Good-Bye Coco Rose 05/14/14

Today, Coco Rose made her journey to the Rainbow Bridge.  I would like to say it was totally unexpected but when I woke up this morning deep down inside, I knew that Coco was very sick and needed to go back to the vet for re-examination.  She was breathing hard, listless and didn't want to go outside to do her business.  I carried her outside and tried to encourage her to walk around and potty, but she went back to the door and wanted back in.  Once inside, she went over to the kitchen water bowl, took a few licks and then went back to the big bedroom and proceeded to shiver.  I tried to give her a cookie but she didn't want it (Puffy ate hers along with his). 

I woke Howard, my husband and we bundled Coco in a blanket and took Simba's smaller bed for her to lay in on the trip to the vet.  Puffy came along because he has separation anxiety, but this time I made him ride in a small crate just in case he decided to piddle in the truck, again.

Puffy must have sensed that Coco was not feeling well because he did not do his normal whining.  Once at the vet's Coco was x-rayed and blood tests were performed.  No problems were noted on the x-rays, but three of Coco's kidney values were so high that the machine couldn't give the vet an accurate reading.

The vet stated that once the kidney values are unobtainable, there is no medicines or procedures that can reverse the damage and death is coming.  He did say he could insert an I.V. drip to flush out the toxins.  I asked him if this would give her more time and he said yes, several days to maybe a couple of weeks but that would be all.  He also said we could take her back home and let nature take it's course but could not assure me that Coco was not in pain.  I think having her shiver was a sign of pain, so I made the choice to have her put down in the vet's office.

Coco was brought back home: I dressed her in the coat I made for her, wrapped her in a nice soft baby blanket and put her in a burial box.  Before we close up the box, I put her favorite toy, Henrietta chicken, that Whitley and Finley gave her one Christmas in the box with her.  I was going to give her a nice supply of cookies but since we do live in a rural area with lots of wild animals, I decided against this.  She is probably standing at the pearly gate demanding to know where all the cookies are right this very minute. 

The big bedroom seems very empty with out Coco Rose hogging up the bed.  Puffy seems to be "lost" not knowing where his Coco Rose is although he did get to sniff her body before she was put inside her burial box. 

I can't talk about this anymore...my heart is breaking.  I wasn't prepared and it will take me some time to deal with it. 

I'll always love you Coco Rose!

Hey!  Where are all the cookies up here?

Marilynn