Your Pet Loss Stories

'The Day Our Lewis Crossed Rainbow Bridge'

by Lynne & Gary
(Manchester)

Hello everyone, I want to tell the story of when our beloved boxer Lewis died. It has been nearly three months since our baby crossed over to Rainbow Bridge. We find it really hard to talk about his passing although our boy did everything we asked of him.

It started one Saturday morning, he started to cough so I phoned our vets and my partner took him down, I waited anxiously at home. The news I got when when they came back was devastating. He was dying.

The vet said he was sure he had a tumor in between his chest and close to his heart, he gave him some pills and told us to bring him back on Wednesday but it wasn't looking good (he was too old to x-ray).

Over the next two weeks we were back and forwards to the vets who I must say were marvellous with us, he had seen to Lewis from being a baby. On his last visit the vet said he had two to three weeks left and if we needed him just phone. We hoped and prayed he would die at home.

It was heartbreaking watching our boy going steadily worse each day. I hand fed him food, we lied by his side, we stroked him, we kissed him, we did everything we possibly could to make his last days comfortable. Then on the 23/7/2008 our baby wouldn't eat or drink anything he just lay there, we made a decision to have one last night with him and in the morning we would phone the vets.

At 10.25pm on the 23/7/2008 we watched as the light went out of our baby's eyes and he took his last breath. He had done what we had prayed for and died at home, he did what we asked him to do right to the end. We wrapped him in his blanket and put his toy in between his paws and took him to the vets. We kissed his beautiful face for the last time.

We had a private cremation and picked our boy up a week later. He has his own little corner now with his casket and his picture, we get him fresh flowers every week and we kiss him and tell him we love him every day. The pain, loneliness, yearning, aching, emptiness we feel is indescribable. We can't stop the tears from flowing every time we talk about our Lewis, he was our life.

We thank god for lending Lewis to us for fourteen wonderful years and although it's heartbreaking to say we are glad he has gone because now he is young and free again and in no pain.

THE SADDEST WORD IS GOODBYE but some time or another we all have to say it so we say it to you our darling Lewis,

GOODBYE UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN MUMMY AND DADDY WILL LOVE YOU FOREVER. XX