Lexi could barely stay awake.
In February, the Fiorillo family received the news every dog owner fears: their 11-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback was losing her battle with lymphoma. She had only a few hours left. Jessica flew in from Florida, her siblings arrived from Nashville and Hoboken. But Jill, their mother, was still missing, stranded more than three thousand kilometers away in Aruba.
No one thought the little dog would make it. She was exhausted, her body shutting down, but every time something sounded at the door, she weakly lifted her head. A study from Emory University, published in Behavioural Processes, explains part of the mystery: the scent of a familiar human activates the caudate nucleus, the dog’s reward center, and that rush of oxytocin can temporarily dull the pain.
Against all odds, her heart held on until the door opened. It was Jill. She rushed to kneel beside her, hugged her, and whispered that she loved her, that she could rest now. A few hours later, Lexi breathed her last surrounded by her whole pack, leaving this world surrounded by love.
@notjessfi She stayed alive to see my mom one last time. She flew back from Aruba and Lexi died 6 hours later. #dog #ridgeback #dogsoftiktok #rip ♬ original sound – Jess