Heidi Bradley of Burnaby has had the Yorkshire terrier in her family since elementary school. She’s about to celebrate two decades of love and cuddles
Ten years ago, Heidi Bradley’s mother posted a photo of the family Yorkshire terrier, Kina, with the caption, “Hey, what do you mean it’s my 10th birthday? I can’t be that old!”
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Bradley, now 28 and living in Burnaby with her partner and her grandmother, was still in elementary school in January 2005 when Kina and her five littermates were born.
The family lived in Victoria at the time, and the pups’ mom was Ziggy, a Yorkie the Bradleys shared with a neighbour who spent much of her time living up-Island.
The two households agreed to breed Ziggy once and each family would keep a pup. The other four were given away to people they knew. That meant Kina got to grow up next door to one of her sisters.
The family shared the January 2015 birthday post because they were elated Kina was still happy and healthy a decade later.
Somewhat to her surprise, Bradley will host another birthday party this Saturday for Kina — pronounced KIN-ah, a Maori word for sea urchin — who is still going strong as she turns 20. Bradley is pretty sure that makes Kina one of the oldest Yorkies, not to mention oldest dogs of any breed, in Canada.
Dogs much older than that in the public record are few and far between.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate those good boys and girls who defy expectations.
Enter Kina, who will be fêted on Jan. 25 for two decades of loyal companionship with extra treats and cuddles — although nothing too crazy since the old girl has lost most of her sight and hearing.
“She’s been here for so many years, she knows her way around,” says Bradley. She barks insistently and heads straight to her bowl or the door to be let outside, but her sense of smell hasn’t betrayed her. Drop a treat in the back bedroom, says Bradley, and Kina will sniff it out in no time.
PetMD estimates a typical Yorkie’s lifespan at 11 to 15 years, so they are generally more long-lived than some bigger breeds, such as the wildly popular Labrador retriever, which usually lives from 10 to 12 years.
Still, 20 is pushing it even for a Yorkshire terrier, and Bradley celebrates as Kina makes it from one birthday to the next.
To what does she attribute Kina’s longevity? Bradley swears by a raw food diet, which Kina has been on since she was six. She used to have problems with a collapsed trachea, a condition that makes breathing difficult and causes distressing honking sounds, but the family started giving Kina throat drops and that seems to work.
Bradley shares her Burnaby home with her grandmother, and the pair share doggy duties because Bradley works from home.
Not that Kina wants much more these days than lots of sleep, her beloved food patties and treats, and lots of love.
“She’s so old, she just wants to hang out,” says Bradley.
Grandmother Christl Murray, who is 89 in human years, jokes that, “There are two geriatrics in the house now.” The inseparable pair sleep in the same bed every night, an arrangement that benefits them both.
Bradley has no interest in prolonging Kina’s life just to set some kind of record. “I don’t know how much longer she’s going to last, but we keep saying that (every birthday).
“She’ll just get lots of cuddles and really being grateful for her. I don’t want to jinx it — ‘Kina, you’ve just got to make it to Saturday.’”
