May 29, 2025 • 21 mins
Last week, we shared the first spiritual experiences that opened our eyes to something more — moments that hinted at life beyond the physical, and deepened our belief in the ongoing connection between pets and their people.
This week, we turn the lens gently toward our animals themselves.
In this companion episode, Gail Pope and Karen Wylie reflect on the quiet ways our beloved pets sometimes know that their physical life is nearing its end — and how they may take meaningful action to prepare us. Through two deeply personal stories — Sarah the cat and Mr. Hope the tabby — we explore final rallies, loving goodbyes, and the mysterious, sacred space pets seem to hold as they approach death.
If last week was about our awareness of something greater, this week honors their awareness — and reinforces the deep belief we share at BrightHaven: that animals are sentient, emotionally intelligent beings who often know more than we think.
Our pets’ perspective matters deeply in both caregiving and end-of-life decisions.
Topics include:
- Final rallies and “swan songs” in pets
- The subtle ways pets say goodbye
- How animals may sense their own impending death
- Stories of animal doulas and emotional preparation
- What these sacred moments can teach us about letting go
📌Thanks for listening! Don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review 🐶⭐🐱
📥 Download your free Menu for Healing PDF at brightpathforpets.com/healing
📥 Read more information on Silver Cord at https://near-death.com/silver-cord/
Learn More from BrightHaven Caregiver Academy For free resources, upcoming workshops, and a supportive community dedicated to navigating life with your aging or ill pet:
- Visit our website: brightpathforpets.com
- Join us on Youtube: www.youtube.com/@brighthaven_animals
Connect with Us on Social:
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- Instagram: @brightpathforpets
Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes and not a substitute for professional advice.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents, the podcast by BrightHaven Caregiver Academy.
I'm Gail Pope and I'm Karen Wylie and together we're here to support you in navigating life with your aging or ill pets.
We know how deeply you care for your beloved companions, and we're here to offer guidance, understanding, and resources for this meaningful journey.
(00:25):
Each episode we'll explore topics that address the daily challenges, emotional realities, and choices you face as a pet parent helping you and your pets find peace, comfort, and joy.
Whether it's making sense of a new diagnosis, adjusting to changing needs, or simply seeking a place to feel understood, you're not alone.
(00:47):
Thank you for being here with us.
Karen Wylie (00:52):
Hello and welcome again to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents.
I'm Karen Wylie with Gail Pope.
Today we're going to be talking about something that many of us have seen or felt with our own animals but maybe we didn't have the words for.
There are so many quiet moments near the end of life, both for humans and pets but our focus today, of course, is on the pets.
(01:19):
So these moments are when a pet seems to rally at the end of life when you see them declining but then their energy level is back.
They reach out to you in some very special and beautiful ways, and Gail and I have both had these kind of experiences with our pets.
(01:39):
So we wanted to share a couple stories with you today.
Some call them swan songs, last goodbyes, final rallies.
So because we've witnessed these things, we're going to take time now to share a couple stories with you.
Gail, I will turn to you to start us off.
Gail Pope (02:02):
My goodness.
The story that came to me as perhaps one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life was the story of a cat named Sarah and about what happened at the end of her life and how magical it was.
It was scary but it was very magical too.
(02:23):
Not to be too long-winded, Sarah came to me for help because she had health issues.
She had Feline Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic Stomatitis.
Actually her wonderful owner had done just about everything.
It was very new to the world at that time and yet we'd worked with a few animals.
So she asked if I would take Sarah and
(02:44):
see if we could heal her.
She crept straight into my heart, stole it away, and never left it.
You know, you have that feeling sometimes with people, with animals, with whoever— that was Sarah.
She became my heart and soul very quickly and we worked basically with the BrightHaven Menu of Healing and she improved.
(03:06):
She got better and better and she did well for about two years.
Maybe a little longer than that until she didn't and her health started to decline.
It was very clear she was getting close to the end of her life.
Then came the day that she collapsed in liver failure and she was clearly dying.
(03:29):
Then it began and in true BrightHaven style, things changed the following morning.
She basically limped, she dragged herself into the middle of our living room and she just hunkered down there.
