Losing my boy to bee sting!

It’s been exactly a month I discussed about my fur-kids(Sunny, Bunny) in Office blog. My boys, my world, how I got them and how awesome my life was around them. Today, I am crying for the same reason. I came to my hometown to celebrate Dasara with family. I was excited with my whole family including my boys gathering at one place to celebrate the festival. 

On 11th Oct, 2021, a very unfortunate day, while out on a walk, my boy was stung by a bee. Yes just a small bee. My boy accidentally stamped on it. He collapsed immediately and we rushed him to vet in my hometown.

 

He was given medicines and saline where he slowly regained his consciousness. Unfortunately he started passing out blood  with stool. The doctor said its normal and sent us home. Few minutes later my boy started bleeding profusely, it was clotted blood. I called Cessna Lifeline, Bangalore, my boys regular doctor. He suggested to get few tests done and admit him immediately. It was sign of Pancreatitis. The local doctor gave him blood thinner but refused to treat him as he is not experienced in treating the case. He is considered to be the number one doctor in my hometown. Unfortunately, he even refused to admit him although the Bangalore doctor agreed to guide him the treatment. With Calculated risk, Cessna doctors asked if we can drive him back to Bangalore. We made all the arrangements in our car for the boy including saline. The doctors said the medicines will work till we reach Bangalore and from there we can take care of him in the nursing home.

 

We started to Bangalore, an estimated time of 5hrs. On our way, the saline was disconnected. We stopped mid-way to get it fixed. But the doctors suggested it wasn’t required and asked us to drive. We reached on time but we got stuck in Bangalore traffic. With heavy rains there was no way we could escape the traffic jam at Tumkur road. We reached Cessna hospital 1.5hrs late. My boy looked OK to me with little discomfort in breathing. All pugs have this problem. However, the doctors said his oxygen level had dropped to 74 from 90 and he had fever. They gave him medicine, did all the tests and confirmed that his lungs were cleared and he is stable. The duty doctor handed over the case to a very bright looking doctor who assured us that my boy is going to be OK but she will confirm that after few tests. The tests took 2hrs and then the doctor asked us to pay his admission fee. She was confident that he is all good now. Bleeding stopped, he was breathing normally and he was responding to medicine and us as well. I met my boy who looked good with some pain killers. I preferred staying back, but doctor assured he is fine and he will sleep as he is given a pain-killer. I hugged my boy and told him to hang-in there and i will see him the next morning. We rented one hotel room next to Cessna for my younger brother to keep a tap on my boy's health. I left around 1130pm with rest of my family. 1230am, the In-patient doctor sent WhatsApp picture and video of my boy responding well. She said he is doing good after I left too. Morning 6am I messaged the doctor asking about my boy, i didn’t get any response. My brother who stayed close by went to hospital but they refused to let-him in. They said the doctor will speak. When he went inside, he saw my boy lying cold on table. They tried CPR test and confirmed that he had left us. My whole world was shattered.  I was blank. I didn’t know if I should be crying, or reacting to what had happened, ask doctors about what went wrong or worry about my other boy, his twin brother who was anxiously looking at me not knowing what is happening. It was a ruse. There were signs of recovery. His medical reports showed he was okay, but there he was lying there lifeless who left us quietly overnight.

We rushed to hospital. I saw my boy lying on the table. His eyes were open. I cuddled him. He was stiff and cold. There was no response from him. Usually, he is very warm. There was nothing I could do. I was helpless and I just watched him. The doctors called me to explain me the situation but all I had in my head was, is it going to bring him back to his life? Is there any way to get him back. The helpers came and asked me if they need to wrap him. I agreed to it as we wanted to make him sleep in nice place. That’s all I could do that moment. My brothers friend has a coconut farm in hometown. We wanted to cremate him there. When they wrapped him, I couldn’t take it. It was my boy who was no longer alive. This killed me. I gathered myself, we drove him back to hometown. We did all the rituals and lay him at peace with his favorite silk in a coconut grove. I wanted to make him feel my warmth until I meet him again. We tried showing his twin everything just to make sure he knows that Bunny left us and is not coming back. Not sure how much he understood. But at least we didn't want him to wait for his brother at door everyday who mercilessly left us in agony.

