“A time to live and a time to die……………”

What a week it has been for us in the Morgan household. Many of you will know that our Yorkie, Oscar, was diagnosed with a tumour in his tummy which was affecting his liver. That was on 11 July. The vet has been surprised that Oscar is still around. So are we. An appointment was put in the diary for him to be put to sleep on Friday 15 September.

Let me explain what happened – on Thursday 7 September the weather was really warm and sunny and I thought it would be good for Oscar to go to the Park (his favourite place) with Neil as I prepared our evening meal. They were gone a while and on returning Oscar tucked into his food. An hour later he was really sick and rapidly went downhill. A visit to the vet the next day for a very ‘wobbly’ dog meant receiving 3 injections – anti-vomitting, anti-biotic and a steroid (this can reduce growths in some animals).

Over that weekend Oscar continued to be weak refusing to eat although he did drink water. The agreed Monday evening check with the vet was quite negative. He said it was time for us to consider the dog being put to sleep. This was so hard but we agreed if by Friday 15 September he was still not eating and interested in life we would have to make that terrible decision to stop his suffering.

It was tough living each day with the knowledge that on Friday we would take Oscar to the vet and say good bye to him. We made sure we had time off work to be together as a family. The plan was to take the dog for a walk then have a picnic in the park. It was all planned. I personally cried buckets during that week but do firmly believe that the situation with Oscar was like a trigger for me to grieve the other losses I have faced over the past year. It was exhausting for me and for the rest of the family preparing for such a sad appointment. Then………….. on Thursday evening we all went for a walk with Oscar letting him decide when enough was enough. He just didn’t stop and managed the usual route in Hayley Park round the tennis courts and back home . We were puzzled and confused!

Friday arrived and Oscar was a differnt dog. He was eating normally and barking – a healthy sign for a terrier. We no longer had peace to put him to sleep instead we enjoyed the day walking in the Park and having the planned picnic. It was beneficial spending time together – the 4 of us plus Oscar. We talked about grief and the loss each of us has faced since last September. It was also a time to look to the future trusting God to take care of each detail of our lives.

We still went to the vet for 6.40pm on Friday but this time it was to hear the nurse and the vet say how glossy Oscar’s coat lookd (he had had 2 baths over the past week – one because of vomit, the other of rolling in the grass the previous evening) and that he seemed a bit better. Steroid tablets were dispensed. Oscar still has a tumour and he won’t live forever but for me I am learning the lesson of taking each day as it comes and trusting Jesus to help me make the right choices whatever I face each day. To live life to the full as a believer means following the one who has ‘it’ all in hand, to trust him with all we have – even our pets.

Whatever you are facing remember:

‘There is a time for everything, a season for every activity under heaven’. Ecc 3 v 1