I thought I'm going to be with her and she's going to die.
However, we were joined by maybe five or six cats, couple of dogs, and they actually sat in a circle around her and I sat with them and thought
(03:59):
"What is this? What's going on?"
And it's total silence.
They just sat there almost as though they were all meditating.
So it was, and she did that each day for five days.
She ate almost nothing each day.
She took a little water each day.
She basically just kept herself alive.
(04:20):
She was very weak.
Each day she chose a different room in the house and different animals would come and sit around and it was always inner circle around her.
I wish I'd taken photos but at the time I was grieving.
I was panic stricken.
I didn't know what was happening and yes, I had to be there.
Then on the next day, she collapsed.
(04:42):
She was very clearly dying and Richard sat with me.
I can picture now sitting on the couch holding her and she would go through the dying process
but she didn't die.
This went on for several hours.
Finally Richard said,
"I think we have to call Vicki."
Vicki was the lady who came along and taught us all things holistic and things spooky too— but this was spookiest.
(05:09):
So I called Vicki and I was sobbing and I said,
"Sarah's dying.
She just can't seem to leave her body.
What's going on?
This is terrible.
What can I do?"
And she said, "Okay, don't worry. We can do this. We can do this." She performed
while I was sobbing an awful lot during the whole thing and part of me was in disbelief.
(05:32):
Part of me knew that I had to do what I was told.
She told me to visualize two cords— two silver cords.
One was from my heart to Sarah's heart and the other was from my umbilical cord to her umbilical cord.
She said, I need you to visualize these cords.
(05:55):
Well, there I was in a state of complete panic but I calmed myself down and yes, I visualize them.
She said, "Okay, so now when you're really comfortable, I need you to cut the umbilical cord, not the heart cord. At the same time, I need you to envisage that one growing longer. Okay?"
(06:15):
So she said, "Are you ready?" and what was I to do?
I was almost in another world at that point of love and grief and you name it all the different emotions.
She said, "Okay, I'm going to count to three and on the count of three you'll cut and you'll envisage."
(06:36):
And so that's what we did— I cut, I envisaged the heart cord growing and growing.
In my arms, Sarah moved.
She rolled her head back.
She looked into my eyes and she left.
Her body was, I'm sorry, her body just stepped out and Richard and I both just sat and sobbed.
(07:02):
It was too beautiful.
It was too beautiful.
Too scary, too unknowing.
It was magical and fearful, all of those things.
But yes, that's the first story that came into my mind.
Probably one of the most powerful.
I think I wrote it down at some time and we actually put it on our website but it was very powerful.
Karen Wylie (07:27):
Oh, it's powerful listening to the story.
I remember the first time you had told me about this, I was unfamiliar with the silver cord.
The fact that this is something that was mentioned in the Bible.
There's all sorts of different metaphysical and energetic discussions about it online.
Gail Pope (07:49):
And I had no idea!
Until today, I had no idea.
I thought it was just spooky stuff that was in my memory but Wow!
Yes, it's just astonishing.
Karen Wylie (08:00):
Yes, I think it's a beautiful story and especially because Vicki led you through a visualization that allowed you to let go of Sarah because you both were joined at the hip.
So that visualization helped each of you I guess detach from one another so she could go onto her next destination.
(08:25):
We'll include some of those links to get you started if you're listening to this and it's of interest to you.
Certainly is of interest to me and the thought I had when you're calling it spooky is that I always remember thinking of so many things that are spooky growing up that you'd hear about and it'd be like,
"Oh, wow, isn't that weird? Oh, isn't that strange?"
(08:47):
And you know, it happens.
You don't deny that it happens or you just don't know what it means.
So it's spooky and it's until later on or looking back and you see the meaning of these, I can't just call them events, they're a whole lot more than an event.
That sounds very cut and dried.
It's a process and it's such an emotional one.
(09:11):
So the connection between you and Sarah had to have been so deep.
So glad you had Vicki to help you through.
Gail Pope (09:19):
Yes, it's interesting.
I'm not going to tell another story but you just made me think.
A story that I do tell frequently is Frazier, who is like the star of BrightHaven over the years because he lived to 34 as a cat.
