31 in 31 #23 Max Crosses the Rainbow Bridge

31 in 31 #23 – Max Crosses the Rainbow Bridge

Yesterday was our 15 year old dog, Max, last day. He already had one paw on the rainbow bridge and yesterday the quality plummeted and my wife and I decided OK, this is it. Although we have done this many times before, each time is difficult and profound. We approach death a little bit differently but agree on one important thing – it is all about the quality of life of the dog (or cat, or horse, or chicken or..) We try our best to balance our own inconvenience (poop in the house, no sleep, lots of medications and so on) with the quality of life - Are there more good days than bad, is there enough joy left, is he telling us to let him go? What we have seen over the years is that the final process is a series of set-backs and rallies and we try to accompany our pets through the process. Occasionally there is what seems like a miracle, or miracle drug that helps for a while and our lives follow the rhythms of the pet. Our current household consists of a 17 year old dog, a 15 year cat and a 20 year old cat. It is at best like a senior center but often like a nursing home or more recently hospice. All of these animals are rescues and they have been bonded for many years. We keep our eye on how they will react when they fully notice Max is gone. Typically there is a grieving period – actually we all go through that together. So thank you Max for being part of our lives as you venture into the great mystery.