Saturday, January 30, 2016

Goodbye Kyla


On a sad note today, we had to say goodbye to our little shih tzu girl, Kyla. Kyla first came to us back in July as a foster from our local shelter, and we quickly fell in love with her. I tried to resist adopting her knowing that such a sweet, lovely, and silly girl would be easily adopted, but once we found out the shelter felt like she would be difficult to place, we decided to adopt. Kyla was a 13 year old with arthritis and a large lump on her jaw, and these were issues that would have made adoption difficult.


But Kyla was so full of life and love, my wife and I just had to adopt her, but we didn't know how long she would have. We just knew that we would make her life as comfortable and full of love as possible. Shortly after adopting, Kyla's lump grew suddenly and quickly, and we had the lump removed along with part of her lower jaw. We discovered that the lump was a mast cell tumor, and we knew that she wouldn't be with us very long.


Despite having a portion of her lower jaw removed, Kyla never slowed down, and she stayed sweet and loving to the end. Unfortunately, another lump recently formed, and over the last two days, she quickly went down hill. We said goodbye to Kyla  this morning as she went to the rainbow bridge. We are saddened and heartbroken. Six months seems like such a short time, but we loved her very much. In the end, we were able to give her six months filled with love, and she was able to bring a sweetness and a silliness into our lives. We will cherish our memories of her.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh, Eric...I'm so deeply sorry for your loss. What a gorgeous little girl she was. And for her to find you and your wife, who gave her such tender, loving care...it was meant to be. You'll both miss her very much. She takes all the love you gave to her with her. My thoughts are with you both x

Anonymous said...

You and your wife have huge hearts and I thank God for people like you. Her life for the past 6 months could have been so much worse. Thank you and your wife for showing little Kyla the feeling of true love ��

Jenny Petricek said...

I admire you for taking the plunge and rescuing. About 18 months ago, we encountered a guinea pig who had been abandoned by his previous owners at a local pet store. We already had a guinea pig at home, so initially we weren't thinking we were going to take him home and adopt him--but after several weeks of seeing him there repeatedly and realizing no one was going to buy him, we decided to go for it. When we got home that first day, we realized he was blind. He's still with us today, and though we don't know exactly how long he'll be with us, our lives have been enriched with his presence, and we will never regret the choice we made. Condolences to you in the loss of your Kayla. You made the last part of her life truly wonderful!

Eric said...

Thank you all for the support and condolences. It is always comforting to know that we are not alone in all of this.