Kristen Alderson Mourns the Death of Her Beloved Dog, Pooka

Please join us as we share our condolences with ONE LIFE TO LIVE and GENERAL HOSPITAL alum Kristen Alderson (ex-Starr/Kiki), who lost two incredibly important people in her life this past week. In an Instagram story posted Feb. 28, the actress revealed that her dear grandmother had passed away two days earlier, and then she lost her beloved 12-year-old Shih Tzu, Pooka.

In sharing the news, Alderson posted a photo of her and Pooka on a lakeside beach, a beautiful sky in the background as she gave her dog a smooch. In the text on the photo, Alderson used a broken-heart emoji and wrote, “We lost my Granny this Saturday and now we had to say goodbye to Pooka today. My heart is absolutely shattered. I don’t know how to post anything else at this point.”

Alderson did not reveal anything else about her Granny, but according to a post she’d made during the height of the pandemic in April 2020, her elderly grandmother lived in a nursing home and she was worried that her Granny would catch the coronavirus from unmasked staff members.

As for Pooka, Alderson got her dog from a New York City pet store back in 2009 and says “it was love at first sight” when she saw the male Shih Tzu puppy, even though she was specifically looking for a white female Maltese. “Pooka had just woken up, weighed probably three pounds, had a big round potbelly, and his adorable eyes that go two separate ways,” Alderson wrote on a secondary Instagram page she has which is dedicated to Pooka and his dog brother, Mickey. “I remember holding him in the store while my mom was checking out. I looked into his eyes and started to tear up. ‘I’m going to love you for the rest of your life.’”

Pooka had a great life as Alderson’s pooch. She admittedly spoiled him rotten, and he traveled most places with her, living with the actress in New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Scroll through the gallery below to see some of the most adorable photos Alderson has posted of Pooka over the years.