But I've told the story many times of Frazier dying and coming back to life and dying and coming back to life.
(09:39):
Of course there are quite a few other people that have been present at one of his death experiences.
So it's interesting that he and Sarah were in opposing stories.
Because hers was a little different but he died then he came back and he was able to do that.
So that's something else that I have to think about more now and see what were we missing then?
Karen Wylie (10:05):
So many of these things, we can't see them at the time they're happening.
We just have to feel them.
Then the little breadcrumbs come to, I call them breadcrumbs— that when you're reflecting on something and you start saying, "okay, so this happened and then that led to this and then there was also this" and suddenly they're like little breadcrumbs that lead you to a whole new understanding.
(10:26):
With both your story about Sarah and then Frazier, I think they both give us some evidence that they knew they were dying.
Gail Pope (10:37):
Yes.
Karen Wylie (10:38):
They knew, they had this sense that they would be leaving soon.
It's not surprising.
You and I know we both see our animals and all animals as sentient beings.
We believe they're fully capable of this.
That if we look at them holistically, we're not just talking about the physical pet care, we're thinking of the emotional, the social of the doulas.
(11:01):
Your animal doulas circling Sarah in each room, are they saying goodbye?
They obviously had a sense of something very important happening or that she went from room to room in a way of saying goodbye to the animals that hung out in those different parts of the sanctuary.
So when we're talking so much about taking the pet's perspective into consideration with everything we do, I think it's even more so at end of life because they often do have, in my opinion, obviously I can't prove this is where we get into what we believe and can't necessarily prove.
(11:42):
But I believe they have a sense of impending physical death and that changes their behavior.
Just like the stories you're describing with Sarah and Frazier.
The story I wanted to share was my most recent experience was with Mr. Hope— a brown, lovely brown tabby with little white feet who wandered into our yard.
(12:05):
Let's say that would be 18 and a half years ago.
So we inherited him from a neighbor who had moved away.
So we were able to get in touch with her, confirm that he was about a year and a half at the time he came into our lives.
Then at age 14 he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
(12:26):
So we started on every six months monitoring him.
He was on adequan shots.
I think I've spoken about that before because it helps with arthritis and also had some blood thinning properties which can help the heart pump blood more easily.
He was with us for two and a half years after that diagnosis.
(12:47):
So we went from adequan shots with a little bit of blood thinning capability and that was fine for about a year.
Then he went on Clopidogrel to try to stabilize a more rhythmical heart rate— heartbeats.
Kidney disease started creeping up into the situation as it often does.
Then he needed blood pressure medication.
(13:09):
So we were monitoring that every month.
Then he started into congestive heart failure where his lungs had a little bit of fluid.
So he was started on lasik.
We're doing all these things.
We're definitely into the home stretch of hospice care.
In that last month after the fluid in his lungs was identified, our vet said it, it was just barely there but she had heard something.
(13:31):
We did the x-rays.
So we had our baseline of where he was but he was in excellent shape.
He was enjoying his life.
The last vet check that we had, he had lost a half a pound of weight.
With cats and kidney disease, the weight starts going off and the first thing you're wanting to do is try to keep that weight on.
(13:53):
I had ordered so many different wet foods and the reason that was an issue is because Mr. Hope had been raised on the cheapest dry cat food.
I could never get him to eat the creme de la creme of the kibble nor any wet foods.
Like he wouldn't have tuna.
He wouldn't have salmon.
(14:14):
We tried fresh chicken.
We tried it all.
The day before he died, I had gotten in all these different cans— the smelliest, oiliest.
Just what would lure him, what would possibly get him to eat?
And that little guy on what turned out to be his last day was eating a little bit of every single one of them.
(14:37):
Now, at that point, he's 16 and a half years old and we'd had him for 15 of those 16 and a half years.
I never get him to eat any of these wet foods and he's like maybe three, four or five little bites of everything.
I'm like,
"Oh, isn't this wonderful? He's feeling so much better. Oh, this is so good."
You know now it wasn't like he's going to make a miraculous recovery and the heart problems are going to go away.
