Prayers for our little friend

[Trailrider #896]

Our twelve-year old Chiauhua-Australian baby, Chi-chi was just diagnosed with a mast cell tumor on her left axilla (that's just behind her left leg on her body).  We had her to our "regular" vet last April for a wellness checkup and told the vet about feeling a lump.  He passed it off as nothing to be concerned about (didn't do any tests or anything!)  Chi-chi is usually very frisky and active for a dog her age until a couple of days ago when she just wasn't herself. Took her to our daughter's vet, who did a needle aspiration and x-rays.  Diagnosis doesn't look like it has spread and he recommends surgery in a couple of weeks. Gave us some meds to make her comfortable.  Seems to feel much better today.

We probably will take her to the Oncology Vet Clinic at Colorado State U, which is about an hour-and-a-half drive from us for a consultation, in case they have some alternative treatment.  Regardless, as long as she isn't suffering, we'd like to keep her around for awhile. Had her since she was about a month old!

Don't know if it's appropriate to ask for prayers or at least kind thoughts for a non-human, but could sure use whatever for our "little girl".

Thanks!

[Subdeacon Joe]

She's part of God's creation.  As the Gospel says, no sparrow shall fall ...

 

Matt. 10

²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. ³⁰ But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows.

[Canton Chris]

Of course it ok to request prayers & you have ours! Hoping for the best outcome for Chi-Chi!

[Charlie Harley, #14153]

Prayers and kind thoughts are both appropriate. 

[Rye Miles #13621]

Prayers for her healing

[Blackwater 53393]

See my second signature!!

 

A prayer for our critters is not only appropriate, it’s strongly encouraged!!

 

Got mine!!

[Buckshot Bear]

Wishing your little loved one all the very best, they are family.

[Singin' Sue 71615]

2 hours ago, Trailrider #896 said:

Our twelve-year old Chiauhua-Australian baby, Chi-chi was just diagnosed with a mast cell tumor on her left axilla (that's just behind her left leg on her body).  We had her to our "regular" vet last April for a wellness checkup and told the vet about feeling a lump.  He passed it off as nothing to be concerned about (didn't do any tests or anything!)  Chi-chi is usually very frisky and active for a dog her age until a couple of days ago when she just wasn't herself. Took her to our daughter's vet, who did a needle aspiration and x-rays.  Diagnosis doesn't look like it has spread and he recommends surgery in a couple of weeks. Gave us some meds to make her comfortable.  Seems to feel much better today.

We probably will take her to the Oncology Vet Clinic at Colorado State U, which is about an hour-and-a-half drive from us for a consultation, in case they have some alternative treatment.  Regardless, as long as she isn't suffering, we'd like to keep her around for awhile. Had her since she was about a month old!

Don't know if it's appropriate to ask for prayers or at least kind thoughts for a non-human, but could sure use whatever for our "little girl".

Thanks!

Of course prayers.

[J-BAR #18287]

In my experience. mast cell tumors respond to corticosteroid therapy nicely.  Prednisone pills are cheap, and inhibit mast cell proliferation.  Eventually the steroid side effects (thirst, urination, appetite increase) can be bothersome, but you should be able to buy her some time.  You will know when things have gone far enough.  Best of luck my friend.

[DocWard]

If you haven't seen the outpouring of emotion for those of us who have lost our dogs and posted our grief here, trust me, this is a very supportive group. Heck, just writing this has my eyes tearing up because we just recently lost our Olive. The support I found here was helpful, almost overwhelming.

Your family and Chi-Chi will be in my thoughts and meditations.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

Our four-leggeds are family members. Prayers for yours, of course.

[twelve mile REB]

We got your 6, take care of business.

[Pat Riot]

I’m in. 

[Badger Mountain Charlie SASS #43172]

WE are  all GOD's creatures. Prayers for the four footed ones from here. 

[Subdeacon Joe]

A friend, fellow parishioner, posted today on FB some thoughts of Abbot Tryphon on animals.