 

I started focusing on Sunny. I was watching his behavior. He was anxious and not eating. He was quiet and following me everywhere. We slept in same room where we three used to sleep. Those two nights he was not sleeping instead he was hiding under the cot, table, chair. He was looking for something or scared of something. I left that room and started sleeping in hallway with Sunny. On third day, i felt Bunny was waiting for me in the groove. I went to meet him.  Everything was in place. I offered milk(his favorite) and ghee on his grave, a ritual. Then it was gone. Now i don’t see him there. All i have is his beautiful memories. He's gone too soon. But 5.8yrs of his life, all he has given me is tons of happiness, strength and a reason to live a healthy life. Some asked me if I need replacement and company for Sunny. We decided to give Sunny the best we can and not to have another pet and shift our focus. We have another 3yr old street boy, Mikey, with us in hometown. Sunny plays with him. His eating habits are back. Yet I am scared to come to Bangalore home. Everything in that home reminds me of Bunny. But life must go-on.

 

Life is not fair. That is for sure. Too much of happiness is not always the case. My boy left me in grief, but on a brighter side, I had the best in life all these years because of him. Signing-off from life is inevitable. But when we can sign-off is not in our hands. Gathering all that I have , keeping Sunny in mind, I am living with Bunny's memories. The thought that he is not around is like taking a bullet every time. Hopefully, time will heal everything. Wish my boy all the happiness in heaven, and a lot of strength to me to cope up with the loss and courage to give the best to my other boy, Sunny. There is nothing better than having a pet to experience the unconditional love and commitment. But remember, its a commitment and I assure you the time spent is worth it. Lessons learnt with Pugs

 

1. Watch out what they eat. Give them a balanced diet. Add more veggies to their diet with chicken & Fish once a week. Avoid egg as it can caused gastric sometimes.

2. Keep them clean as much as possible. Use home remedies. Do not go for too many medicines(ear cleaning, wrinkle cleaning, itching...). Too much chemical, just harms them

3. Treat them normally. I visited vet more often than required. I used to get him injected for every small thing. I got him injected every month for allergic medicine, skin treatment, neutering, anal sack removal, what not. Avoid unwanted medicines. My boy was never fussy in taking medicines, unlike my other boy Sunny. I curse myself for this.

4. Bees are dangerous. Bee sting can be minor or fatal. Unfortunately, for us it turned out to be fatal.

5. Not sure if it’s the side effect, but after bee sting, the medicine to treat the poison caused my pet bleed profusely. This is second time we saw this effect. First time, the Cessna Lifeline doctor gave him life . My boy had same problem 3years back where the doctor said the condition was critical and was given 48hrs. We didn’t know it was bee sting even that time because we hadn’t seen anything that stung him. But there were bees lying on floor that time. By God’s grace and the doctor, my boys life was extended for few more years. This time, the night doctor said some medicines cause bleeding as a side effect especially the one used to treat the bee sting poison. But there is no other way to treat and this time it turned out to be fatal for us.

I turned whole world upside down to save him. If there was anything i could do to save him, maybe I would have done it. There is definitely a huge void which no one can fill. The only thing I can do is warn people about the bees. I wanted to pen down my experience if it helps other pet owners. Pugs are very sensitive and bee sting can be fatal. Remember, do not be scared of the inevitable. Pain of losing a pet is extremely painful but its temporary. But every moment we spend during their lifetime is worth it. There is nothing better than having a pet around. Their lifespan is short but very content#HappyParenting

 Its OKAY, if someone says it was just a pet. Its just that they are not aware of the bonding people develop with their pets.