Sometimes in this life, we’re faced with difficult decisions regarding our pets. We may feel torn or unsure about our choices. But we always have help on the other side. When the time comes for our pets to transition, we can ask passed-on loved ones to help our pets cross.
Two weeks ago, our fifteen-year-old Labrador Retriever, Poodie, had a real health crisis. She lost the ability to use her back legs a few months earlier. A friend let us borrow a dogie cart, but her geriatric muscles couldn’t support her body very well. She also had a bladder cyst issue that had built up resistance to several antibiotics, which ultimately led to her physical demise. Since she was too old to survive surgery, and without antibiotics to help her weak body fight off infection, we were faced with a difficult decision.
I gave her energy daily to help her clear any patterns or energetic blocks that she was ready to release, but the body was wearing out. I could feel her will to live weakening. I prayed that she would pass in her sleep, so our decision would be easier on us, but that did not happen. Two days before she died, Poodie was up most of the night. Even with a pain medication, she was still uncomfortable. We could see a look of defeat in her big brown eyes. We knew it was time.
I called the veterinarian the next morning with a heavy heart and tear-filled eyes and made the appointment to have put to sleep at our home. As a family, we felt it was better to help her pass then to watch her die a very pain-filled death. The veterinarian could not come to the house until the next morning. During her last night in our home, I slept next to her and gave her healing energy most of the night. I knew there wasn’t much we could do for the physical body, but I had hoped to help her release any emotional or spiritual imprints, so she didn’t carry them in her soul to the other side. She rested and let the energy run through her body. Many times, she licked my hands validating that she could feel the vibrational energy. I hugged her warm furry body and listened to her breath as she slept.
The following morning, my husband had an early meeting that he could not get out of but planned to leave the office right after his meeting. We felt it was best to send our son to school. So ironically, Poodie’s life had begun with me bringing her home from work when she was just under a year old. She was the pet of a co-worker’s uncle. Apparently Poodie didn’t get along with the other animals in the house, so the man punished her by keeping her in a cage all the time and not feeding her. He was going to give her to a shelter, but I brought her home with me that day without so much as a collar or any other belongings–just a rope tied around her neck that the man used as a leash. I don’t think it was a coincidence that her transition to the other side would include only the two of us.
I wanted a peaceful transition for her, so I lit candles in the den, played soft music, and gave her a gentle massage with lavender oil. I sat next to her at the end of her bed with her head in my lap caressing her increasingly graying coat. As I stroked her head, I recalled all the fun times we shared. The walks in the park, ball throwing, swims in the pool, kisses and hugs. I thanked her for coming to us and being part of our family. I thanked her for always protecting us and staying longer than her body would have allowed and for being a great friend to me. I invited her to visit us in spirit form and asked her to send me a sign–a green hummingbird–when she got to the other side. She listened with her ears and eyes, as her old body peacefully relaxed each muscle.
As she slept quietly on her bed, I called to some of my passed-on relatives and pets to help her cross. My maternal grandmother, Nanny, and Timber, our first dog, who had been good friends with Poodie, arrived by her side. Nanny was on the left side and Timber sat on the right. Both waited patiently for the veterinarian’s arrival. I thanked them for coming and asked them to give me strength. A deep sense of peace filled me and I knew everything would be fine.
When the veterinarian arrived, Poodie was fast asleep. She woke as he was leaning toward her with the needle. She gave him a weak growl and then rested her head on my lap. I kept telling her that it was okay to go as I caressed the top of her head. Her passing was peaceful in the comfort of her own home. Once her spirit disconnected from her body, she was guided to the other side by those she knew.
A few nights ago, my nine-year-old son asked how we can know that Poodie isn’t waiting around on Earth because she didn’t die a natural death? “When God wants someone, they die and God is ready for them but that didn’t happen with Poodie. We helped her,” he said. “So how do we know she’s with God”? I told him that Nanny and Timber helped Poodie cross over, so she wouldn’t get lost. Plus, we had a sign from her a few days after she passed– a green hummingbird drinking nectar from the flowering plum tree, which was her favorite place to sit and relax in our backyard.
Love and Light,
