Goodbye Emmitt

I received news that one of our former fosters, Emmitt, passed away. We fostered Emmitt last summer when he first came to the group. He came to Tzu Zoo from a local area shelter where he was due to be euthanized as he was too decrepit to adopt out. With the condition he had been in, it was hard to determine how much of his pitiful state was due to neglect and how much was due to his old age. Our group decided to take him in, even it was to be as a forever foster, to give him a chance to know what it was to be cared for and loved.

I picked him up from one of our groups vet where they saved him down and gave him an initial physical. My task was to nurse him back to health as much as possible and to determine if there was any good quality of life for him. When I went to the vet to pick him up, he could not really walk. He kept falling down and would just lie there. I picked him up, loaded him the car, and told him he was safe. He came to our house and slept for about the first three days with not much activity beyond my carrying him out to go to the bathroom and taking him over to the water bowl. I would bring him food and he would eat, but mainly he just slept. He did not seem to be in active pain and so we just let him be.

Napping In A Spot Of Sunshine

After a few days of staying with us, he started to check out his new surroundings. It seemed he was deaf and had some shadowy vision, but not full vision. His back legs had no muscle tone (I have never seen a dog with such little muscle tone). Perhaps he had been chained or caged where he could not walk. I would support his weight and help him get around. He increasingly became more active, enjoying strolling around the yard and following me around the house. He would not climb the stairs, but liked to rest in spots of sunshine on the bottom step. He also loved playing in Grace's play house wall. He would go in and out the door repeatedly. I am not sure what it meant to him, but he was happy and wagging when he did it.

And sweet Emmitt loved having his head rubbed. He would lay his head in my lap and never tired of getting pet and rubbed. There was definitely good quality of life left for this dog. He was old and gray, but once he started to feel better, his tail and affection did not stop.

Emmitt went on to live in one of the best possible forever foster homes with a family that fosters many of our forever foster seniors. He continued to improve and knew five great months of love and happiness.

I was sad to hear that Emmitt "crossed the rainbow bridge" as our group puts it, but I am so glad that he died knowing he was loved and cared for. We all foster and volunteer in our group for different reasons, but one of Jeff's and my main loves is to help the seniors. I am glad that we had the pleasure to know Emmitt, learn from him, and help him along his way.