Cindy Frankcom

19th August 2000 to 24 December 2013  

A devastated Sue says “We had to have Cindy put to sleep on Xmas Eve. She had lost her appetite and lots of weight and was just too tired to carry on. The vets and all the staff were brilliant but it just doesn’t ease the pain.

She’s with Dillan now. She loved him to bits but is probably bossing him around.again. We are just so sad. My life and sofa are so empty without her  We are heart broken.

Back in 2000, we wanted another dog before we lost Butch, our small Jack Russell, who was 21 at the time. We also had Dillan, a huge Lab Cross who weighed in at 42 kilos, so we decided on a Terrier. 

Dillan was special as he had been saved by our son. Someone had put an ad into a shop window in Exmouth but left him in the house and never came back for him. Our son brought him to us and we immediately loved him to bits. He was huge but a big friendly giant and everyone loved him.

Cindy was born on August 19th and from the first moment we saw her, we knew she was special too. Cindy was no bigger than a bag of sugar but she was very fiesty. She came from a horrible home so we had her at 6 weeks old and then devoted our lives to bringing her and Dillan up as best we could.  She thought she was his mother and cleaned his ears and teeth. She cuddled up to Dillan day and night and slept with her Mum at night. She never left my side, she was my angel. 

Butch taught Cindy how to be boss, like him…..which she performed with fiestiness….and also to be the best house dog ever……….. and Dillan gave her the strength to be who she was. 

Cindy had 3 weeks holiday, every year of her life, at our caravan. She walked through the door, jumped into her corner, and she was home………..

When Dillan died, a spark went with him, and Cindy was really depressed so we tried a lot of times to foster but she was the boss and wasn’t having any of it.  Then, one day, we had a call from Lab Rescue about Gus who had been locked up with a Rottweiller, 2 Jack Russells and 2 cats. He was very much the underdog but Cindy really loved him. He was scared of her and, although she tried hard to play with him, it never worked. Although he was ok up the fields with her, at home, she was the boss and he knew it!!!!!

We knew Dillan had sent us Gus, who is still with us. We have had him 5 years and he’s never growled or barked at anyone and is a big friendly giant too. We have tried to make him stronger but he’s still just a big fairy, bless him. He is doing OK but is a bit lost without Cindy.

In September, after being fine all her life, Cindy started to drink more than usual, not loads but for her it was a lot. To be on the safe side, I took her to our vet, Robert, who referred us to Catherine after Cindy’s blood results showed up as abnormal. It was Catherine who gave us the devastating news that she had acute hepatitis which meant Cindy was going back and forth to the vet which she hated.

I thought my world was going to end but they told us that with meds, hopefully, she would be on the mend. Again, to be sure, I wanted her to have a biopsy and that showed she was really quite poorly. We nursed and cared for her, giving her TLC and everything we could to make her comfy. We tried chicken as she wasn’t eating and that seemed to work. By then, we were carrying her up to bed. 

On Xmas Eve 2013, she gradually went down hill. Cindy was still eating chicken but it was going straight through her, she had no energy and couldn’t even stand up properly. We rushed her to the vets and she just laid on the vets table looking at me. It was then that we knew what we had to do.   I told her I loved her and I was sorry.

Margaret, the receptionist, stayed with us as well, as she is a friend to us now. That was the one of the worse days of my life………..Dave and I were so distraught that we could not even talk…….. we know that her brother Dillan will be looking after her.

We know that this was our special little angel and there will never be another like her but we are so glad to have been her Mummy and Daddy………….. TILL WE MEET AGAIN, we love you always xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ”