Gizmo is our March 24, 2013 Pup of the Week

Picture courtesy of Tommy Tunes

There are some pups who I don’t remember not remembering.  It seems like I have been friends with them longer than I have been alive.  I don’t know if there is a place like Rainbow Bridge that we gather before we find our homes but I think I was there with some pups before coming here.  One of those pups was Gizmo.

I don’t know if we became friends on my first day at DS.  I think it is possible.  I made lots of friends that first night.   I just know I have never belonged to a site that Gizmo was not a member, and my Mom is friends with Gizmo’s Mom, Aunt Pam, all over the Internet.  

Some pups get sick, or their parents find lumps, and go to the vet, where they battle their disease for a long time.  Sometimes friends recover, and sometimes the Bridge calls them home.  Although it doesn’t really help when we know we are able to prepare ourselves if their call to the Bridge comes.  But other times the trip to the Bridge arrives quickly, and we are barely able to prepare ourselves.  This was the case with sweet Gizmo.

It began with the yearly checkup.  They become very routine.  We get squeezed, crammed, felt up, probed, stuck, and sent home.  But on this trip, when they went to draw blood from Gizmo, he had a seizure.  I guess, if you are going to have a seizure, there is no better place than the vets, who were able to take an x-ray immediately.   But the results of the x-rays were not good.  Gizmo had an abnormal growth on his windpipe.  When Aunt Pam shared this story on the Human Book she said “We know our pets age, and as much as we think we are ready for the day they go to the rainbow bridge, I realize tonight how unprepared I am for that.”  But she swore she would not let her little angel suffer.  “Gizmo has been an amazing addition to our family and provided so much love,” she said.  She asked, and received prayers from all our friends that the specialist would report good news.  

Unfortunately it was not meant to be.  He had a large mass that was growing near his heart which had caused the trachea to curve.  It was not known if it was on his heart, in his chest or in the lymph nodes.  Gizmo’s parents were referred to a specialist in ultrasounds so they would have a better idea what they were dealing with.  Aunt Pam stressed that she was not going to do anything to make Gizmo suffer.  She wrote “This is going to be the most painful and sad thing I have ever had to deal with....Most of you know we have no human children and Gizmo was our child.....but I must always remember how unselfishly he loved us...........and not keep him on earth if he is at all suffering.....because I know he will always be in my heart.”

On Thursday Aunt Pam made the hardest decision, to send him to the Bridge.  He had another seizure just before they did the ultrasound.  Afterwards he had a few more and the vet was afraid if he had one in the car on the way home he would not survive, so they peacefully sent him to the bridge.  He passed over in his Mommy’s arms at the age of 15 and a half, most of them spent with his parents, their loving little baby.  His Mom posted that night “he is now at the bridge running pain free and playing with all the other angels there, with a twinkle in his eye.........Love you my baby......”

We all love you Gizmo.  We are glad your pain is gone.  We wish we could take your Mom’s pain away.  We will be blowing kisses to the heavens tonight for you my brother.  We know you will joyfully be chasing them down.