It is always a very traumatic and heartbreaking to go through, the loss of a loved one. Even for a beloved pet. Dogs can be very social and view their pack as their family just as we would call them our fur-babies. What is often over looked is the bond between the fur-babies, and how they need closure just as much as we do.
A friend of mine fosters King Charles Cavaliers, Honey and Winky, both foster failures become best friends. Until the day Winky passed away.
“Winky had shortness of breath and was very uncomfortable prior to her passing. Her other Cavalier, Honey was very upset…She actually started whining and crying when she took Winky to the vet..
After Winky had passed, her human did something very beneficial for her beloved Honey; she knew that Honey would need to know that her best friend had passed away. She opened the passenger door and Honey jumped in and started smelling the towel that Winky was wrapped in… She sniffed from Winky’s head to her tail.Then she looked at her human with the saddest eyes, and then she hopped up in the seat next to Winky as if she was guarding her, still standing by her best friend!”
Stories similar to Honey and Winky’s can be found all over the world, and Internet searches can provide pictures of pets on their owners grave. We all know how important someone feels to us and we know how smart, compassionate and sensitive dogs really are and how they teach us new things every day. Letting them have closure, too, is just one more way of showing them respect and how much they mean to you as you mean so much to them.
Special thanks to Libby, Winky and Honey for sharing your story!
Special thanks to April Kelso for assisting in editing and writing!