LUNA – Our Shining Moon
Meghna Ghatak with Luna
It’s always hard to accept the fact that your beloved pooch is no more wagging his/her tail in your welcome or that a wet nose butt at six in the morning is suddenly unavailable. The days of deafening silence after they’re gone are the hardest to bear for all pet parents, especially if the beloved dog was an only pet.
My little girl Luna, a yellow Labrador Retriever, crossed the rainbow bridge. I had named her after the moon goddess, Luna, because of the presence of silver crescents on her back and had hoped that her namesake would affect her temperament. In the one year and six months of her life with us, she became the shining moon of our life, revolving around us and influencing our time and tide.
Luna: the best gift life could give us
My parents were reluctant at first of the idea of getting home a pet, but when Luna became a part of our lives, she was much loved and became my parents’ favourite. I bought home Luna on Christmas Eve, almost two months after our previous pet passed away.
Golden memories of those growing up years
Luna grew up so fast that it was unbelievable; every week’s picture indicated her significant growth. Luna was obedient that she could easily walk without her leash and submitted to no one’s call except me and my family.
Life’s ups and downs – As experienced by a pet parent
On the fateful day of 16th April, after her weekly bath, Luna refused to eat food and lapped only at water. We assumed we’ve overfed her and continued with our daily routine. But she did not resume eating. We went to the vet to find out Luna had high fever. The vet started medications and also gave her some injections and drips.
That feeling of seeing your pet helpless and in discomfort is so painful. You want to save them from the pain and keep them safe. At that point our priority was Luna’s health and we were doing everything to ensure she gets the best treatment. By 19th April, we were sleeplessly, tirelessly trying to bring her fever down by giving her ice packs and forcibly feeding her but to no avail.
The final goodbye is always so difficult
When she took her last breath in my lap and my family watched on helplessly we could do nothing.
For days after her passing away, I assumed I could hear her footsteps on the tiled floors and would sometimes hear her breathe by our feet. I had nightmares about her roaming around the house looking like a zombie. I had a nagging guilt feeling that I hadn’t done enough to save her.
The grief of losing a beloved
Pet loss is traumatic, a miracle happened though. Every time I would miss her or feel the need for her silent reassurance, I would find her hair around me. I began finding one single radiant hair on my desk, my laptop and sometimes on the table. It wasn’t unusual; I would try to reason myself, as my clothes must contain the strands that would find their way around my presence. It was reassuring to imagine Luna looking out for me from over the rainbow bridge. Every time I had a nightmare about her death, I would wake up and scroll through the happy pictures to remind myself of all the heartwarming memories.
The grief of losing beloved pets will never go away and replacing them with new ones may or may not be the solution. But distributing love to a thousand homeless ones, advocating for the injured ones, providing aide for the ill might help one ease with the pain.