Rex ♥

On Saturday April 7, 2018, our beautiful big brother Rex joined our family. At the age of 14 years old he was abandoned in the streets in Portugal by the husband of the owner after she passed away from cancer. So very sad and heartbreaking…
Shelter Bianca, the organization that rescued me too, took care of him and arranged his travel home to us.

Rex has Ehrlichiosis and Babesia for which he received treatment in the first weeks at home. Because the Ehrlichia was attacking his liver he had a very hard time and there were some moments where we thought we would lose him. But he recovered very well, a real miracle.
He also has cataracts and a heart murmur. Because he has some problems with walking, especially his left hind leg is in really bad shape, we made extra x-rays. These showed that his left hock joint is completely loose and this explains the way he walks.
We tried a custom-made brace to support his hind leg but this didn’t work out well for him. We now have a wheelchair for him and a brace to support his back. We’re first practicing with the back brace for a few minutes a day and some days not, to give him all the time he needs to adjust to another way of walking. This needs a lot of time.

Update September 2018: Rex feels so much more comfortable when he can walk the way he probably has done for many years, his whole body adjusted to this, so we don’t try the wheelchair or the back brace anymore.
I know how many friends contributed with donations for the wheelchair and back brace, for which we are very grateful ❤️ I hope you’ll understand I always try the best for every dog and sometimes it just turns out different than we first thought and hoped. The dogs themselves always knows best what’s best for them and I always listen to them. Rex is a very happy old boy!
If we hadn’t tried I would have always wondered if it would have worked, so I am glad we did. 
And the wheelchair and back brace will probably be a good help for another dog one day  ?

He is a beautiful dog and he has such a gentle heart and soul. He loves his new family and every day, he is full of joy.
We will do everything for him to give him the best life ever! ❤️

***

On Wednesday, March 11, 2020, Rex suddenly passed away. From one moment to another, he was just gone. While he was sleeping, he peacefully went to the other side. It was most likely a cardiac arrest. His heart just stopped beating. Although I knew he was very old, and his time on earth wouldn’t be very long anymore, still, it was a shock.
That day, in the afternoon, we were outside and he was lying in the grass, enjoying the sunshine. You know how he could enjoy nature around him and the sun’s rays, with that special big smile on his face. I said to him ‘So nice, Rex, to feel the sunshine again, right?’ And he looked at me, with so much love, joy and happiness in his beautiful eyes. I never thought he would be gone a few hours later. Although it’s good that he didn’t suffer, that he just went peacefully, it’s hard that I couldn’t say goodbye.
We gently put our beautiful boy in his grave. When Robert dug the grave, it was raining. When we put Rex in the grave, it stopped raining. When the grave was closed, and I was looking at it, feeling so ‘quiet’ inside, tears running, the sun started shining.  
I love you, Rex, I always will ❤
~ Irene