(15:01):
But that day it was like, today's a good day.
He's in good shape.
He's stable.
Then that evening as we're sitting on the couch, my husband on one end, me on the other, and the two Aussies, Chey and Livy are with us and Hope is with us which is a typical evening for us.
Gail Pope (15:18):
Family gathering.
Karen Wylie (15:19):
Yes, exactly.
Mr. Hope began an incredible evening with us because he liked to groom us and meaning he would lick our hair and our scalp.
Of course, cats only groom each other.
They only groom other cats they love, they like.
They don't groom cats they don't get along with.
So in the cat world, we always understood that this was Hopey showing us love and caring for us.
(15:44):
He'd take five minutes and go to town on my hair and then he'd sit in my lap for five or 10 minutes.
Then he'd meander next to Chey, his younger brother— an Aussie who he raised and hope had never been around any dogs.
So having a puppy come into the house had been a big deal but Hope and Chey got along beautifully.
(16:05):
So Chey just was there with his little eyes closed letting Mr. Hope lick his face all over.
Then Hope went over to his daddy and he's grooming Tim like crazy.
Tim had the shorter hair, so Tim always got longer grooming sessions than I did.
Then he is on Tim's lap and it was so wonderful and Livy came over to him and Livy's five times the energy of Chey.
(16:26):
She presented her head and Mr. Hope's licking her face maybe around half a minute and it was just so wonderful.
I'm thinking, isn't this a great evening?
Hope is feeling so much better and I slept so well that night because I'm thinking we're on stable ground.
Hope is in good shape.
(16:47):
His heart stopped that night.
He died in his sleep.
We found him on top of Chey's crate
in his little bed all curled up.
Obviously, the heart just stopped.
He didn't barely even knew it.
If there's ever a peaceful, lovely way you hope your animals are going to go, that's it.
(17:11):
But then I was thinking of the previous day and it was, for me, it was like, "Oh my God, the gift he gave us was extraordinary."
He was such a trooper for the two and a half years.
At the end I was medicating him with five meds in the morning and five meds at night and he tolerated every single thing.
(17:35):
Because of course he'd get a little temptation at the end— little reward.
But that last day, he gave a gift of the way he had always been with all of us.
These stories are not just stories for us.
Gail Pope (17:52):
Exactly.
They sit in our hearts, don't they?
Karen Wylie (17:54):
Last week was two years that he died May 23rd.
It's all so beautiful.
That's the thing, it's like Tim and I will still cry about Mr. Hope because we think of that night and that day and so many aspects of his life with us, and it's so wonderful.
It's all together and they do give us these swan— I think of his as a swan song because it took place over so much time and yet it was a final gift as well.
Gail Pope (18:23):
As we are talking, I have a flood of memories.
It's almost as though in my mind there's a picture of one cat, picture of another one, a dog coming in the middle and saying, "Remember me." So I think I'd love to tell some more of these stories.
I think they're certainly helpful and hopeful for us.
Karen Wylie (18:44):
Yes.
Gail Pope (18:45):
They're magical to remember some of these wonderful incidents where animals have had these wonderful experiences and then died.
Yes.
I'm sitting here and my mind's completely filled with them.
So let's continue this, shall we?
Karen Wylie (19:07):
Yes, I think that in the stories that you shared and what I just described with Mr. Hope, they definitely know that death is arriving.
That they're not going— they take too many actions to give us some solace afterwards.
In your case, when you're describing all the animal doulas circling Sarah, they all knew.
(19:31):
So somehow they know and it's attending to this kind of possibility that I think is one of the most wonderful gifts our animals can give us.
It really closes the chapter on their life but in a very different way— very healing.
(19:51):
So I do hope that these moments that can sometimes be misunderstood, like me thinking Mr. Hope is stable and great, and instead that was him getting ready to leave.
Sometimes it's difficult because we're hoping for recovery.
When we're working with animals at end of life, we want them to be with us as long as possible.
(20:14):
But each of these experiences that we've had and that are possible for everyone to have can be so special and healing for the rest of your life, for many years.
So with that, we will bring this conversation to a close, and I guess I just want to say that even in letting go at end of life there can be a lot of love and a sense of connection that doesn't end when the physical life does.
