The Brother I Never Had
By Alex Varnado
Jessie was a Labrador Retriever mixed with Greyhound that my family and I adopted from an animal shelter in 2008. Jessie played a major role not only in my life, but my friends and family’s too. He was like the brother I never had. He brought smiles to everyone’s faces.
Back in December of 2017, we had a big scare with Jessie. I was letting Jessie out to use the bathroom, and noticed he was getting ready to sneeze, but was not sneezing. Doing this about three times, I started to worry and started to pet Jessie. As I go to pet Jessie, he bags back and sneezes out a blood clot onto the ground. I try to call Jessie to tell him to come on in, but he does not move. I then pick him up and take him in the house to get some tissue to wipe his nose. As I run to get the tissue, I hear Jessie sneezing back to back to back. Running frantically back to his side, I see blood all over the place! There was blood on the kitchen floor, carpet, walls, front door, and windows. I had never seen Jessie sneeze out blood in a manner as such.
Fearing for Jessie’s life, I rushed him to the animal hospital. Hesitating to take Jessie due to 30 mins before their closing time, Jessie starts sneezing again! Not just a regular sneeze, the sneezing with blood! Jessie’s sneezing caused blood to be on the floor, walls, chairs, and bags of pet food in the waiting area! My sister called my phone and asked was everything alright? She said it looked like a murder scene when she walked in the house. Her and my mother rushed to the animal hospital to be by me and Jessie’s side.
Jessie’s snout had become swollen. This would follow with excessive sneezing and a runny nose containing a mixture of mucus and blood. As time went by, the discharge would get worse & Jessie’s nose started to swell even more, causing partial blockage in his nasal passages. The vet wanted to sedate Jessie and retrieve a piece of skin in the nasal passage and test for cancer or possibly a tumor. Taking the cost-alternative route, we chose to give Jessie antibiotics and hope for the best. The antibiotics helped with swelling temporarily, but not for long.
We decided to share the news with my father. My father suggested we put Jessie down, as he doesn’t want our last memories of Jessie to be sad. The thought of putting Jessie down made me sick to my stomach. Just thinking of walking through the door and not seeing him waiting for me hurt me deep inside. Deciding whether to end Jessie’s pain and suffering, or to give him medicine and pray he will get better, is tough decision for any pet parent to make. We have decided not to euthanize him, and Jessie has been doing just fine. Jessie finished taking his antibiotics on March 26th and swelling has went down on the snout tremendously. He does still deal with nasal discharge :(. This scare made me think of life without Jessie.
He has been a great emotional support for everyone when hard times come along. Jessie takes pride in greeting my mother at the door every day when she gets home from work. For over a year, I have been trying to think of something I could do to make my mother proud. I truly believe this will do it!
A Great Idea on March 13th, 2019
I look at pets as members of the family. Jessie is not just a dog. Jessie is the big brother I always wanted. I wanted to do something special for my only brother.
I wanted to create something that captured the memories made with Jessie. My mom and the family could document past and current moments made with Jessie and look back on them when Jessie is no longer with us. Other pet owners can show support for other owners going through a difficult time with a pet. This app can serve as a virtual pet journal for alive pets or a memorial for pets who have passed away. You can keep posts private or share with others!
I wanted to give her this app as a Mother’s Day gift, but the vet only gave Jessie four months before complications would get life-threatening. Considering that tomorrow is never a promised day, I decided to release the app today, on National Pet Day, April 11th, 2019 as a surprise! I believe this will bring some of the happiness back into her life. I miss seeing her big smile everyday when I come home. I wake up every day not knowing what to expect when I walk downstairs. When I see Jessie's happy face, I smile and exhale a deep breath.
Jessie continued to be a joy to our family for many months to come. His tumor would continue to grow and he would continue to bleed. One of the toughest decisions I have ever had to make was soon to come about.
On November 27th, 2019, Jessie spent his last day with the family. It started with me playing Jessie's favorite song, before I headed off to work. Later that day, my father comes home to help dig the grave in the backyard. On my lunch break, I rush home to spend what time I have to spare with Jessie. We have our final photo shoot in the backyard and I share my sandwich with him. After work, I rush to the vet to meet the rest of my family. This is where we all say our final goodbyes. I fed Jessie his favorite snack, peanut butter and crackers. He shook my hand one last final time. Jessie was euthanized at 4:20 p.m. on November 27th, 2019.
I just want to encourage all pet parents to capture the amazing lives of their animals. Every pet has a story. It is up to us to share it and spread awareness of animal welfare. Seeing the lives of other pets is how I am coping with the passing of Jessie. Jessie's legacy will live on through us.
What does P.A.W.W. stand for? Pets Are Wagging Wonderful! This is a free app for all ages of life. Dogs and cats are the most common household pets in U.S, but are not the only ones! This app is open to ALL pets! I wanted to make a community just for people who are passionate about being a pet parent (pawwrent) and doesn’t mind showing it! Some of the app features are:
Upload photos, videos, or story updates on your pet.
Connect with other pet owners locally, and globally.
Potential adopters get to see what owning a pet is like.
Learn tips on animal welfare, healthcare tips, and engaging activities to do with your pet
Free monthly pet giveaways
Read the stories of pets all across of the world
Jessie inspired me to create the name P.A.W.W because he always used to love to wag his tail. He was always a happy dog and just wanted to spread his happy energy to anyone he could.
What does P.A.W.W. stand for? Pets Are Wagging Wonderful! This is a free app for all ages of life. Dogs and cats are the most common household pets in U.S, but are not the only ones! This app is open to ALL pets! I wanted to make a community just for people who are passionate about being a pawwrent (pet parent) and does not mind showing it.