My name is Tilly and I lay under a tree. The wind blows softly in this old tree. I hear the birds serenade to me as I lay here peacefully. I have a message I want to tell ……
So young so small and gone so soon.

Tilly' Story

Tilly came into Rescue in March 6. A puppy miller decided to give her up at 6 months old because of her size. She was only 5.3 lbs. and she decided that she was too small to breed. Tilly’s Mom Jackie only had one puppy. Her name was Tilly (named by her foster mom). You see, Tilly’s mom rejected Tilly and Tilly was bottle-fed from day one. Jackie’s milk was bad. Mother nature has a way of knowing when something is wrong, but human nature often interferes unknowingly.

Tilly came into rescue and was taken to a Vet clinic to be spayed. Her story is so sad because she was never pre-surgically screened before surgery. This would have alerted the vet to Tilly's failing health. So this is Tilly’s message - please have your Vet do this screening prior to operating on your pet. It’s a matter of life and death, and inexpensive. By doing this simple blood test, certain problems your pet may have are known before attempting surgery. It checks all vital organs and if they are failing, this screening will alert the vet of the problem. Had this been done on Tilly she wouldn’t have had to suffer.

As it turned out in hindsight, Tilly was very anemic and her kidneys were only functioning at 25 percent. How she survived the spay is unknown to us. Please understand: the vet that performed the surgery on Tilly did not mean to do any harm but the lesson learned and the message is clear: PRE-SURGICALLY SCREEN YOUR BELOVED PET BEFORE ANY SURGERY IS PERFORMED! By doing so, you may spare your pet unnecessary suffering in the long run.

Tilly passed on March 16th after only knowing love and affection for two weeks. She died only one day after being seen by another veterinarian who treated Tilly on March 15th. This vet new right off that something wasn’t right. She rushed blood work and the results came in that Saturday night. Sunday morning Tilly broke the hearts of her foster parents and so many others in the rescue world who were rooting for this wee little Westie to prove all those tests wrong, but it wasn't to be. In the arms of her loving foster parents, they made the decision to put her tortured little body to rest. They were with Tilly until the very end, holding her and shushing her softly until she closed her tired little eyes one last time. The foster mom will never forget feeling the last beat of Tilly's heart as it fell silent.

 

Tilly lies peacefully under an old oak tree that is encircled by trumpeting daffodils that herald the Spring and a statue of a little girl and her puppy.

Tilly will never be forgotten as the tiny little soul she could never be.