Hi guys, this is going to be more of a personal blog post updating you on a recent change in our lives. A few weeks ago we had to say goodbye to our dog, Basil, and I wanted to write a bit about how much he changed our lives and also what it was like dealing with the veterinarian in Curacao during his health crisis. Stick around if you’d like to read what is likely to be an emotional post about the little chihuahua who stole our hearts and how we dealt with his kidney disease.

The Year Was 2013

Wow, do I feel old saying that! Jeremiah and I were seniors in college living in our very first apartment together in Brighton, MA. We hadn’t even been together a year before I brought up the idea of getting a dog. Jeremiah had always been a cat person, but I convinced him that having a dog would be a great addition to our lives. We would go on adventures together, go for walks, cuddle, etc. Needless to say, it didn’t take much convincing until he was sold.

We always knew we wanted a small dog, and our nearby shelters didn’t have any small dogs so we turned to online shelters. It took several months of looking through various pet profiles online until we stumbled across a profile for a small 1-year old black chihuahua/pug mix who went by the name of “Basil.” Basil was being fostered at a pug rescue in Illinois after having been saved from a terrible puppy mill situation. I remember vividly reading about him on the website that he was “obsessed with toys” and “energetic when he needs to be and a couch potato otherwise”.

There was something about Basil that seemed like he would be the perfect fit for us. I could just feel it. We did interviews, had Skype calls, signed the paperwork, paid the adoption fee, and arranged transport from Illinois to Maine. We would be picking him up just a few days before Christmas. Honestly, I didn’t even tell my parents we were getting a dog because I knew they would say it was too soon. My aunts and uncles would ask me, “are you sure that’s a good idea? A dog is a lot of responsibility.” We definitely knew what we were getting into, and again, something was pulling us to bring Basil home.

Love at First Sight

On a misty and chilly day at a rest stop in Maine, we met Basil for the very first time. My first thought was, “wow, he’s so tiny!” especially after feeling how light he was in my arms. I was expecting him to be more pug-sized, but he was more chihuahua-sized which was perfectly fine for us. He took the biggest pee right after we set him down, and then wrapped him in a blanket where he cuddled with Jeremiah in the car (he was trembling!) on the drive back to Boston.

We laugh when we think back to how Basil was with us the first few weeks we had him. He was so polite, calm, and understandably hesitant. He wasn’t one of those tail wagging full of energy pups who you could tell are super happy to be rescued. Basil was almost calculating, as if he were judging if we were worthy. It didn’t take long for him to warm up to us and start playing with toys again, peeing on our Christmas presents, and cuddling with us on the couch.

An East Coast Adventurer

During our first few years with Basil we would spend as much time with him as we could between classes and working food service jobs. It was a really busy time for us, but Jeremiah and I bonded over walking Basil, playing with him, taking him to Petco to get a toy, walking him around the Reservoir on the weekends, etc. During school breaks we would rent an Airbnb in New York, New Hampshire, Maine, or Vermont, and have a long weekend just the three of us.

Basil absolutely loved hiking and peeing on trails. I think we became hikers because of him, actually. He would literally be the one leading us on the trail sniffing his little heart out. We climbed mountains together, chilled at lakes together, relaxed on the beach together – you name it. This little dog was always game for whatever adventure we had planned.

Occasionally we would drive down to Virginia to visit my parents, and those were probably some of Basil’s favorite trips. He wasn’t the biggest fan of the car rides, but my parents had a huge fenced in yard he could run around in. A far cry from the smaller apartments we had been living in at the time! Basil has set foot (and peed) in pretty much all states from Massachusetts down to Virgina. He was definitely a traveler, and when we eventually decided to move to Curacao, we knew Basil would love it.

Retirement Years in the Caribbean

One of our highest priorities when house hunting in Curacao was having enough room for the dogs and a closed yard for them to hang out in. We had subjected both Basil and Prince to many years of living in apartments and leashed walks to the dog park and thought it would be so nice to let them hang out in their own yard whenever they wanted. Well, that’s exactly what we were able to do for them.

By this time, it’s 2023 and Basil is 11 years old and very gray in the face. After tons of adventures, introducing his brother, Prince, to the family, and experiencing as much of New England as we could, it was finally time to move to Curacao. Basil loved the house and would frequently sunbathe outside in the afternoon when the light hit the back deck just right. He would bring his toys outside with him while he did a lap around the house.

We also took Basil hiking on the island. We took him to Den Dunki park in Jan Thiel, the Salt Pans, and the beach trail by Parasasa Beach. As he started to lose mobility, we started to take him on more car rides so he could look out the window and still experience the outside.

Dealing with Canine Kidney Disease in Curacao

We noticed back in February that Basil was taking longer to pee outside. He would be in his pee stance for a long time without any pee coming out. We took him to our vet after seeing this behavior happening consistently and they did blood work and tested his urine. Our vet quickly told us that his kidney function was starting to decline. He wouldn’t say what stage he was at, but he had an optimistic outlook for reducing the deterioration of Basil’s kidney.

Immediately we brought home Hills Kidney Care kibble from the vet and tried to get Basil to eat it. Thus started a several month struggle of trying to get Basil to eat – he hated the kidney kibble. Blood pressure medication, appetite stimulants, and occasionally an antibiotic were administered daily. We brought back Basil into the vet every 4 to 6 weeks to get another blood and urine check and see how his disease was progressing. From February to June-ish, his kidney function wasn’t much worse than the original findings. He was still eating (though not the kidney kibble) and taking kidney health supplements (ordered through Amazon). He was drinking water more and having accidents in the house at night. We were just glad his kidney function was relatively stable.

