Paws and Memories: A Farewell to Lilly
On 2nd May, as usual, I woke up
and went to the courtyard to sweep, before starting my work, I used to go to
Lilly’s kennel. She will be sleeping on the floor. When I call her name, she
will open her eyes and just wave her tail as she is greeting me. Sometimes she
may rise early and will be sitting at the front. I went to her kennel; she was
still sleeping… Her legs were stretched forward and her face was laid between
her forelegs. It was unnatural…. She won’t lie like that… I called her name.
She didn’t wake up or give any signal. I called her again. No response… With
panic, I touched her between the bars. She laid still. I called my husband and
other family members. They rushed towards the kennel and confirmed that she was
dead…. My Lilly passed away….. She won’t be there anymore…
To others, she may be a dog, an animal that
guards the house. But for us, especially for me, she was more than a member of
our family. She loved us a lot... We loved her back too... When she died, she
was nine years old, it was quite old for a dog. Physically, she was fit and no
signs of old age were there.... As always, she was energetic, beautiful,
and knotty... Even though she was very cute in her appearance, she
was not at all soft towards strangers. She barked at people who came near our
home. She considered even the Newspaper boy and postman as strangers. Yet she
exempted the fisherman on wheels, even though he is a stranger. She knew that
he was more valuable than the postman and newspaper boy.
She was bought from
Kunnamthanam, Pathanamthitta, where my husband worked at that time. He put her
in a cardboard box and placed it on his scooter and dove all the way from
Pathanamthitta to Perinthalmanna. They reached our home at 4 am. She was 3
months old at that time. We were very anxious to see her. Even my nephew who
was only 3 woke up to see her. When my husband placed her on the stairs, she was
not able to climb those small stairs. She was too little for that. She was very cute with golden brown furs,
small and soft pendant ears, cute legs with white shades as if wearing
white soaks, a small and thin tail, beautiful and calm eyes, etc. We
all liked her very much. We gave biscuits and milk.
As her former caretaker was a
fish merchant, she got plenty of fish. During the first phase, we gave her
boiled fish tinted with turmeric powder. She gulped them rapidly. She loved
sweet. You won’t believe, her favourite food was jackfruit. She could not even
control the smell of jackfruit. She grew very fastly. Golden brown fur
thickened and softened. Her ears were so soft. At last her little thin tail crested
upward and got thick as if a flower pot. We all enjoyed her making over. I was not at
all so close to her. Even though I loved her very much, the dog thing prevented
me from getting closer. Last August, there appeared a tumor on one of her
breasts. It grew with acceleration. We consulted a veterinary doctor in
Perinthalmanna. He suggested to fetch her to the Mannuthi Veterinary Hospital.
While taking her there, I had to hold her many times and all my prejudices
vanished and I began a nurse of her. Giving medicine was the biggest task. She
spit out the tablets. Tablets were given by hiding in mango pieces. During the
initial days, the trick was fruitful. Gradually she found the technique and
began to spit out the tablet after eating mango. During her last days, as it
was too hot, I used to wash her daily… even the day before her death.
My husband was her favorite as she recognized him as
the person who brought her here. If she was out of the kennel, she would not
let him eat anything. She used to show urgency by waving her hinder part and
looking at the food and his face with a very cute expression. Last summer was so difficult for her. She was
hesitant to food and drank plenty of water. Her legs were swollen and showed
difficulty in walking. She panted severely and the doctor diagnosed it as
jaundice and anemia. It was so difficult for her age. The medication was
started on that day itself. Several medicines were injected. She was getting
well and her legs became normal. She began to walk steadily. We were relieved
by her health.
The night before her death, she was restless. I
unleashed her kennel and thought that she wanted to pee. She rushed to her
favorite one and sat at his foot and looked at his eyes as if she wanted to say
something. He patted her head, which she loves more than anything in this
world, and asked her to get inside the kennel. She obeyed without out much
hesitation. She looked at us for the last time. Now it feels that she was
reluctant to leave us. She left very peacefully, without any struggle or
trouble. Her face was so calm and cute as always. Leaving us….leaving her
kennel… leaving her grudge towards the intruding cats…. Leaving all the noises…
all of a sudden…. she went to a world of silence… heading
towards the eternity.
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