Denise Richards is torn over the loss of her pup, Louie.
On Sunday, the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, 48, shared on Instagram that she recently said goodbye to the dog, which she adopted a decade ago. Richards honored Louie with a collection of photos, including one of the actress kissing the adorable dog.
“Heartbroken?,” she began her tribute caption. “Came home from Spain to say goodbye to our Louie…. did everything to keep him here. Sadly for us, it was his time to cross the rainbow ? bridge.”
Richards continued on to say that her family rescued Louie 10 years ago and that he was “one of the funniest & most animated furry babies.”
“I’m so grateful he waited until I got home so I could be with him,” she wrote. “I know he’s now with some of his siblings & his nana (my mom) but it still hurts.”
Richards concluded: “Louie you are so loved & will be missed terribly. Thank you for blessing us with your unconditional love & effervescent beautiful spirit my ❤️..”
News of the death comes one week after the RHOBH star posted about Louie’s health, hoping for positive updates to come.
“Praying for our #louie I love this guy so much,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “He had a rough life when he was younger.. we rescued him 9 yrs ago & he’s just one of the funniest dogs we’ve ever adopted.”
She added, “It’s so hard when they enter their senior years. He’s so loved by all of us & hopefully he’ll make a positive recovery????”
In 2010, Richards told PEOPLE that due to her great love for animals, her close friends bestowed her with the clever nickname, Dr. Dolittle.
“I swear, if there’s a dog stranded somewhere, he finds my car, and he finds me,” she said. “If anyone is looking to get a dog, they ask, ‘Can you help me?’”
While growing up in Illinois, Richards said she nurtured an intense love of animals, bringing home every stray dog she could. The actress said she would especially gravitate toward “the ones that were homeless and had problems.”
“It’s so heartbreaking to walk away from the shelter after seeing the ones that aren’t going to be adopted,” Richards said at the time. “They’ve had a rough life.”
