Waiting at the Rainbow Bridge
sue.t wrote: I'm wondering if we should also have a sticky that lets us post obituaries & pics of our dearly departed pets? Maybe a "Rainbow Bridge" sticky? It would be sad and happy. It is very sad...
Forum Discussion
Moira Elsbeth, or Beth, our sweet baby girl.
Born 1/11/94. Came home to live with us in April of that year, driving home through a heavy spring snowstorm. She was a wild girl from the beginning, having far too much energy for an upstairs apartment dog. But, as starving grad students, it was all we could afford, and couldn't bear NOT to have her, so we endured her shenanigans.
Later when we returned to CA and bought a house, she had a yard of her own, and wasted no time becoming known as the cat-slayer. I have always regretted that I wasn't able to give her a job when she was young. She would have excelled at anything, obedience, agility, herding, you name it. But busy with careers, we couldn't do that, and her job was companion and cuddlebunny. She took her job very seriously, following us from room to room.
When our first corgi and her soulmate Zack passed in 2005, the new puppy was trained from day one to be an obedience dog. Later Buddy came along, and was also prepped for competition from the start. Beth loved tagging along to the trials, hanging out in her crate or at the RV and cheering the boys on.
My favorite memories were of her, back in that first apartment, running down the hall with a leg from the coffee table in her mouth. Many years later, a much more tender favorite memory would emerge. In December of 2004 DH had major abdominal surgery, and spent 5 days in the hospital. When I brought him home, Beth delicately jumped up on the sofa beside him and proceeded to burble and trill for nearly half an hour, telling him all manner of "things".
Every morning for as long as I can remember, Beth has "chaperoned" shower time. If you turned on the water in the shower, she would lie down on the bath mat and wait for you. Looking at that empty space these last couple of days has been very hard.
In 2005, at the age of 11, Beth developed an occasional tremor in her hind leg. The following year she stopped jumping on the furniture, but still had good mobility. She remained healthy and fairly active. There was no way she was going to die and let one of the other dogs be Alpha. She made that very clear to us.
In October of 2008 she caught a stomach bug. It left her very weak, and we feared losing her then. She did recover, but began having more trouble with her rear legs. She had a lot of trouble getting up, and often times when I helped her up, her legs would cross. For a few months, heavy doses of NSAIDS kept her from getting worse. But when her condition started to decline even on the meds, we knew we were dealing with Degenerative Myleopathy. Over the last two weeks she got worse and worse, hardly walking at all, mostly dragging herself. When bowel and bladder control faded away, we knew the end was upon us.
sweet baby Beffie, you wil always be our baby girl. Rest well, sweet Beth
1/11/94 - 6/3/09
Born 1/11/94. Came home to live with us in April of that year, driving home through a heavy spring snowstorm. She was a wild girl from the beginning, having far too much energy for an upstairs apartment dog. But, as starving grad students, it was all we could afford, and couldn't bear NOT to have her, so we endured her shenanigans.
Later when we returned to CA and bought a house, she had a yard of her own, and wasted no time becoming known as the cat-slayer. I have always regretted that I wasn't able to give her a job when she was young. She would have excelled at anything, obedience, agility, herding, you name it. But busy with careers, we couldn't do that, and her job was companion and cuddlebunny. She took her job very seriously, following us from room to room.
When our first corgi and her soulmate Zack passed in 2005, the new puppy was trained from day one to be an obedience dog. Later Buddy came along, and was also prepped for competition from the start. Beth loved tagging along to the trials, hanging out in her crate or at the RV and cheering the boys on.
My favorite memories were of her, back in that first apartment, running down the hall with a leg from the coffee table in her mouth. Many years later, a much more tender favorite memory would emerge. In December of 2004 DH had major abdominal surgery, and spent 5 days in the hospital. When I brought him home, Beth delicately jumped up on the sofa beside him and proceeded to burble and trill for nearly half an hour, telling him all manner of "things".
Every morning for as long as I can remember, Beth has "chaperoned" shower time. If you turned on the water in the shower, she would lie down on the bath mat and wait for you. Looking at that empty space these last couple of days has been very hard.
In 2005, at the age of 11, Beth developed an occasional tremor in her hind leg. The following year she stopped jumping on the furniture, but still had good mobility. She remained healthy and fairly active. There was no way she was going to die and let one of the other dogs be Alpha. She made that very clear to us.
In October of 2008 she caught a stomach bug. It left her very weak, and we feared losing her then. She did recover, but began having more trouble with her rear legs. She had a lot of trouble getting up, and often times when I helped her up, her legs would cross. For a few months, heavy doses of NSAIDS kept her from getting worse. But when her condition started to decline even on the meds, we knew we were dealing with Degenerative Myleopathy. Over the last two weeks she got worse and worse, hardly walking at all, mostly dragging herself. When bowel and bladder control faded away, we knew the end was upon us.
sweet baby Beffie, you wil always be our baby girl. Rest well, sweet Beth
1/11/94 - 6/3/09
