When two unlikely friends face failing health, their owner watches her cat and dog snuggle up at the end of their lives and cross the Rainbow Bridge together.
For animal lover Louisa Cook, losing two of her beloved pets at the same time must have been heartbreaking. However, she knew the two needed one another during their final moments, so she put their interests above hers.
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Winston, the Dog Joins the Family
Louisa shared the story of her two precious friends, dog Winston and Cat Tilly, with News Week.
Winston joined Louisa's home in 2019 after she saw a Facebook photo of the starving and homeless dog. Regarding her adoptions of pets over the years, Louisa said, "The dogs I would take in from the streets had usually only been there a matter of months. But he was this old, hardened dog who had survived in an industrial area where food is scarce for over eight years."
Louisa never expected to have more than six months with Winston, but he lived several years. Even with sores from a skin infection covering his body, a deformed right leg-probably the result of being hit by a car-and a visible rib cage showing through his starving body, Winston was resilient.
The trauma of Winston's life impacted his personality and temperament, but with lots of love and care, he became a loving and contented pet. However, Louisa noted, "Though my other dogs helped, Winston never lost his ‘street dog spirit' completely."
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Tilly the Cat Moves In
Two years later, in 2021, Louisa added another pet to her family. This time, it was a cat named Tilly. Unloved and neglected, Tilly had been abandoned by her owners when they moved. In addition to being deprived of love and basic care, Tilly had a severe head injury. As before, Louisa and her family saved Tilly and restored her health.
In an unusual twist, Tilly was the friendlier one in this particular cat-dog connection. Winston may have had unpleasant experiences with cats when he lived in the streets, and he had become "a grumpy old man, very set in his ways." Slowly, though, Winston warmed up to Tilly's calm and gentle manner.
The two became best friends, cuddling and spooning constantly!
The Cat and Dog Snuggle Together While They Crossed the Rainbow Bridge
Unfortunately, Tilly and Winston both began having health problems. Though they'd been saved from horrible conditions, both had lived complicated lives. Perhaps that’s why they loved one another so well. When they turned 15 and 13, respectively, Tilly and Winston had become so sick that the vet advised they be put to sleep.
It's always hard to say goodbye to a beloved pet, but Louisa decided to let them go simultaneously, snuggled up together.
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Louisa shared, "Winston was unbelievably scared at the vet. But when Tilly came and rested up on his chest like she always would, he was visibly calmer and actually laid down more. It's awful to have any pet put to sleep, even when it's necessary. But this was such a deeply beautiful way to say goodbye."
"Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves," Philippians 2:3
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h/t: Inspire More
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