Toward the end of 2019, we received an email about Cleo, a BDAR alum that recently passed away. The letter was so heartfelt it brought tears to our eyes.
Cleo’s mom wanted to give back in honor of her very loved pup. What did Cleo love more than anything? Blankets! So, in honor of Cleo, we receive these wonderful handmade blankets each month to give out to our senior dogs. It is heartwarming to know that a little piece of Cleo’s spirit lives on with each dog that receives one of these special blankets. Phoenix, pictured below, was one of the first recipients! Each blanket is wrapped with a little card showing the pattern, and a tag that says ‘Red Dog’s Rugs”.
Read Cleo’s full tribute below.
Hello! I’m Cleo’s mom. I want to start by saying thank you. Thank you so much for entrusting us with Cleo’s care. We were honored to be her “furever” home since adopting her on January 24th, 2018. Cleo passed away surrounded by those that loved her on Friday, November 1st at 5:44 p.m. I want to share with you the wonderful times she had with us – and how very much she enriched our lives – but first I want to start by telling you about how she fell ill. It all happened so very suddenly, and it’s important for me to let you know we took her care seriously, and how very much we were blindsided by her passing.
At the beginning of October, Cleo was diagnosed with vestibular syndrome. If was a tough couple of weeks, but with some tips from her primary vet, Dr. Marcy, and some much-needed acupuncture and a chiropractic adjustment from her integrative vet, Dr. Keeney (out of Boulder), she was on the road to recovery. The middle of October came, and she started to have little episodes – she would just stand like a statue and seemed uncomfortable – her belly was tender, sometimes accompanied by loose stool or throw up. She went in for a full look over on October 23rd , and her bloodwork revealed she had elevated liver levels – which wasn’t unnecessarily abnormal for her – but one was very elevated. We made an appointment with internal medicine at CSU on November 18th. She began to have these episodes more frequently, and I decided to get a jump start on her treatment; I took her in for an outpatient ultrasound at Four Seasons on Wednesday, October 30th. I arrived hopeful and optimistic – we left with a diagnosis and words no one ever wants to hear – “It’s cancer and it’s metastasized”. It was in her liver, pancreas, and spleen. We saw doctor Dr. Marcy on Thursday for a path forward to keep her comfortable and happy – we knew palliative care was just not an option for her. She went dressed as a lobster, because what better costume for a little red dog? We left with a plan for pain management, and to help keep her nausea under control, and keep her GI health supported as much as possible. She had a good day Thursday – scrambled eggs for breakfast, and really stinky canned food cooked up in a frying pan for dinner. She laid by the fire like little red dogs like to do – and demanded treats before bed – just like little red dogs do.
Things declined so fast on Friday…she seemed to be under the weather when I left for work, and by the time lunch came around, I decided to stay with her and keep her company – then a few hours later I made the call to Western Skies End of Life Veterinary Care. It all happened so fast…we are devastated and completely shattered by the loss of Cleo. I wish we could have done more – it is so apparent to me now though that it was her time – I don’t know if there was anything else to do for her except give her that final gift. And we did – she was safe, warm, loved on, comforted and clean. Cleo was incredibly unique – I’m sure you all know that.
I want to share some of my favorite Cleo stories with you. She certainly had her own agenda and was the definition of an opportunist. She would plot for hours to get my husband’s seat on the couch and would never miss an opportunity to grab a bite of cheese out of your hand – welcomed or not – that was HER cheese. Besides cheese, there were three things she loved most in life. Those (in no particular order) – were fireplace, blankets, and car rides.
Cleo loved the fireplace. She would just lay there and take it all in. She would finally get up when she just couldn’t take any more heat, would come over to one of us, and have the biggest little red dog panty smile - tail wagging and all. She would wait patiently behind dad while he made a fire for her – she just couldn’t get in front of it quick enough. Once spring and summer came around, Cleo began GLARING at dad while laying if front of the fireplace. She would longingly look back at it, then turn and glare at him. She might have got her way a few times and we all about roasted, but that little red smile was worth every bit of sweat rolling down my back.
Cleo had more blankets than any dog probably ever needs – I promise you if there is ever a blanket apocalypse – ya’ll come over – we will be JUST fine. Cleo INSISTED on covering herself. We apparently just did it wrong. She would also pester to holy hell out of me on the weekends when I started to do laundry. I learned quickly the first and last load of the day had to be blankets. That way she had a warm “dryer blanket” to nest in and would voice her approval by a very drawn-out and deep doggie moan – “mmmmmmththth”.
Cleo loved to go for car rides, and if the car ever stopped at a stop light or stop sign – she would voice her disapproval by a sequence of very high-pitched whines. I mean….VERY high-pitched. She always made the person in the car next to us laugh. Always. We would take long car rides to see her integrative vet and to go fishing with daddy. And by fishing, I mean watching dad from the back of the truck – blankets everywhere – and one covering her head while she looked out the back, just taking it all in. Over the summer, her sister, Juliet was diagnosed with arthritis. The girls got a pool out of the deal, and Cleo went swimming pretty much every night. She absolutely LOVED to go swimming and was pretty good at slapping the bejesus out of the water. She did get better with time – I loved watching her little red tail switch back and forth quickly, acting as her little red dog rudder.
Cleo loved to be outside. She would walk with her tail high in the air and sniff every single sniff to be sniffed. Every. Single. One. We have a fairly large yard where she spent numerous hours running in between trees, laying in flower beds, barking at anything that invaded her territory, rolling in things that only dogs roll in, eating doggie ice cream, and in true Cleo fashion – sniffing every single sniff to be sniffed. Every. Single. One. Little known fact about Cleo – she could smell flies. If there were ever a fly in the house, she would start trying to sniff it out. It was the strangest thing. She was completely obsessed with them. If one landed near her, she would sniff were it landed, and the hunt was on! I wish I would have kept count how many flies she actually caught and ate. I guess you could say they were one of her favorite snacks. That’s a little red dog for you – huh?
Things that are going to be the hardest for me – Cleo always meet me at the door after work. Always. She always barked when she heard me pull into the drive. She always watched me get ready for work in the morning – she liked to be brushed with my hairbrush and she would make sure she also got a good brush before I left for work. I had to start getting up ten minutes early. Because Cleo’s agenda is the only agenda that mattered. I’ll miss hearing that little sniffer try to find me and seeing that little red nose pop around the door in full sniff mode. I’ll miss her getting extremely offended every time I sneezed (just me – not her daddy). I’ll miss her jumping (as you know that’s how I first fell in love with her – the video of her jumping up and down – I knew that face – that was my little red girls face), and dancing and hopping. Twirling and spinning and jumping, saying “Look at me! Look how pretty I am! GIVE ME FOOD!!!” always thought we’d have more time with Cleo.
Having a little furkid for less than two years is extremely hard. I just have to remind myself she had a good life before us, too. She had a family that unfortunately no longer care for her or love her the way she needed – and that’s where we came in. We were responsible for her for the last little bit of her life and to make sure she was loved and cared for in the way she needed and deserved. Her life was filled with love and two families that cared very much for her…I’m not sure what else a little doggie could ask for. She made our lives so much better by being in it, and her lessons will last a lifetime – take life on with your tail high in the air; be cute and ask nicely, persistently, but nicely; be sure to voice your opinion, no one will hear you if you don’t; and never ever forget to stop and sniff all the sniffs! Every. Single. Sniff.
Again, thank you for entrusting us with Cleo’s care. We loved her so very much and miss our Red so much our hearts hurt. We promise to honor her legacy and carry her with us always. She will never be forgotten.
Sincerely yours, Cleo’s mom and dad
