Post Your Pets!

The insanity in my bedroom at Casa @Wyvern the other morning. Sydney is not too happy about being woken up. Becky has decided that sitting on top of me is fun (after kissing myself and Sydney awake) and Mika is waiting with his chew toy (Tande), whinging because everyone is in the bed except him.

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It’s a cat’s life

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When you think your dog is special, and then she confirms it…

(not my dog, its a mate’s)

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Hi folks! There haven’t been any posts here for a while, and I hate to break the silence with sad news, but it must be said.

Sydney crossed the rainbow bridge :dog::rainbow: on Saturday afternoon, with a full tummy of delicious snacks from a special picnic, on soft grass under the shade of a big tree, after a last adventure walk at one of his favourite places. He fell asleep in my arms, quickly and painlessly, surrounded by love.

Sydney was diagnosed last year January with Degenerative Myelopathy, a progressive spinal/nerve/neuro disorder that initially presents as “wobbliness” because of a loss of coordination and lack of proprioception (awareness of the location and orientation of your extremities in relation to your body). It is a genetic condition. His back right leg was the starting locus. Over time, he began to exhibit the same in his other leg, as well as muscle weakness.

In October last year (one year after onset of first symptoms) he was really struggling to move himself around, stand up, and needed assistance to walk. He became very depressed, just laying around, because he could not go on walks or adventures any more. So we splurged and got him a custom walking frame (dog wheelchair) to assist him. It brought life back to him, and he was able to go on up to 1.5km walks or hikes again. His joy returned, and we had many more adventures. He travelled to Cape Town, Bloemfontein, Durban and PMB with his “hot wheels” and got to visit all his favourite places again.

We knew it was coming, but that still doesn’t make it any less painful. Last Wednesday he had his first really bad spasm. The entire back half of his body stiffened up and jerked spasmodically, and he was very scared and in pain. I couldn’t let him experience another one of those. He deserved better. So we made an appointment at Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital and planned his last hurrah. We chose Onderstepoort because you can donate the body to the institution for research or education purposes. On Saturday at the appointment, we were informed that a vet who is studying Degenerative Myelopathy would love to have him for her research, so we signed the forms to allocate him to her project. We were really happy about that.

It was probably the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do, but it was the right thing and the right time, even though it will always feel like it was too soon. He changed our lives and was the best thing to ever happen to us. We didn’t deserve him, but we did our best to be the people he thought we were. He travelled over 200,000 kilometres by my side all over the country in the last 5 years. He was the best dog in the world, and we were so fortunate to have him in our lives.

“Grief is proof of the greatest love”


To the eternal adventure beyond, my heart and my soul.

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I’m so, so sorry for your loss @Ani and @SIGSTART. My wife and I still have bad days missing our Wolfie, and Wolfie’s sister’s time is coming closer as well, so I’m legit crying (big, manly tear with beards) at my desk now. You really did give Syd a great life, so take solace in that.
:heart:

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Just know that, All Dogs Go to Heaven.

:heart:

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Many condolences and thanks for the heartwarming write up. Maybe you cherish his memory forevermore.

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This is so sad. I’ve joined Team Tears this morning :cry: My heart goes out to you and Jan.

I remember that really happy family picture and story you posted of you guys with Syd a couple of years ago, and remember thinking then that he wasn’t just going to be a good boy, he was going to be the best boy ever.

Rest easy Sydney.

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