Earlier this week, singer/songwriter Fiona Apple postponed her South American tour to be with her dying dog, Janet. She wrote a hand-written letter to her friends explaining her decision. Anyone who has ever owned a pet will identify with Fiona’s beautiful words. Fiona writes:
It’s 6pm on Friday,and I’m writing to a few thousand friends I have not met yet.
I am writing to ask them to change our plans and meet a little while later.
Here’s the thing.
I have a dog Janet, and she’s been ill for almost two years now, as a tumor has been idling in her chest, growing ever so slowly. She’s almost 14 years old now.I got her when she was 4 months old. I was 21 then ,an adult officially – and she was my child.
She is a pitbull, and was found in Echo Park, with a rope around her neck, and bites all over her ears and face.
She was the one the dogfighters use to puff up the confidence of the contenders.
She’s almost 14 and I’ve never seen her start a fight, or bite, or even growl, so I can understand why they chose her for that awful role. She’s a pacifist.
Janet has been the most consistent relationship of my adult life, and that is just a fact.
We’ve lived in numerous houses, and jumped a few make shift families, but it’s always really been the two of us.
She slept in bed with me, her head on the pillow, and she accepted my hysterical, tearful face into her chest, with her paws around me, every time I was heartbroken, or spirit-broken, or just lost, and as years went by, she let me take the role of her child, as I fell asleep, with her chin resting above my head.
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That is the same story as my dog, started as my kid, then became sibling then parent then grandad top me then I went back to parent as he ailed (and hes always thought partner too), died 3 wks ago at 15 and a half through a vet prescribing inappropriate medicine that bought stomach ulcer bleed resulting in kidney death. He got 18 more days of intensive home nursing AFTER they recommended euthanasia (had drip etc), Exhausting - I slept solidly for two weeks after death. It is no diff to being in love with a partner, maybe just stronger. You are right to give the same care as for a human, dogs are persons. I cant stand that hes dead, its traumatic and still seems unreal. Id rather be robbed, raped and run over by a bus and left handicapped than this.
Every other dog lovers story like this makes me cry. The tragedy is that my dog loved life and wanted to continue up to the last hour and only acknowledged defeat as he had to - finally complete kidney shutdown had poisoned his blood making him ultra lethargic that day, and it culminated in a seizure that forced my hand as it might well have become one after another till he died later that day. His eyes as he was put down said he knew he'd lost the fight and he was deeply aggrieved to be going. He took in my face, then found it too painful and looked ahead resolutely waiting to die. As it turned out it only took a third of the right dose of the killer fluid because he was well on his way.
He knew it, and as a smart breed of high emotional intensity he was extremely upset to finally lose control, didn't want to go, or to say goodbye. If not for the vets mistake a month earlier of prescribing metacam he'd have lived to 16 and a half. Many dogs are better than average ppl. Mine certainly was so got better service than Id give other relatives. Every moment is precious, waste none.
thats really sad to feel after reading the whole letter. that was very touchy actually. love all those memories you write about you two. thanks for sharing that experience with us.
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