Starting July until September, Basil started to be more picky about his food. He wouldn’t eat kibble much any more. He would skip lunch and only eat dinners. Some days he would only eat treats and not actual meals. There was an increase in his time spent napping, and definitely more accidents around the house at all hours of the day. At his blood and urine check at the end of August, the vet told us his kidney values had significantly decreased. The only thing we could do is keep an eye on him and monitor his quality of life. It was only a week after that visit that Basil’s health declined significantly we made the decision to say goodbye.

Saying Goodbye to Basil

I’m only including these details in case there is anyone else in Curacao who is struggling to say goodbye to their pet because they don’t know how it’s handled on the island. Please feel free to skip over this section if you don’t need to know what the passing process can be like on the island.

One day in September, my husband and I could feel it in our gut that we’d need to say goodbye to Basil soon. He was barely walking, barely eating, and we had to carry him outside to do his business. He had really bad breath and gnarly looking ulcers under his tongue. The toxins not being filtered by his kidneys anymore had lead to dementia symptoms and he would no longer respond to his name or make eye contact with us. We called the vet that day to schedule his euthanasia. They do not do house calls as they prefer the controlled environment of the vet’s office. I had a feeling that Basil wouldn’t last through the night but the vet said they were fully booked that day so couldn’t come in. We scheduled the euthanasia for the following afternoon.

That evening was really, really tough. Without getting into too much detail, Basil wasn’t himself. He wouldn’t sleep, wouldn’t eat, and he was panting and crying as if he was in discomfort. My husband and I stayed up with him all night petting him, talking to him, recalling our favorite memories together. It was an extremely emotional night. Why couldn’t I have taken him in sooner? There is no 24-hour emergency vet on the island. Our vet has an emergency number, but it’s really just for advice only.

The minute the vet’s office opened, I called them and asked if we could bring Basil in sooner as we felt he was suffering at this point. We brought him in shortly after that call and the vet talked us through everything to expect. He said he would give him anesthesia to make him sleep and not feel any pain. After that, he would give him the medication that would stop his heart. The vet was with us while we said our final goodbyes to Basil and then we told our vet it was time. Everything was done with the utmost care and compassion.

The vet asked us if we plan to cremate or bury Basil, and if we want his body back (Excuse me?? Who would leave their baby alone forever?!). The vet called the cremation guy and handled all of the details. We picked up his ashes about 3 days later. We were grateful not to have to deal with any of those details as we were pretty deep in grief at this point.

Curacao Vet Costs

In the air of transparency, I wanted to breakdown how much his visits, medication, and treatment cost at our vet. At one point we had 4 dogs in the house at once and their vet visits together didn’t come close to one single vet visit in the US. Keep in mind, this is our experience and other vets on the island could charge differently. It’s also important to note that Basil was only a 10 lb. chihuahua so he had smaller doses of everything.

• Basil’s Health Care Plan (this was a plan offered by our vet that is a yearly fee and includes a visit every 3 months, Nexguard tablets every 3 months, and 10% off all services): 92.70 XCG or $51.42 USD per year.
• Melosus 50 ml bottle (for his luxated patella pain): 45 XCG or $24.96 USD
• A regular visit (outside the included health care plan): 62.96 XCG or $34.93 USD
• Marbocyl 20g (antibiotic tablets for 4 days): 27.22 XCG or $15.09 USD
• Baytril injection (antibiotic): 15.18 XCG or $8.42 USD
• Enalapril 5mg (blood pressure for 30 days): 10.14 XCG or $5.62 USD
• Mirtazapine 30mg (appetite stimulant for 30 days): 2.63 XCG or $1.45 USD
• Blood Collection: 26.92 XCG or $14.93 USD
• LaserCyte (blood analysis): 57 XCG or $31.61 USD
• Catalyst DX Chem 17 (blood analysis): 156.53 XCG or $86.81 USD
• Urine test strip: 32.86 XCG or $18.22 USD
• X-Ray (to see if he had a kidney stone): 131.30 XCG or $72.84 USD
• Urine Catheter (for when we couldn’t bring in a urine sample): 22.45 XCG or $12.45 USD
• Twinox (another antibiotic for 30 days): 49.50 XCG or $27.45 USD
• Hills Canine Kidney Care 8.5 lb bag: 64.93 XCG or $36.01 USD
• Dexamethasone 0.5 mg (steroid for 20 days): 6.36 XCG or $3.52 USD
• Cerenia 16mg (for nausea for 4 days): 48.62 XCG or $26.97 USD
• Euthanasia: 125 XCG or $69.33 USD
• Cremation: 318 XCG or $176.40 USD

Any unused medicines we could give back to the vet and they would credit our account. I hope this sheds some light on how much you can expect things to cost at the vet here. Coming from Boston, we found that everything is much more accessibly priced at the vet here, especially medicines. There also aren’t additional vet tech fees or anything like that.

Life Post-Basil

I know this blog post was such a downer. After all, it’s so hard to say goodbye to a family member who has been with us for 12 years. I don’t want this to end on a sad note though. Despite our challenges with Basil, we remind ourselves that he had a very happy life with us. We made so many memories together. That little dog taught us responsibility, care, and companionship while we were still young. We were so lucky to have him in our lives, and on days when his loss hits hard, we think about how he would create a ritual circle of toys on our bed every day. How he clearly had favorite toys and wouldn’t let any of the other dogs play with them.

We think about Basil on top of Mt. Sugarloaf in New Hampshire and how he hopped like a bunny through the snow. Or how he loved to bark at dogs much bigger than him. We think about how we could always find him wherever the sun was shining in the home and how his tummy smelled like sweet rice. This is a love letter to our first boy, the best boy, Basil. We thank him every day for being in our lives and we will remember him forever.