(20:46):
So we will be sure to put some links to the silver cord information for those of you who might be interested in learning a little bit more about that.
And we will look forward to talking with you again next time.
Thanks for being with us.
Bye-bye.
Gail Pope (21:02):
Bye-bye.
Thank you for joining us on Peace of Mind for Pet Parents.
We hope today's episode has offered you support and insight as you care for your aging or ill pets.
Remember, it's not just about the end.
It's about living well at every stage of life.
To continue your journey with us, explore more resources at BrightHaven Caregiver Academy's website— BrightPathForPets.com, where you'll find guides, assessments, and a caring community of pet parents like you.
(21:39):
Until next time, may you and your pets find comfort, connection, and peace in every moment.
Take care.
Welcome to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents, the podcast by BrightHaven Caregiver Academy.
I'm Gail Pope and I'm Karen Wylie and together we're here to support you in navigating life with your aging or ill pets.
We know how deeply you care for your beloved companions, and we're here to offer guidance, understanding, and resources for this meaningful journey.
(00:25):
Each episode we'll explore topics that address the daily challenges, emotional realities, and choices you face as a pet parent helping you and your pets find peace, comfort, and joy.
Whether it's making sense of a new diagnosis, adjusting to changing needs, or simply seeking a place to feel understood, you're not alone.
(00:47):
Thank you for being here with us.
Karen Wylie (00:52):
Hello and welcome again to Peace of Mind for Pet Parents.
I'm Karen Wylie with Gail Pope.
Today we're going to be talking about something that many of us have seen or felt with our own animals but maybe we didn't have the words for.
There are so many quiet moments near the end of life, both for humans and pets but our focus today, of course, is on the pets.
(01:19):
So these moments are when a pet seems to rally at the end of life when you see them declining but then their energy level is back.
They reach out to you in some very special and beautiful ways, and Gail and I have both had these kind of experiences with our pets.
(01:39):
So we wanted to share a couple stories with you today.
Some call them swan songs, last goodbyes, final rallies.
So because we've witnessed these things, we're going to take time now to share a couple stories with you.
Gail, I will turn to you to start us off.
Gail Pope (02:02):
My goodness.
The story that came to me as perhaps one of the most amazing experiences of my entire life was the story of a cat named Sarah and about what happened at the end of her life and how magical it was.
It was scary but it was very magical too.
(02:23):
Not to be too long-winded, Sarah came to me for help because she had health issues.
She had Feline Lymphocytic-Plasmacytic Stomatitis.
Actually her wonderful owner had done just about everything.
It was very new to the world at that time and yet we'd worked with a few animals.
So she asked if I would take Sarah and
(02:44):
see if we could heal her.
She crept straight into my heart, stole it away, and never left it.
You know, you have that feeling sometimes with people, with animals, with whoever— that was Sarah.
She became my heart and soul very quickly and we worked basically with the BrightHaven Menu of Healing and she improved.
(03:06):
She got better and better and she did well for about two years.
Maybe a little longer than that until she didn't and her health started to decline.
It was very clear she was getting close to the end of her life.
Then came the day that she collapsed in liver failure and she was clearly dying.
(03:29):
Then it began and in true BrightHaven style, things changed the following morning.
She basically limped, she dragged herself into the middle of our living room and she just hunkered down there.
I thought I'm going to be with her and she's going to die.
However, we were joined by maybe five or six cats, couple of dogs, and they actually sat in a circle around her and I sat with them and thought
(03:59):
"What is this? What's going on?"
And it's total silence.
They just sat there almost as though they were all meditating.
So it was, and she did that each day for five days.
She ate almost nothing each day.
She took a little water each day.
She basically just kept herself alive.
(04:20):
She was very weak.
Each day she chose a different room in the house and different animals would come and sit around and it was always inner circle around her.
I wish I'd taken photos but at the time I was grieving.
I was panic stricken.
I didn't know what was happening and yes, I had to be there.
Then on the next day, she collapsed.
(04:42):
She was very clearly dying and Richard sat with me.
