My Baby Bee (The Queen Bee) was a rescue.
At the time I was a foster mom for K-9s and worked with several non-profit organizations. Bee was dropped off at my front door step by a gentleman that knew I rescued/fostered. He stated he found this dog, she didn't have a chip, had her for almost a week and could not find the owner. He said if I didn't take her he was going to drop her off at the shelter on his way home.
Well, what do you do? Of course I took this tiny, matted mess in. I cleaned her up (nothing you can do with one big mass of matted hair but to shave her to the skin after trying to cut most of the mats out with scissors), took her to the vet. Got a good bill of health and had her courtesy listed on my favorite rescue organization that I worked with for years. By the vet, she was deemed about 12 years old which was going to make an adoption nearly impossible. Turns out, that didn't matter. Mind you I have never been a real poodle fan but after two days of having her posted, I had the rescue remove her from the site. She was mine.
This little girl warmed her way into my heart after fostering her for 2 days. As time passed, she became registered as my emotional support animal so I could take my pocket baby everywhere I went. She traveled, when shopping with me, dined with me in public establishments, hiked (I carried her), bought her a bikini and she went "swimming" with me. If I went somewhere, we came as a two-some and everyone knew that. "Well if we invite Wendy, we invite Bee".
I learned that Bee came to me as a savior, my angel to help me recover from cancer 4 times. I remember telling my husband to take Bee outside, feed her, offer her water as she had not left my side all day. I survived cancer and two years later Bee started showing signs of her body breaking down from age. She first became deaf (which really bothered me because I always talked to her and now she couldn't hear my voice), then blind (which the vet said was remarkable as the cataracts were thick and in the shape of stars. I remember how long he had that light shining in one eye at a time, going back and fourth in disbelief of how unusual the thickness and shapes were. A year later she was diagnosed with kidney disease and dementia. I couldn't travel with her anymore as it stressed her out.
I stopped going places, including shopping for groceries. I only left my Bee when I absolutely had to and I arranged it when my husband could stay home with her. Plus he took on the weekly shopping trips. In Bee's last weeks the dementia took a toll on her. She would often become lost and afraid. She would whine trying to figure out where she was, what was going on. The only way to comfort her was to pick her up and cuddle her myself. Realizing that her quality of life was so poor I made the decision to let her go shortly after her birthday. It was selfish of me not to let her go. She had given me so much over the years, it was time for me to give back to her. I ended her struggles on Oct. 7th 2017 at the age of 20. She left my side and crossed the bridge. Now my struggles began.
Although I continue to struggle, I never regret the decision I made to let her go. It was the greatest gift I could give back to my sweet Bee.
