As some of you have read in another post, Ki passed away quietly on Saturday with help from our vet. She had very advanced hemangiosarcoma.
While she wasn't a Basenji herself, she was my 'secret weapon' in fostering terrified puppy mill basenjis and siberian huskies. She demonstrated ramps, stairs, doggy doors, and crating tirelessly. She nurtured and fussed over the ones I couldn't yet approach, curling her warmth around emaciated bodies, bathing crusty eyes and cleaning tattered ears. Ki was magic, an angel in a dog suit, Mary Poppins with fur and the softest, most humungous ears ever. She made everyone around her braver and more confident just by standing next to them.
In the end, there was nothing we could do to save this sweet creature who–so un-basenji-like!--hung on our every word and did her level best to please us. We decided to help her across the bridge while she was still well enough to enjoy a ride in Daddy's pick-up to DQ, and while Daddy--leaving soon for Afghanistan--could be with her at the end.
Ki was always the one left behind--when we vacationed, went on trips to pick up or drop off dogs, when my husband went overseas. This time, we're the ones stuck on the wrong side of a closed door while she travels someplace we don't know or understand. We can only have faith, as she did so many times, that someday we'll all be together again.
