make the best decisions
for them, not ourselves. That said, if there is any question about
the necessity to euthanize please be careful not to act too quickly
either. I know from experience, you may be plagued with that regret
also.
If
you can get a veterinarian that makes home visits it is much better
for the already stressed and ailing animal, especially cats who usually
hate cars under the best circumstances. Recently since another one
of our animal friends is ill I have interviewed three veterinarians
to see when they are available and just how they proceed with euthanization.
I asked a lot of questions and only pray when the time comes we will
be able to again use Precious’ wonderful veterinarian who was
remarkably sensitive (Update we where able to have her administer
this sacred rite of passage). One veterinarian I interviewed thought
herself kind because she would come to our home, muzzle our dog, and
administer an admittedly painful sedative before euthanization! I
talked at length to her and could see that was the best she was going
to give. No professional likes to be told they are wrong, but you
can carefully suggest how you want it done and see what they will
agree to, ask lots of questions, ask for details, and don't settle
for anything but the best for your loved one, you can
do this!
When
the time to face the inevitable finally came with Precious I was blessed
with a great Sonoma County veterinarian (sorry she wishes to remain
anonymous you will have to find another great vet or educate yours).
I have experienced two cats deaths before, the first time I saw the
poor cat fighting the needle the whole time. The next "mercy
killing" I witnessed we requested a sedative, but the veterinarian
did not wait long enough for the sedative to take complete hold so
poor Sweet Boy’s last moment was not entirely peaceful. I saw
the shocked look in his eyes at his last conscious moment. This is
someone I love who trusted me. I will never let it happen again.
This
is how it should have been: Precious’ last moment on this Earth
was peaceful. My vet told me that often one sedative is not enough
and you must give it enough time to work; she gently gave the first
sedative and patiently waited for twenty to thirty minutes for it
to take full effect. During that time she invited me to act as if
I were alone and say anything I wanted to Precious. Making myself
as peaceful as possible I set aside my own fears and questions to
just look into his eyes (cats do pick up our anxiety, currently I
administer by needle 50cc of subcutaneous fluid two times a day to
one of our kitty friends and when I learned to be peaceful the ordeal
transformed for both kitty and me) and poured my love out to him,
reassured him he was safe, that there was nothing to be afraid of.
After patiently waiting the twenty or more minutes my patient, very
caring veterinarian gently administered a second sedative, again letting
it work for about twenty or thirty minutes. Precious simply went to
sleep and then the final drug was administered. Having seen two previous
"mercy killings" this is the best circumstance i know for
such an awful experience. Share
your transition experiences.
If
your animal friend is close to you or someone else try to make sure
they are there to help with the transition. For some
that will simply be too painful, please, in this very difficult time,
accept your and others limitations. Everyone is doing the best they
can. Precious’ best friend, a former feral cat named Trust Love
stayed close by all through Precious' illness. He stayed in the room
during the whole sacred process and with Precious' body for over twelve
hours (and did not go back into that room for almost ten months).
My vet also said it was very important to show Trust where we were
burying Precious, which we did. Trust cried long forlorn kitty cries
for months, but we consoled each other, becoming for each other the
great love we each had lost. (Update: Both Trust and Precious are
now buried next to each other now in our backyard, a Sacred Healing
Place under the Redwood. We included cuttings of our hair, precious
jewels, writing from our hearts, and other treasures with these so
loved bodies. I had formerly thought of a dead body as just a shell,
cast off by the Spirit. i do not really understand why these ritualistic
behaviors are important for healing, but i know in my heart they are
healing, for who i cannot say.
