Cheetah

What a sad couple of weeks it has been. On Tuesday, Oct. 14, Cheetah, our 15 year old dog, passed away. She was very sick for about the past 6 months. Eric and I got her 4 months after we got married after we were feeling that "baby fever." We knew we were too young and it was so not the time for a baby. So we got this cute little brown ball of fur instead. She was our only baby for 5 years before we added real babies to our family. Then Spencer came along and they were best friends. She was very jealous at first when she realized he was here to stay. She acted like her leg was hurt, limping everytime Eric talked to the baby. We were worried until we realized that she was switching legs. She was very attached to Eric and wanted him to focus on her. He did and she got over it. Then we added 2 more human friends for her and another dog. She adapted to the additions and all the many moves we made with her with ease. As long as Eric and I were with her she could handle anything. That is how it was for her at the end of her life as well.

She began having heart trouble about 2 years ago. She slept more than anything and prefered to be near us at all times. She has been on medication for over a year for her heart and fluid in her lungs. She recently has had kidney problems as well and had to have special food. 3 days before she died she started having seizures. They were getting more and more each day and the last one started at the top of the stairs, causing her to fall all the way down while seizing. I heard her but didn't get there in time - she had already made it half way down. She was suffering at the end and we just couldn't let her suffer any more. We did not want her to have a painful death.

The boys told her goodbye through their tears. At such a young age, they understood that she was suffering and they were ready to let her go. Eric met me at the vet where we said our goodbyes. She licked Eric all over his face as he talked to her. She wanted to make sure he was ok. I was just hysterical. Dr. Harding injected the needle and quickly her breathing slowed down and she went to sleep. She was finally at peace. It was probably the hardest thing we've had to do in our entire marriage. She is in a better place and our family isn't the same. But we are getting better each day.

Goodbye, Rocky

The past few days have been interesting. A cute little Jack Russell Terrier showed up on our street Sunday and decided he liked it here so much he would just stay. The boys found him walking down our street and fell in love with him. They played with him for a while THEN came and got me. I admit he was extremely adorable (he looks like Eddie from the old show - Frasier) but I told them to leave him alone so he would go back home. Well, he didn't. After it got dark he was still laying on the front porch. So the boys made him a bed out there and gave him water. Eric and I weren't sure what to do. The humane society here is not like the one we knew in Florida. Here, they actually do euthanize animals after a certain time. So that wasn't even an option. He stayed here all night. We walked, with the dog, to the bus stop the next morning and all the kids knew him. His name is Rocky. I spent the entire day calling people (I have made more friends in Auburn than I realized). I finally tracked the owner down and he came and got the dog at around 4 pm yesterday. There were a lot of emotions. Trevor was the most affected by him. He wanted to keep him but felt sorry for him because he thought he might have been missing his family. I was also sad to see him go. Of course Spencer is our animal lover and would keep every homeless animal in the world if he could. Eric played tough guy and said, "We don't need another dog!" Although he did ask me at one point while Rocky was here what we were going to name him! I know him. He liked him too and would have "allowed" us to keep him if we hadn't found his owner. The only one who wasn't crazy about him was NALA!!!

When I finally reached the owner, he didn't seem too alarmed that his precious Rocky had been missing for 24 hours. I would have been out looking for either of my dogs all night until I found them! And I would have been so thankful for the person who cared for them. The past 2 or 3 times Rocky has gone missing, one of my close neighbors have been the ones to find him and call. So he knows that this is the street he goes to! He would have been very easy to find. He wasn't wearing his tags this time so that is why it was so hard for me to find his owner.

One important lesson we all learned from this experience is that there are so many homeless and mistreated dogs out there. IF/WHEN we get another one, we will adopt from the humane society. But the truth of it is, I don't think we have seen the last of little Rocky.