{"id":3411,"date":"2012-01-11T09:07:05","date_gmt":"2012-01-11T16:07:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=3411"},"modified":"2012-01-16T04:30:23","modified_gmt":"2012-01-16T11:30:23","slug":"tasha","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/?p=3411","title":{"rendered":"Tasha"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I have already mentioned this.\u00a0 Life can get ugly in a New York minute.\u00a0 Which I believe is a very short amount of time.<\/p>\n

I already know this fact.\u00a0 I live this fact.\u00a0 So I although I was upset when the Other Half called me in the midst of a delightful pedicure to say I was needed at home, I was not too surprised.\u00a0 Although I was horrified when he told me that Tasha, our 9 year old Rottweiler, was not breathing well and her tongue was turning blue, I was not exactly shocked.\u00a0 I was worried when I found her laying upstairs amidst our family, gulping for air, and I trembled as I felt in her mouth and throat for an obstruction.\u00a0 I gasped upon examining her extremely bloated abdomen and was frantic as I searched for simethicone in a form or dosage that might be effective.\u00a0 I began to cry as I dialed the after hours vet for directions and called out her name desperately as we bundled her into a sheet and rushed her to the car.<\/p>\n

But even when I held my head against hers and stroked her side for the final time, I was not entirely astonished.\u00a0 Tasha, like most barrel-chested dog breeds, had struggled with bloat in the past.\u00a0 Bloat can be sudden, unexpected, difficult to detect in its early stages, and deadly. Whether or not a dog will recover is totally unpredictable.\u00a0 Just like life.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And despite the fact that I missed her before they even took her body away, I knew there was some grace in this abrupt turn of events.\u00a0 A kindness in this cruelty.\u00a0 At 9 years old, Tasha had already entered the stage of doghood that mostly entailed sleeping on the couch, rising for breakfast, taking a morning nap on the bed, waking to threaten the mailman, and then taking a well-earned doze on the sun-warmed floor underneath the picture window.\u00a0 She always greeted the children after school, snored through homework time, and spent the rest of the evening positioning her tummy exactly where someone had their feet.\u00a0 Just in case they were inclined to give her a belly massage with their toes.\u00a0 She was a living breathing Life is Good t-shirt.<\/p>\n

And now she had passed without ever knowing the pain the sets into a dog’s hips, making her hobble down the stairs.\u00a0 The cataracts that form over the eyes, making a dog glance at her people in a confused, blurry stare.\u00a0 No hearing loss or bad teeth.\u00a0 No tumors or cancer.<\/p>\n

Of course, this was of little solace to the children who rode with her that day.\u00a0 Leaning over her limp body, begging her to hold on as we raced toward the vet.\u00a0 Of little comfort as they stood in the waiting room, their arms wrapped around each other, sniffling and weeping, hoping for good news, but already knowing in their hearts that there would be no happy ending.\u00a0 Of little consolation as they woke at night wondering “what if?”\u00a0 What if she hadn’t had those last 2 biscuits?\u00a0 What if we had noticed sooner that she was struggling?\u00a0 What if we had left for the vet earlier or driven just a little bit faster?<\/p>\n

So we held their hands.\u00a0 Shared their tears.\u00a0 Let them sneak into our bed and wrapped our arms around them.\u00a0 Told them it would be all right.\u00a0 Because they will have to learn themselves that you don’t always get a do-over.\u00a0 That you cannot always go back and make a different decision.\u00a0 And that sometimes, no matter what you change, you can’t avoid the difficult choice, the troubled ending.\u00a0 No, they will need a lot more years and a lot more life before they know these truths.\u00a0 Better to wipe their faces, hold them tight, and whisper the stories of their dog into their listening ears.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Stories of that little puppy that nibbled fingers and noses.\u00a0 Memories of the first time she walked on a leash without trying to simultaneously chew on it.\u00a0 When she managed to pee on every variety of household surface in one 12 hour period (carpet, upholstery, linoleum, concrete, and even Formica kitchen counter). When she learned to sit for a biscuit.\u00a0 When she ran out the front door and didn’t come home for 6 gut-wrenching hours.\u00a0 When she wagged her stubby tail so hard that the wiggles started in her waist.\u00a0 When she spread the contents of the trash can out all over the kitchen floor.\u00a0 At least once a week.\u00a0 The way she always got up in the middle of the night to investigate scary noises and came back with kisses to give the all-clear.\u00a0 Too many stories and too many good memories to be overcome by one frightening and heartbreaking Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n

