Ikaika and Maka at the Rainbow Bridge

I’ve never had a dog that was entirely my own; They’ve all been family pets. It’s quite fitting, though, because they’ve all been family. Sadly, within the last month, I’ve had to say goodbye to two of them.

We lost Ikaika, who was originally a gift from my papa to my grandma (and in the family before my brother was born!), at the end of January. Over the course of a weekend, we noticed that he had all but stopped eating and moving. At first we suspected that it might have something to do with an accident he had a few days prior (where he accidentally slipped down the porch stairs while still on his leash that was tied to the railing, leaving his collar pulled very tightly around his neck). But the vet diagnosed him with liver damage, and after a few days confirmed that not only was there nothing he could do to correct the damage, but neither was there anything he could do to ease the little guy’s pain. Upon his recommendation, we made the difficult decision to put him down.

Since then, Maka (who started out as the pet of my two cousins Tiari and Tiffany — and, honestly, I’m not even sure how she ended up at our house!), had been quite down. Very low energy, not eating or drinking or playing much… And in the wee hours of this past Saturday morning, she left us. It might seem a little silly, but we totally feel that she was too lonely without Ikaika (whom I considered her brother, but my brother considered her soulmate <3).

It's all been pretty overwhelming. Sharing with the news with two of my uncles, who both played a big part in their lives, but aren't in HI anymore) was tough. And before either of them passed, I was getting so excited about the possibility of adding another dog to the fam, so I've been feeling extra guilty, like I put too much energy into the new dog search and not enough into them :( But ultimately I know, that they know, that I loved them.

I know that, eventually, we'd like to have another dog join the family, but for now we're taking things slow -- Remembering all the wonderful times we had with Ikaika and Maka, and dealing with the love and loss.

I love you both eternally, and will miss you always.

I wanna know, have you ever lost a pet? How did you move on>

Xoxo,
Tiera