 

"

ANIMALS AND THE AFTERLIFE
My thoughts on the Oneness of Creation

There is no formal doctrine in the Orthodox Church concerning the afterlife for animals, including our pets. Those Fathers of the Church who have expressed themselves on this matter were simply expressing theological opinions that have not become universally accepted, and remain known as "theologoumena" (personal opinion).

The Church has wisely refrained from pronouncing conclusively regarding the afterlife, for much remains unknown. We will not truly understand what awaits us after this life until we have entered into the afterlife. As Orthodox Christians, we simply accept the Nicaeo-Constantinopolitan Creed, reciting the words, "I look for....the life of the world to come."

By God's grace and our cooperation with this grace, we expect to inherit eternal life. We believe that all beings who have been a part of our lives will also be there. Some of us would even hope, along with C.S. Lewis, that it might be possible Paradise will also include our beloved pets, and even the animals that have contributed in a myriad of ways to our own well being. Would it be possible that the cow that provided milk for our children, and cheese for our table, might one day join us in a Paradise where there is no death and no pain?

C.S. Lewis describes something like this in his book "The Great Divorce" in which a sanctified lady in paradise is accompanied by a myriad of animals as she walks in glory through the fields of Paradise. As I enjoyed the affection and loyalty of our monastery's wonderful Norwegian Forest Cat, Hammi, it would seem to me a Paradise without this loving little creature, would be wanting. Even the eternal loss of our hens, who've provided us with so many wonderful, fresh eggs, and given me so much delight, as I've watched them enjoying their free range lives, would seem sad to me.

This is simply my opinion, and I look forward to the possibility of meeting with the many beloved dogs and cats whose lives I have shared, over my seventy-five years. The saints saw animals as creatures of God, created as gifts of God's love, and therefore resisted negligence or indifference when these animals were under their charge.

Saint Paul of Obnora was known to converse with birds, and Saint Seraphim of Sarov made friends with a bear. Saint Anthony the Great had a friendship with a lion. Saint Modestos viewed animals as sublime and mysterious gifts from God, and would often bless the livestock of the faithful - praying for their health and survival and glorifying in the vastness and beauty of all that God made. I myself, for some twenty-two years, was blessed by our cat Hammi, as I'd let him out of the library after his night of sleep.

The traditional lands of Britain, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, all lands of the Celtic peoples, which, until the 11th century were part of the unified Orthodox Catholic Church and whose saints and spiritual life have much to offer the contemporary world, saw all of reality as a single unity. These saints knew, as all of the holy saints of the Church have known, that the wholeness of creation had been torn apart by the sin of Adam, and was restored by the saving act of Christ. In their lives they embodied the restoration of wholeness in creation, whether by communication with angels and spirits, or by kinship with all of the natural world.

Saint Athanasius said,  "(God) provided the work of creation also as a means by which the Maker might be known … Three ways thus lay open to them, by which they might obtain the knowledge of God. (First), they could look up to the immensity of heaven, and by pondering the harmony of creation come to know its Ruler, the Word of the Father." Thus, the natural world, seen in the light of Christ, remains a way to know God, that is, a way of salvation.

The oneness of our relationship with Creation is brought to life with the story of Saint Kevin of Glendalough. While standing at prayer in a traditional Celtic monastic position with his arms outstretched in the form of a cross, a blackbird built a nest on his arm and laid her eggs. Saint Kevin, not wanting to disturb her nest, stayed in the position until the eggs hatched. The saint is said to have stated, "It is no great thing for me to bear this pain of holding my hand under the blackbird for the sake of heaven's king."

In the beginning of the restoration of unity in the entire fallen cosmos, Christ went out into the desert and "He was with the wild beasts, and the angels served Him" (Mark 1:13). These heavenly and earthly creatures who were destined to become the new creation in the God-Man Jesus Christ were assembled around Him. There is a pointed reference to this restoration in the life of St Isaac of Syria, when he wrote:

The humble man approaches wild animals, and the moment they catch sight of him their ferocity is tamed. They come up and cling to him as their Master, wagging their tails and licking his hands and feet. They scent as coming from him the same fragrance that came from Adam before the transgression, the time when they were gathered together before him and he gave them names in Paradise. This scent was taken away from us, but Christ has renewed it and given it back to us at his coming. It is this which has sweetened the fragrance of humanity.

