Farewell to Merlin

Farewell to Merlin

Today was a day I was not looking forward to. In January one of my dogs named Merlin had a horrible cough. As he had been diagnosed with a collapsing tracea in 2021 I thought it was connected so went to the vet. I was not happy there but came away with steroids. They stopped the cough but had nasty side effects. Once he had finished the course, the cough came back, plus there was blood when he coughed. I tried to speak to the vet but it was not until the third day that I got a call.

I asked to be referred to the Dick Vet hospital for small animals, as that was where he was diagnosed before. Ten days later I was there, after receiving an appointment. One thing I will say here is always trust your intuition. The previous vet had never seen Merlin before but said he was healthy. By the end of the day I found Merlin had a mass on his lung. He was kept in for a biopsy first thing in the morning. By the second day it was confirmed as Cancer. They would not know if it had spread until the operation to remove it.

Everyone has their own idea about chemotherapy. I was told he could have 12 months after the operation and chemo, five months after the operation only and weeks with just medicine. I knew that I would not put him through chemo and the operation was filled with risks to give him 5 months that included 4 weeks recovery so decided to go down the medicine route.

He was given two that when I asked which was giving him the side effects I was told “both”. They said I could stop them if I wished. I decided to try CBD oil. For three weeks the oil worked and everytime he received it, he would not cough for 2 hours. Then it did not work as well in the last week.

A couple of weeks ago I contacted a company that I know well and arranged for an animal communicator to speak to Merlin. He proved all my time calling him my reiki dog was correct. Many years before I had attuned Merlin to Reiki. He went from being a sad to a happy dog. He spoke about energy and meditation. He asked for more of the latter so I made sure he got it. He used to join in with meditation when I ran my reiki workshops. He asked for specific crystals by his bed and gave me information for when he would be ready to pass over.

Merlin, unlike his sister was not super cuddly but in the last week he wanted constant cuddles. This was a sign he had said he wanted to pass over. We did lots of reiki and meditation during these times, including today, both before and at the vets.

The person there was fantastic. She came and explained everything and let us spend time with Merlin. She then took him to another room and gave him a catheter plus some medicine to help his breathing. She then brought him back to us. There was no rush, we had as much time as we required, including a big plate of meats for Merlin which he ate quickly. This was in a room with a settee and blankets for Merlin. During this time I gave him a meditation and advised what to do when the time came. I am so happy that I chose the Dick Vet school, over my vet.

She then came in and injected him with the anesthetic and Merlin passed very quickly. Again we were given all the time we needed. So hats off to the Dick Vet small animal hospital team, especially Karen. The 2 vets I saw on each visit were empathetic, clear about options and also responded whenever I needed advice.

Last night I knew it was important to give him a meditation as he passed over, but was unsure if I would get the time. Today everything worked out as it should and I know that Merlin will carry on his work into the future. For anyone that has lost a pet, I can confirm that they watch over you and make their presence known in different ways. So the love is always there.
Thank you Merlin for being in my life. Now I just need to help his sister get over her loss.

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