Mia’s Story

I haven’t been able to write a tribute about Mia. We had so much heartbreak in 1 month. My Shotgun crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 11/11/2021, then our Mia 12/15/2021.

My son bought Mia from a homeless guy living out of a truck in June 2010. Mia knew my son saved her and bonded with him immediately. She was probably 4-5 weeks old. She was a tiny girl, but grew into our “dancing girl”. She had the most wiggling butt you’ve ever seen. She would hear your voice and her whole butt started moving!

We had gates in our kitchen and she would put her paws on them and dance! She was so smart. She knew how to open the gates. We had her fixed. The only person she ever hated or shown aggression to was the vet who fixed her. We had to start bringing her to another vet.

Mia was the guardian of the house. Every night she would check each room out and confirm everyone was safely in bed. Then we would sleep in my son’s bed. She was such a smart good girl, but suffered from anxiety. The vet suggested we get her a dominant friend, so we got her Shotgun. After he got home from recovering from Parvo, the mother instinct took over with Mia. She was in charge of Shotgun. She corrected him and taught him manners. He was a better boy because of her. She had a job to do and did it well. They became inseparable. Mia was always the picture of health, and was ready for Shotgun to come home and heal after each surgery. She was the ever present mother of Shotgun and our household.

She loved parties and people coming over. She usually gravitated to one person, and stayed with them. She didn’t flit from one person to the next like Shotgun. She preferred to blend in and stay with one person. She almost seemed like she preferred to be in the background, not the center of attention.

When we were moving across country Mia did not like the adventure as much as her companion. She was a sport about it, slept in the beds in the hotel rooms, but didn’t like traveling in the RV. Surprisingly her anxiety disappeared.

Mia developed a small lump in her throat. We raced her to vet. They tested it and it wasn’t cancer. They told us no need to do surgery. Shotgun had surgery on his leg, therapy, then cancer and was going up to the University. Mia had to ride the 55 miles with him – she would not stay home with him gone. She would howl and cry the first time she was left home with my husband.

Her lump grew and we brought her back to vet. Not cancer but surgery now recommended to remove. Shotgun is home euthanized for cancer. Mia hides in bedroom. After we lost Shotgun, Mia had surgery on her throat. Surgery is successful, but they didn’t remove all the non cancerous tumor. I often wonder if we should have insisted on surgery when we first saw the lump? Was I so relieved at first it wasn’t cancer, and she didn’t need surgery. Maybe I didn’t question it enough?

I think with the cancer diagnosis on Shotgun, when we got Mia’s diagnosis there was such a sigh of relief. Then they said they didn’t recommend surgery, I was grateful she wouldn’t be traumatized like with her spaying. Would another vet have done surgery sooner? I’ll never know.

With in weeks she was healing fine, but missing Shotgun. Mia went from me to my husband like she was saying good bye. Then she went to my son for kisses, laid down on her bed in his room and died. The vet said her heart was broken, she couldn’t go on without Shotgun.

Our Mia died quietly like she lived. She never wanted to create a fuss.