In other words, the state of likeness to God in Christ to which he had risen enabled him to be with the wild beasts just as Adam was in his naming of them. And, I suspect the reason pets are so important to us humans is that they aid in our journey into the restoration of kinship between two different parts of creation. Our pets become like all the animals were in the beginning, when Adam was charged with naming them.

When the human can lie down with the cat, or the dog, or the chicken, (to paraphrase Isaiah) we aid the advancement of the Kingdom just a little, work to recreate Paradise just a little, and so give new meaning to such menial tasks as cleaning out the chicken coop, or the litter box.

Finally, as one of my favorite bishops said, "Animals were with Adam and Eve in Paradise, so why on earth wouldn't they also be in Heaven (Metropolitan Kallistos Ware)?"

With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon"

[Trailrider #896]

Joe,

Many thanks for you wise words. Hopefully, the vets can come up with successful treatment, that will leave her comfortable for a while longer.  I don't worry about the afterlife for myself and mine. What we do in this life is what's important.  Whether there is a "Rainbow Bridge" for our pets or not, the important thing is for us stewards of our animals to do the best we can for them, and if the time comes, to let them go, to remember the good companionship, just as we remember our departed relatives and friends.  We've had to put down three dogs in the past, and as any animal lover knows, it ain't easy. 

Appreciate the kind thoughts of you and other pards.  We have an appointment as CSU animal oncology clinic on Sept. 26, and are told to call in twice a day to see if there is a cancellation sooner.  Until then, Chi-Chi seems more active and comfortable (probably the result of some meds the vet gave us.  

Thanks, again,

Trailrider

[Subdeacon Joe]

20 minutes ago, Trailrider #896 said:

Many thanks for you wise words.

 

I thought it rather fortuitous that my friend had posted the words of Abbot Tryphon today, and that his thoughts would answer the question about the appropriateness of praying for animals.

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

You have our prayers, mine and Trinket's my chihuahua Min-pin mix.  She's still healthy, but I know that she, like many other pets I have had, may reach a point some day where I'll have to make some tough decisions.  When that time comes I'll ask that I have the strength to make the best decision for her.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

40, We've got a min-pin chihuahua here as well. He's  close to 18 yrs. now. Next to no teeth, arthritic, and is definitely a grumpy old man. Between my SIL and us, he's been a family member since he was born. My SIL got him through acquiring his mother. His litter was five in number, he was the runt.

[Eyesa Horg]

Prayer heading up for your "Little Girl", Hope all works out well for you.

[Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217]

I hope your beloved pup has many more years. 

[Forty Rod SASS 3935]

3 hours ago, Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795 said:

40, We've got a min-pin chihuahua here as well. He's  close to 18 yrs. now. Next to no teeth, arthritic, and is definitely a grumpy old man. Between my SIL and us, he's been a family member since he was born. My SIL got him through acquiring his mother. His litter was five in number, he was the runt.

We got Trinket when we moved here and she was a year and a half old.  She was feral until we got her and had been running with a 45 pound  female pit bull mix.

 

She bonded with my wife while we were walking to the check out stand, and after Shawna died she went out to see if Momma was in the car every time I came home.  She has adapted now and is Daddy's, and the friendliest little beastie I ever saw.

 

She just turned eight and is healthy as can be.  If she can last eight and a half more years she'll tie a three way record for dogs I have owned.

[Four-Eyed Buck,SASS #14795]

Squeaks Momma was 18 when she passed. One of his sister's didn't make it past ten, she was quite a bit taller than either his Mom or him. He's all black mostly with a couple flecks of white and a bunch of gray all over his muzzle. This boy would definitely qualify GOF status, if he had teeth, he'd rip me up something fierce in the morning when I've got wake him to out for "potty".