I can picture now sitting on the couch holding her and she would go through the dying process
but she didn't die.
This went on for several hours.
Finally Richard said,
"I think we have to call Vicki."
Vicki was the lady who came along and taught us all things holistic and things spooky too— but this was spookiest.
(05:09):
So I called Vicki and I was sobbing and I said,
"Sarah's dying.
She just can't seem to leave her body.
What's going on?
This is terrible.
What can I do?"
And she said, "Okay, don't worry. We can do this. We can do this." She performed
while I was sobbing an awful lot during the whole thing and part of me was in disbelief.
(05:32):
Part of me knew that I had to do what I was told.
She told me to visualize two cords— two silver cords.
One was from my heart to Sarah's heart and the other was from my umbilical cord to her umbilical cord.
She said, I need you to visualize these cords.
(05:55):
Well, there I was in a state of complete panic but I calmed myself down and yes, I visualize them.
She said, "Okay, so now when you're really comfortable, I need you to cut the umbilical cord, not the heart cord. At the same time, I need you to envisage that one growing longer. Okay?"
(06:15):
So she said, "Are you ready?" and what was I to do?
I was almost in another world at that point of love and grief and you name it all the different emotions.
She said, "Okay, I'm going to count to three and on the count of three you'll cut and you'll envisage."
(06:36):
And so that's what we did— I cut, I envisaged the heart cord growing and growing.
In my arms, Sarah moved.
She rolled her head back.
She looked into my eyes and she left.
Her body was, I'm sorry, her body just stepped out and Richard and I both just sat and sobbed.
(07:02):
It was too beautiful.
It was too beautiful.
Too scary, too unknowing.
It was magical and fearful, all of those things.
But yes, that's the first story that came into my mind.
Probably one of the most powerful.
I think I wrote it down at some time and we actually put it on our website but it was very powerful.
Karen Wylie (07:27):
Oh, it's powerful listening to the story.
I remember the first time you had told me about this, I was unfamiliar with the silver cord.
The fact that this is something that was mentioned in the Bible.
There's all sorts of different metaphysical and energetic discussions about it online.
Gail Pope (07:49):
And I had no idea!
Until today, I had no idea.
I thought it was just spooky stuff that was in my memory but Wow!
Yes, it's just astonishing.
Karen Wylie (08:00):
Yes, I think it's a beautiful story and especially because Vicki led you through a visualization that allowed you to let go of Sarah because you both were joined at the hip.
So that visualization helped each of you I guess detach from one another so she could go onto her next destination.
(08:25):
We'll include some of those links to get you started if you're listening to this and it's of interest to you.
Certainly is of interest to me and the thought I had when you're calling it spooky is that I always remember thinking of so many things that are spooky growing up that you'd hear about and it'd be like,
"Oh, wow, isn't that weird? Oh, isn't that strange?"
(08:47):
And you know, it happens.
You don't deny that it happens or you just don't know what it means.
So it's spooky and it's until later on or looking back and you see the meaning of these, I can't just call them events, they're a whole lot more than an event.
That sounds very cut and dried.
It's a process and it's such an emotional one.
(09:11):
So the connection between you and Sarah had to have been so deep.
So glad you had Vicki to help you through.
Gail Pope (09:19):
Yes, it's interesting.
I'm not going to tell another story but you just made me think.
A story that I do tell frequently is Frazier, who is like the star of BrightHaven over the years because he lived to 34 as a cat.
But I've told the story many times of Frazier dying and coming back to life and dying and coming back to life.
(09:39):
Of course there are quite a few other people that have been present at one of his death experiences.
So it's interesting that he and Sarah were in opposing stories.
Because hers was a little different but he died then he came back and he was able to do that.
So that's something else that I have to think about more now and see what were we missing then?
Karen Wylie (10:05):
So many of these things, we can't see them at the time they're happening.
We just have to feel them.
Then the little breadcrumbs come to, I call them breadcrumbs— that when you're reflecting on something and you start saying, "okay, so this happened and then that led to this and then there was also this" and suddenly they're like little breadcrumbs that lead you to a whole new understanding.
(10:26):
With both your story about Sarah and then Frazier, I think they both give us some evidence that they knew they were dying.
