"You know you're truly a pet lover when you mourn them like a human."

Lilbit's Final Resting Place
 

If you're reading this post, thank you for giving a shit about me, even if you're a hater....you care more than anyone else.  The only people who deserve to read this are those who are reading this now, the rest can go f*ck themselves, I don't do things like this for anyone but me anyway. 

Yesterday, this was just another corner in my moms yard.  This is where we laid Lilbit to rest - my mother took my youngest daughter out to find that beautiful angel statue, and they planted flowers in his little garden.  This has been very hard on me.  Lilbit wasn't my pet, he was my boy.....my furkid.  I love too deeply, and I care too much. 

Lilbit's Birthday - December 26, 2003
 

Lilbit is the gift of a planned breeding.  He was the youngest in a litter of three, the second litter for their parents Kare' and Hershey.  His two older siblings, Hansel and Heidi, have loving homes.  I have always assisted in the delivery of all my girls' puppies, and planning for it is as exciting as a human birth.  Everything was planned from the moment of conception til the birth day.  And 24 hours before Kare' gave birth, we were all "on call."  I was out singing karaoke the night my friend called me to tell me it was time.  I stopped in the middle of singing a song and said, "Gotta run folks , my dog is in labor!"  They all knew I was a dog breeder so they totally understood.  That night, after many many hours of labor, my puppies were born.

Lilbit And His Littermates - One Week Old
Hansel (left), Lilbit (center), Heidi (right)

 

Lilbit's Parents - Kare' and Hershey (6 mos. old)
Kare' (left) is a Black & Tan Long-haired Piebald Dachshund.
Hershey (right) is a Chocolate smooth-haired Piebald Dachshund 

On a humorous note, I had hoped out of two planned breedings between Kare' and Hershey I would get at least ONE chocolate piebald puppy.......NO SUCH LUCK.  Out of two litters, (Kare's first litter produced six puppies) every damn one of them was a black and tan piebald. 

Kare' still lives with me, she's an old fatty girl now with a cataract in her left eye and she waddles when she walks but still loves to roll around on the floor and outside in the grass and howls when you say "roo roo" to her.  Unfortunately, Hershey passed away in 2005, another permanent ache in my heart. 

Lilbit at three weeks old.

Liltbit was diagnosed at three weeks with Mega Esophagus (Mega E) and we were advised by our vet to put him to sleep.  In simple terms, Lilbits throat was much larger than normal was was not able to constrict in order to send food to his belly - he had to eat sitting vertically and his food had to be moist.  If I were to turn him upside down on his head, the food would come out of his belly and roll right out of his mouth - don't worry, I've never actually tried that.  Lilbit had to stay vertical for about 30 minutes to an hour after he ate, in order for his body to digest his food.  Putting him down any sooner than that would put him at extreme risk for aspiration pneumonia, which is a Mega E killer.  No way was I going to put him down because he had special needs.  He was my responsibility, and I was going to take care of him.  And that's what I did, for almost 11 years.  We were lucky, after a few years we were able to feed him like a normal dog for several years, only a few incidents with him losing his food but luckily he never got pneumonia.  We also had to feed him a high calorie diet because he struggled to maintain his weight.  Aside from that, he was a loud, obnoxious, yapping ankle biter who had the cutest howl whenever you said "roo roo" around him.  We taught that to all of our dogs. 



My Baby Boy



About three weeks ago, Lilbit developed a cough that at first was manageable with medication.  When it didn't get better, we knew after all these years the Mega E finally reared it's ugly head, and I was helpless.  He stopped eating about four days ago but because he was still getting up, walking around and drinking water, I didn't have the heart to put him down.  He got up and drank water three hours before he died, and I made sure I was in his sight, after all I was the first human he ever saw, and I wanted to be the last.  He passed away peacefully in his sleep in the early morning hours of August 2, 2014. 

My heart is broken.