Journee

Time…it’s what we all wish we had more of…for Journee, she should have had more. She COULD have had more. She so badly deserved it, but life is just not always fair.

We had hoped she had months left. She could have had loving responsible owners, owners who cared enough that when they saw her body wasting away for so very long before she reached a mere 4lbs, had gotten her vet care and a simple medication that she needed that could have extended her life for many more years to come. Sadly, that’s not what happened and her untreated hyperthyroidism went on way too long until it eventually took a toll on all of the other organs in her body.

We knew Journee was hospice when we took her in, yet we did not care. We wanted her here. We wanted to be her soft place to lay her head for as long as she had left in this world. We wanted to comfort her and offer her that solace. We had just hoped that we could be that for her for a lot longer than life had plans for.

While she was with us she had her own peaceful area to roam, a warm comfy spot to sleep and a wide selection of food to fill her belly whenever she felt the urge. She had vet care, she had her daily medications to keep her comfortable, she had people who cared and that were there when she was ready to snuggle, and she had quiet and peaceful rest when was tired.

She wouldn’t touch her prescription food so as the Dr. ordered, we gave her whatever her heart desired. Miss Journee would be really hungry at times and other times tire of the food we gave her- so we were always refreshing her bowls with whatever she wanted to interest her to eat from pates, to extra gravy, to purées or shreds, to cat stews and soups, to ham baby food, to shredded cheese or sardines, she had her pick.

Journee for the most part was blind, but even though she could not see we noticed she would always turn her head to the warm summer sun. So one afternoon in her last days we discovered a way to take her outside safely and let her lounge in the beautiful sunshine. She laid there listening and observing, she even closed her eyes. She was so HAPPY.

On her last day with us she was sleeping a lot more than usual and her respirations started increasing. We took her straight to the vet and they confirmed what we had already expected-she was diagnosed with heart failure. The fluid had begun to fill around her heart and there was nothing we could do. All her ailments had finally caught up with her and her body was letting go, she did not have much time left here on earth. She did not pass alone. She was not somewhere suffering. She was surrounded by people who in the short time they knew her, already loved her. She was finally at peace.

It never gets any easier to say goodbye, wether we’ve only known them for hours to weeks or years. Rescue makes you vulnerable to so much heartbreak. Yet knowing what we gave Journee in her short time here with us was what she may have never had in her lifetime-is a such a undeniable sense of peace. She was loved and she mattered.

This could not have been possible without the loving hands of so many people, transporters, volunteers, our beloved sister rescuers Beauty Through The Rust, they all had a hand in providing this for her. Thank you so much for your kind hands and hearts at Old Dominion Animal Hospital for keeping Journee comfortable in her final hours.

Forever in our hearts, sweet Journee