Gail Pope (10:37):
Yes.
Karen Wylie (10:38):
They knew, they had this sense that they would be leaving soon.
It's not surprising.
You and I know we both see our animals and all animals as sentient beings.
We believe they're fully capable of this.
That if we look at them holistically, we're not just talking about the physical pet care, we're thinking of the emotional, the social of the doulas.
(11:01):
Your animal doulas circling Sarah in each room, are they saying goodbye?
They obviously had a sense of something very important happening or that she went from room to room in a way of saying goodbye to the animals that hung out in those different parts of the sanctuary.
So when we're talking so much about taking the pet's perspective into consideration with everything we do, I think it's even more so at end of life because they often do have, in my opinion, obviously I can't prove this is where we get into what we believe and can't necessarily prove.
(11:42):
But I believe they have a sense of impending physical death and that changes their behavior.
Just like the stories you're describing with Sarah and Frazier.
The story I wanted to share was my most recent experience was with Mr. Hope— a brown, lovely brown tabby with little white feet who wandered into our yard.
(12:05):
Let's say that would be 18 and a half years ago.
So we inherited him from a neighbor who had moved away.
So we were able to get in touch with her, confirm that he was about a year and a half at the time he came into our lives.
Then at age 14 he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
(12:26):
So we started on every six months monitoring him.
He was on adequan shots.
I think I've spoken about that before because it helps with arthritis and also had some blood thinning properties which can help the heart pump blood more easily.
He was with us for two and a half years after that diagnosis.
(12:47):
So we went from adequan shots with a little bit of blood thinning capability and that was fine for about a year.
Then he went on Clopidogrel to try to stabilize a more rhythmical heart rate— heartbeats.
Kidney disease started creeping up into the situation as it often does.
Then he needed blood pressure medication.
(13:09):
So we were monitoring that every month.
Then he started into congestive heart failure where his lungs had a little bit of fluid.
So he was started on lasik.
We're doing all these things.
We're definitely into the home stretch of hospice care.
In that last month after the fluid in his lungs was identified, our vet said it, it was just barely there but she had heard something.
(13:31):
We did the x-rays.
So we had our baseline of where he was but he was in excellent shape.
He was enjoying his life.
The last vet check that we had, he had lost a half a pound of weight.
With cats and kidney disease, the weight starts going off and the first thing you're wanting to do is try to keep that weight on.
(13:53):
I had ordered so many different wet foods and the reason that was an issue is because Mr. Hope had been raised on the cheapest dry cat food.
I could never get him to eat the creme de la creme of the kibble nor any wet foods.
Like he wouldn't have tuna.
He wouldn't have salmon.
(14:14):
We tried fresh chicken.
We tried it all.
The day before he died, I had gotten in all these different cans— the smelliest, oiliest.
Just what would lure him, what would possibly get him to eat?
And that little guy on what turned out to be his last day was eating a little bit of every single one of them.
(14:37):
Now, at that point, he's 16 and a half years old and we'd had him for 15 of those 16 and a half years.
I never get him to eat any of these wet foods and he's like maybe three, four or five little bites of everything.
I'm like,
"Oh, isn't this wonderful? He's feeling so much better. Oh, this is so good."
You know now it wasn't like he's going to make a miraculous recovery and the heart problems are going to go away.
(15:01):
But that day it was like, today's a good day.
He's in good shape.
He's stable.
Then that evening as we're sitting on the couch, my husband on one end, me on the other, and the two Aussies, Chey and Livy are with us and Hope is with us which is a typical evening for us.
Gail Pope (15:18):
Family gathering.
Karen Wylie (15:19):
Yes, exactly.
Mr. Hope began an incredible evening with us because he liked to groom us and meaning he would lick our hair and our scalp.
Of course, cats only groom each other.
They only groom other cats they love, they like.
They don't groom cats they don't get along with.
So in the cat world, we always understood that this was Hopey showing us love and caring for us.
(15:44):
He'd take five minutes and go to town on my hair and then he'd sit in my lap for five or 10 minutes.
Then he'd meander next to Chey, his younger brother— an Aussie who he raised and hope had never been around any dogs.
