Pets

What are people without pets? Empty shells? Not really – just mostly scared of being hurt when they pass on.


 I went to the pet shop one day with my friend Xavier with the express purpose of buying a ginger cat which I had wanted for years. They had no cats but in the window were puppy Chihuahuas. Goodness they were cute to look at but I was quite prepared to leave that pet shop and go to another. Xavier said “Pick up the puppy” and I said “No” – he said “Go on, pick up the puppy” and I said “No” – he said “Come on pick up the little puppy its so cute” and I said “No” – he said “Come on, just pick it up and then we can go”. God he was sooooo annoying, but I can be talked into almost anything and picked up the puppy and once in my hand (it only took one hand) couldn’t put her back and walked out the shop having paid a hefty price for the puppy, puppy clothes, puppy food, puppy toys and puppy everything else I could find. I named her Mya – that was in June 1998.


A few years later Xavier gave me another puppy Chihuahua that he had, but was moving house and unable to take her – This tiny little darling's name was Shania.

Mya and Shania were the cutest pair. Both black with white markings and both totally gorgeous. Mya was bigger and meaner than Shania. Mya hated strangers so Shania got all the ‘stranger’ pats and attention. They were well known amongst the children's fraternity as “The Good One” and “The Bad One”. No matter, Mya was a girl unto herself and had the confidence to even bite my neighbour’s baby Hayden’s tiny finger when he came too close.



Shania



Shania got sick and was diagnosed with heart problems. The specialist told me that she expected her to last about 12-18 months. The day before the 12-month period was done she gave up, refused any medication and her face changed with so much anguish - I looked into her eyes as she seemed to whisper "I've had enough, Mum". She didn’t look like Shania that morning and I cried as I drove her to the vet to be euthanized. I was with her every step of her last journey whispering into her tiny little ear how much we all loved her and would miss her. Mark met me at the Animal Welfare League to tearfully hand her in for cremation. I have a memorial shelf for Shania which holds her ashes in a red velvet covered container, a scented candle, dried flowers, her cards and pictures. She was the dearest, most gentle little soul that everyone loved. She loved kisses and pats. Every time I looked at her she was looking back at me and I used to ask “What?” and she just gazed back with those clear fathomless black eyes.

Mark wrote a poem for Shania when she passed away...

Shania - Our Little One

You were the sweetest little doggy
And you knew our love somehow
You were a teeny weenie angel
I’m convinced of that fact now

Even though you always ran away
To hide behind the nearest chair
You’d eventually warm to everyone
And they would also have your love to share

You even ran away one time
To make your own way on the street
And two full days you waited til
I found you with those swollen feet

You didn’t say it then I know
You were a dog of little words
But if you could, you would have shouted
“Where were you? My feet hurt!”

From that moment til the day you passed
You never left our side
In the bed, the couch or by our feet
You always brought a smile

Sometimes you were annoying too
You never came when called
And for an hour you would sort your food
If I could watch that just once more..

But you’ve moved on little darling
To wash that window in the sky
With that little tail wagging
Your loving family says bye-bye.

Mark Nienaber 2009.

Mya

12 months later, my darling girl Mya also got sick, also with heart disease. Back to the specialist and so many tablets which she just hated to take. As with Shania, I tried disguising her medication in many ways, yoghurt, cottage cheese, hard cheese, cream cheese, meat, honey, peanut butter, jam – just anything I could find to trick them into taking these. In the end her breathing was so laboured, each breath a struggle and her medication caused her stomach to swell, large and hard - we thought she was getting fat, when all along the vet told me that her little body could not process the amount of medication she was on and which couldn’t fix the heart. It was supposed to make her symptoms’ easier, and it did at first but in the end it wasn’t working. That morning, yesterday 20th October 2010 at the vet, I had to come to the decision to euthanize Mya and stayed with her to her last breath whispering “good girl, we love you, Mummy loves you, good girl good girl good girl”. She loved being called "Good Girl"

Again Mark met me at the Animal Welfare League to hand her in for cremation and I will collect her in a few days when they call to let me know she’s ready to come home. I’ll have another memorial shelf for Mya right next to her dearest friend Shania.

MY GOD – this hurts. Its soul destroying to have to make decisions like these but in the end it’s the only thing to do.

I imagine as Mya died, her ghost left her body and there was Shania waiting for her “Come on, I’ve been waiting for you – let’s go, let’s go, let’s go” and they’re both running around the school oval or along the river near the Doggy park – they loved these things when they were both young and healthy and ran like the wind.

Mya and Shania - it been an honour and a pleasure     *sob*

Some of my paintings over the years