IN LOVING LOVING MEMORY
of my baby
PLATO
January 20, 1995 - April 8, 2007

Plato's 11th Birthday - January 20, 2006 (approx. 3 months pre-diabetes)

My beautiful Rat Terrier, Plato passed away exactly a week ago today, April 8th - on Easter Sunday somewhere between 5:55pm and 6:20pm EDT in my arms. He fell into a diabetic coma, his glucose dropped so low all of a sudden and I couldn't get it back up despite the honey on the gums the peanut butter etc. We live in Bayside (Queens, NY) and my brother and I tried so hard to get to the city in time. It was the only place open we knew of. We made it to 62nd and FDR drive in 10 min in his Porsche. We blew every light we could and I was praying we would get pulled over for a police escort. As my brother was driving I was trying to give Plato mouth to mouth, I got a few sighs, but I don't think a heart beat and his eyes were glazed and his little tongue was hanging out and had turned kinda white. I was not able to bring him back and nor was the Animal Medical Center with all their advanced technology.

They got his heart started again but he was gone. He lost too much oxygen and they were breathing for him with the ventilator.

I have not stooped crying. My whole family is at a loss especially considering how much we went through with him. Plato was a 4x Mast Cell Tumor cancer survivor (Stage 3 on all of them) and an insulin dependent diabetic the last year of his life. But we were a team, the whole family, and he had the best care at the Bobst Hospital of the Animal Medical Center in NY.

I miss him soooo much. I don't know how to describe this loss. My heart has truly been ripped apart. I feel like I lost my child and I don't have any children. I'm 30 and we got him when he was 4 months old so it would have been 12 years exactly May 5th. Practically in all reality half my life.

He was such a character..... That's the only way I could describe him. He didn't come to you if he didn't want to. He would just walk the other way. He would drop his toys all over the house on a daily basis, picking and choosing his favorite week to week. He was bilingual, we are Greek and he knew come here and a few other phrases. He knew kiss but only gave you one if he wanted to. That was the best. He did his what we called "pee" dance when my father would come home from work or one of us would come back from a trip. We all used to laugh so much while he was doing it. With my father, it was his "pee" dance of joy, his buddy was home. My Dad also had his sleeping partner because when it was time to go up for the night or a lazy Sunday afternoon nap all he had to say was come on Plato, let's go up now and away they went to snore together. For 1 year my father gave Plato his shot every morning at 7am and 7pm. This was his job weekend/week day it didn't matter and then prepared his prescription food and fed him.

Plato had just had a severe bout with pancreatitis in January of this year but according to his team of endocrinologists he was a tough cookie and within 6 days he was home. The lead doctor on the case thinks my daily visits to him helped and the clean towel I brought him everyday from home with my scent on it for the hospital cage was comforting. Who knows. I hope it was..... I hope he knew how much I loved him.

My fiancé took me home after the doctor came out to talk to us and said we could come see him in the ER to say goodbye. She had presented me and my brother his chances of recovery and my strong "little" brother through all our tears said we have to let him go. He's tired, let him go.

I said goodbye to him and collapsed on him hugging him in the ER. I kissed his little head, his paw and his body and told him he wasn't supposed to leave me yet. NOT YET. They had to pull me away from him.

My brother and his girlfriend, followed by my mother brought him home where my father was waiting for us and my sister, who lives in Westchester, was on her way. I held his body in the dark living room for another 20 minutes and just told him I love you over and over and I'm sorry, I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. My father next to me couldn't hold him and had to walk away, and then neither could my sister. I believe my Mom had held in the hospital. I don't know. I didn't want to let him go, his body was still warm - normal but limp. Then it was time.

My father picked a nice spot in our backyard, my brother's friends dug the very deep hole and I placed Plato in a box with his favorite Santa Claus teddy bear he got this past Christmas. We carried him outside and I placed the pink blanket he loved sitting on in the basement over his box and "tucked" him in. He is next to us where he should be. We "were" originally a family of 5 (Mom, Dad, me, sister and brother) but actually we used to say 6. All our personalized Fortunoff Christmas ornaments from each year starting in 1995 have all our names.

I would do anything to get him back. To hold him, to kiss him to lie next to him. Anything. I miss him so much and I am so angry. Did I do something wrong could I have foreseen this and taken him to the hospital sooner? Why didn't I check the dip stick earlier?? Why didn't I pay more attention that day. WHY WHY WHY?

I later found out after they took him off the ventilator, his heart had stopped already anyway. He had been gone from before we even made it to the hospital.

In the house we have his toys and his bowl exactly where they were before. His bed is still next to mine. We will try to put them away after the 40 days of his passing - just like when Christ rose after 40 days. My father said he went with Jesus Christ because it was Easter. I don't know, I think he was trying to comfort me somehow or maybe he did?

He truly was my best friend and we went through everything together even though he was the "family" dog. He taught me what unconditional love is and I guess in a way how to be responsible for another soul. The good part was we all loved and took care of him so much. I just really thought we had longer, we needed more time...... 12 years WAS NOT ENOUGH!

I would be honored if you took the time to post my beautiful baby's pictures. They are all over the house and not a moment has passed that I have not thought about him this week. My little skato.

Thank you,
Pia

Apr 07