So having a puppy come into the house had been a big deal but Hope and Chey got along beautifully.
(16:05):
So Chey just was there with his little eyes closed letting Mr. Hope lick his face all over.
Then Hope went over to his daddy and he's grooming Tim like crazy.
Tim had the shorter hair, so Tim always got longer grooming sessions than I did.
Then he is on Tim's lap and it was so wonderful and Livy came over to him and Livy's five times the energy of Chey.
(16:26):
She presented her head and Mr. Hope's licking her face maybe around half a minute and it was just so wonderful.
I'm thinking, isn't this a great evening?
Hope is feeling so much better and I slept so well that night because I'm thinking we're on stable ground.
Hope is in good shape.
(16:47):
His heart stopped that night.
He died in his sleep.
We found him on top of Chey's crate
in his little bed all curled up.
Obviously, the heart just stopped.
He didn't barely even knew it.
If there's ever a peaceful, lovely way you hope your animals are going to go, that's it.
(17:11):
But then I was thinking of the previous day and it was, for me, it was like, "Oh my God, the gift he gave us was extraordinary."
He was such a trooper for the two and a half years.
At the end I was medicating him with five meds in the morning and five meds at night and he tolerated every single thing.
(17:35):
Because of course he'd get a little temptation at the end— little reward.
But that last day, he gave a gift of the way he had always been with all of us.
These stories are not just stories for us.
Gail Pope (17:52):
Exactly.
They sit in our hearts, don't they?
Karen Wylie (17:54):
Last week was two years that he died May 23rd.
It's all so beautiful.
That's the thing, it's like Tim and I will still cry about Mr. Hope because we think of that night and that day and so many aspects of his life with us, and it's so wonderful.
It's all together and they do give us these swan— I think of his as a swan song because it took place over so much time and yet it was a final gift as well.
Gail Pope (18:23):
As we are talking, I have a flood of memories.
It's almost as though in my mind there's a picture of one cat, picture of another one, a dog coming in the middle and saying, "Remember me." So I think I'd love to tell some more of these stories.
I think they're certainly helpful and hopeful for us.
Karen Wylie (18:44):
Yes.
Gail Pope (18:45):
They're magical to remember some of these wonderful incidents where animals have had these wonderful experiences and then died.
Yes.
I'm sitting here and my mind's completely filled with them.
So let's continue this, shall we?
Karen Wylie (19:07):
Yes, I think that in the stories that you shared and what I just described with Mr. Hope, they definitely know that death is arriving.
That they're not going— they take too many actions to give us some solace afterwards.
In your case, when you're describing all the animal doulas circling Sarah, they all knew.
(19:31):
So somehow they know and it's attending to this kind of possibility that I think is one of the most wonderful gifts our animals can give us.
It really closes the chapter on their life but in a very different way— very healing.
(19:51):
So I do hope that these moments that can sometimes be misunderstood, like me thinking Mr. Hope is stable and great, and instead that was him getting ready to leave.
Sometimes it's difficult because we're hoping for recovery.
When we're working with animals at end of life, we want them to be with us as long as possible.
(20:14):
But each of these experiences that we've had and that are possible for everyone to have can be so special and healing for the rest of your life, for many years.
So with that, we will bring this conversation to a close, and I guess I just want to say that even in letting go at end of life there can be a lot of love and a sense of connection that doesn't end when the physical life does.
(20:46):
So we will be sure to put some links to the silver cord information for those of you who might be interested in learning a little bit more about that.
And we will look forward to talking with you again next time.
Thanks for being with us.
Bye-bye.
Gail Pope (21:02):
Bye-bye.
Thank you for joining us on Peace of Mind for Pet Parents.
We hope today's episode has offered you support and insight as you care for your aging or ill pets.
Remember, it's not just about the end.
It's about living well at every stage of life.
To continue your journey with us, explore more resources at BrightHaven Caregiver Academy's website— BrightPathForPets.com, where you'll find guides, assessments, and a caring community of pet parents like you.
(21:39):
Until next time, may you and your pets find comfort, connection, and peace in every moment.
Take care.
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