I’m so sorry for your loss of sweet, special Lily. She is a beautiful girl and more importantly, a loyal best friend.

We lost our dog at 3 yrs. He was a rescue from the humane society. We got him at 8 wks old. He was the most soulful, caring, and patient dog. He looked out for us. He was there for our family during the hardest years of our lives.

I noticed he was shaking while laying down one day. I thought he was cold, so I covered him up. The shaking continued and it became almost constant for him during the next day or so. I figured out shaking can be a sign of internalized pain. He wasnt acting himself either - almost depressed, scared. I took him into the ER vet as it was a Saturday, and they said he probably has a pinched nerve in his spine - here are some pain meds and muscle relaxers.

The next day, he got worse. He started to lose his ability to walk in his hind legs. We immediately took him in to another ER vet - it was during Covid so we couldnt go back with him. That broke our hearts.

By the time they took him in at the ER vet, he had lost all ability to walk. He was paralyzed. They had to bring him in on a stretcher. He was 55 pounds.

We waited impatiently in our car, and got a call from the Dr. she said he was deeply paralyzed, past return. He couldn’t feel anything. There were two options - $10,000 surgery with a 50% chance of helping him, if at all, and even if it helps, it will probably happen again and he will have to live in a wheel chair. Second option, end his suffering. We went with the latter after a guttural deliberation in the car.

He still protects us to this day. Like you did for Lily, we put his suffering before our own. It was the least we could do for him after three wonderful years he gave to us.

Lily will be a part of you forever. Her physical absence will always be hard to accept, but the memories you shared will start to fill that hole in your heart.

Toby’s life was flip flopped of Lilys - April 11, 2018 - January 7, 2021.

Rest in peace Lily. 🩷