After all, the knowledge that our furry friends have a shorter time on this earth than we do is always with us.\u00a0 That is why we cuddle with them on the furniture even though we swore on the day when they arrived in our homes that we would not.\u00a0 Not with this dog.\u00a0 Not on this couch.\u00a0 Not in this bed.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>That is why we take them to professional photographers.\u00a0 Or dress them up for silly pictures.\u00a0 Or take snapshots of their heart shaped butts on Valentine’s Day, which no one can appreciate (or even wants to see) other than us.<\/p>\n

That is why otherwise law-abiding citizens take them for walks in the woods.\u00a0 Off the leash!\u00a0 Or to parks to meet their doggie friends.\u00a0 Or even through neighborhoods where we will have to carry little baggies to dispose of their poop.<\/p>\n

That is why we take them for rides in the car.\u00a0 Just to go for a ride.\u00a0 And why we have an emergency water bowl stashed under the car seat. That is why we have dog treats in the glove compartment.\u00a0 Slobber marks on the windows and dog fur on the seat cushions.<\/p>\n

That is why we dance with them in the kitchen while making dinner (and sometimes forget to wash our hands).\u00a0 That is why we let them kiss us on the face.\u00a0 And even kiss them back.\u00a0 That is why we refuse to move when they fall asleep with their heads in our laps.\u00a0 Even when our legs are going numb.\u00a0 Or we really, really, need to go pee.\u00a0 That is why we can be reading a book or surfing the web or watching TV or even having our breakfast and yet always have one hand free to be scratching behind the ears of that furry head beside us.<\/p>\n

That is why everything that is human is us clings tightly to everything that is soft, and fluffy, and velvety-eared, and wet-nosed in them.<\/p>\n

That is why when they are gone from us, by a choice to end their suffering or by a lost attempt to save them, we will save their collars and keep their dog beds.\u00a0 We will put their photos in fancy picture frames and use their names as our computer passwords.\u00a0 We will search for the perfect place for their bodies or their ashes and we will mark it with an expensive headstone or a carefully chosen rock, a luminous bronze plaque or a flowering bush that reminds us of them every time that it blooms.<\/p>\n

We will swear when we kneel over them for the last time, that we will never forget them.<\/p>\n

And we never will.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Goodbye, Tasha.\u00a0 Thank you for walking part of our journey with us. Thank you for tolerating everything 4 kids could dish out.\u00a0 For usually choosing the Other Half’s shoes to chew instead of mine.\u00a0 For sleeping in on the weekends instead of insisting on going out at 5:00am.\u00a0 For chasing squirrels, but never chickens.\u00a0 For always having the common courtesy to puke in front of the door to the backyard instead of at the top of the stairs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>For teaching the “puppies” all they need to know.\u00a0 To watch carefully.\u00a0 To listen all night long.\u00a0 To never back down from a man in a brown uniform carrying a package. \u00a0 To be true, fierce, and brave protectors and guardians of the family.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We love you.\u00a0 Someday we’ll see you on the other side.\u00a0 But I bet you have an old friend already waiting to greet you.\u00a0 Tell her we say hello.<\/p>\n

Rest in peace.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Taylors’ Tasha<\/em> January 14th, 2003-January 8th, 2012.<\/span><\/h1>\n

Do you have a special pet that has crossed over the Rainbow Bridge<\/a>?\u00a0 Send me an email with your pet’s picture, any caption you would like, and I will add it to this blog post.\u00a0 As a tribute to Tasha, and to all those pets who have left our lives, but never left our hearts.\u00a0 stevietaylor319@mebtel.net<\/em><\/h2>\n

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\"\"<\/a>

Miss Kitty. She wandered into our lives as someone's discarded pet and left this world as the best friend of two humans who are still heart-broken after 8 years. She led the furry path for our four love-bugs. She is gone, ashes in the office, never far from our thoughts especially at Christmas, because she could always find a way to lay up in the tree. She showed us how unconditional love by a pet can change your life forever.<\/p><\/div>\n

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<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have already mentioned this.\u00a0 Life can get ugly in a New York minute.\u00a0 Which I believe is a very short amount of time. I already know this fact.\u00a0 I live this fact.\u00a0 So I although I was upset when the Other Half called me in the midst of a delightful pedicure to say I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3411"}],"version-history":[{"count":112,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3523,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3411\/revisions\/3523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/ruffledfeathersandspilledmilk.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}