Katee Puppy

We lost our favorite canine friend this morning....more importantly, one of Rylee's best friends.  She was 14 years old and the most docile dog ever.  Even though she didn't have a history of aggressive behavior, James was always nervous she might bite the kids.  Instead, Katee always remained calm and let them do whatever they wanted to her.

Rylee took a strong liking to Katee at a very young age...maybe 8 months?  From there, the relationship grew.  Rylee was always just as excited to see Katee as she was Grandma...sometimes even asking just to go see Katee.  Rylee loved to walk Katee, often holding the leash herself.  Katee had other canine friends in the neighborhood and Rylee knew most of their names. Of course, giving her treats was fun too.  More recently, Rylee finally learned how to hook Katee up to her leash to let her out to potty.  There wasn't much Rylee didn't know how to do for her. She would often tell me "I know how to take care of Katee." The two usually slept together at night when Rylee would stay at Grandma and Katee's house. Every time we would leave Grandma's house or Grandma would leave ours, Rylee would say, "Bye Grandma, I love you. And will you tell Katee I love her too."

Movies in bed with Katee.

Showing Katee her new backpack - age 2.

As she got older, Katee started having a lot of health problems.  It seems like every winter for the past few years, my mom would say, "I don't know if she will make it through another winter."  She made it quite a bit longer than we expected.  Last week, she started getting weaker. When she stopped eating, my mom knew she was probably on her way out.  On Sunday, Mom asked if I wanted to bring Rylee over to see Katee one last time.  I explained to Rylee that Katee was dying and this may be the last time we would see her.  Rylee hugged her, told Katee she loved her, and fed her ice cubes.  I wasn't sure that she really understood what we were telling her.

Feeding Katee ice cubes since she wasn't eating or drinking. 

This morning when I woke up, I texted my mom right away to see how Katee was doing.  The reply I got was, "She just took her last breath 5 minutes ago."  Rylee came into my room about 3 minutes later.  I debated whether to tell her before or after school, but James and I decided to go ahead and tell her right away.  She didn't say much....I don't think it really registered.

After school I asked if she told her class about Katee and she said she did. She asked me if Katee was still dead at Grandma's.  When I told her Grandma took her to the vet she asked if the vet would make her better.  I explained again that Katee was gone and wouldn't be back.  A few hours later, out of the blue, Rylee said, "Mom, it sure will be different going to Grandma's without Katee. I might still ask if I can go see Katee."

I suppose the next few times we go to Grandma's will tell if she really understands or not.  Someday, she will be used to not having Katee there.  I'm confident she will remember Katee for quite some time though....her first BFF.  For now, we will remember our friend in pictures.