R.I.P ROSIE

My little Rosie, a 16 1/2 yr old Papillon, went to Heaven this morning.

In my avatar/logo, she's the little dog that I've drawn in the crook of my arm.

She had become frail, blind and only had one tooth left.

She didn't even weigh 5 lbs anymore.

BUT she was still sassy, barking for her dinner and wobbling to her potty pad afterwards to do her business.

She looked pretty bad but I vowed that as long as she was eating, I'd do nothing but care for her.

Squeak took a liking to her and against her protests would back himself onto her bed and eventually cuddle with her.

Yesterday I came home and found her very limp.
At first I thought she might have passed but after putting some cool water on her tongue that always hung out, she blinked her eyes a bit.

I sat her next to the water bowl and she was unsteady and couldn't stand but for a minute.

I gave her a bath, she smelled like she must have urinated on herself.

I dried her up and held her for a while.

I offered her some of her usual food but she had no interest.

I added warm water, still nothing.

I got out the canned food that she would normally gobble down and still, no interest.

Afterwards I gave Squeak a bath too and dried him until he was fluffy.
He's so tiny. I can feel his bones.
I feed him a big bowl of his special prescription diet canned food and when he was finished, he tiptoed over to her bed and cuddled up to Rosie.

I feed the other dogs and looked over to see that Squeak had moved to another dog bed.

That sight filled me with dread.

I scooped her up and held her and sat with her in my arms while I read things on the Internet and typed out comments with one hand.

Finally I returned her to her bed.

I put a towel in the dryer for a few minutes and then tucked it around her so she would feel the warmth and I went to bed.

When I woke in the morning, my head feared the worse but my heart hoped for a miracle.

She was still alive but....

I bundled her up and took her to work.

As soon as Doc arrived, my friend who is one of the head techs got him and he released Rosie from her tired body.

I thanked him for the extra 5 years he gave me with her after that accident in August of 2011.
He played a big part in saving her when others would have let her go back then.

He said it was definitely time, that her body was worn out but
that I had done a great job taking care of her.

That caught me by surprise as he usually doesn't say things like that.

So... It's still January and I have now lost 2 of my clan.

I hope that's it for this year.

Here's a photo of her from a few years ago.

I didn't want to post her photo as she was today.
I'd rather remember her like this.

She always enjoyed sitting on the heat vent and having the blower go on and blast her with air.

Like a little Marilyn Monroe on the street grate.

Funny how something that tiny, can leave such a big whole in a persons heart.

Sigh... Getting old sucks.