He started having breathing problems yesterday, so I took him to the vet.  They told me he had pulmonary edema and put him on Lasix and said that he most likely has congestive heart failure.  I did not realize when I left the vet that he would not be with us the next day.

It’s been hardest on CT.  They are true buddies. They always have been, even when CT was a baby, we would find Arthur in his crib while he slept.  That has not changed, CT will miss him sleeping on his head.

To watch your children be so heart broken over the loss of their pet is difficult.  It’s pain you can’t take away.

As Erik so kindly wrote today,

“Arthur has gone to get his claws and balls back–to a place where there are no screens on the doors and no counter top rules. He was the statesman among the fish, kids, hamster and hound.  He was a ranking member of the family, part of the gang, a buddy.  My heart goes out to
you all, and especially CT.  I miss him already.”

We miss you too little buddy, we miss you too.

He insists on not calling it a Pit Bull, you can find his anger here, which makes me giggle inside just a touch.

He also insists that this dog is so smart that it should have its own blog, you can find Apollo’s antics here.

Next thing we know, he’ll be running with it and then we’ll be running with it.  T-odd, maybe you’ll need to switch over to Mrs. Bickerson’s running group…they allow and even encourage dogs over there.

For the love of Dogs!

Boy, I just wish she would have eaten up the $8.00 Costco bed instead, oh well.

The ground rules were laid, WE WILL NOT BE TAKING A DOG HOME WITH US!  Everyone agreed and we headed in.

There were lots of dogs there yesterday and lots of people looking at the dogs.  Big dogs, small dogs, black dogs, white dogs and there was one dog in particular that barked and jumped at CT whenever he walked by, that was a little disturbing for him and he did not want to take that one home.

Of course, PJ fell in love, with Hawk.  Hawk is a 7 year old dog with barely any teeth left.  He is so ugly cute you did not want to leave him there.  He even would start to cry whenever PJ tried to to walk away.  So she sat on the floor the entire time, right by his side, petting him and talking to him and letting him know there is love in this world for him.

We had him taken out of his main stall and played with him for a little bit.  The drama was mounting, all three kids wanted him, they already loved him and saw him playing in the house with them.  He knew how to sit and roll over and get belly rubs by six little hands.

But when you stood back and saw them together, Hawk wasn’t all there.  He didn’t love my kids like he needed to.  The kids didn’t see it, the emotions ran too high.

So we walked away.  PJ being held by Adam, sobbing.

My guess is PJ is not going to need to wait until she’s 10 to get a dog.  We just need to find the right one.

Yes, PJ named her hamster WHISKEY.

Me: Just a minute! (I say as I open the door to my friend Dr. A, who is at my house to pick me up so we can go out and tie one on with a few other neighbor lady friends.)

CT: No seriously mom…get up here…this totally stinks.

Me: (I look over at Dr. A, roll my eyes and say slightly annoyed) Whaaaaat?

CT: MOM…I pulled this out of Reuben’s butt!

Me: OK…stay right there, I’ll get the camera.

And yeah, it did stink.  But the more troubling thing…why on earth did he pull it out of the cat’s ass in the first place?

Not on purpose mind you. I just kinda kept watching the water go down and forgetting to fill it up so the aerator would fill the 1 gallon pink tank with fresh air for sweet Cherry.

Instead, she puffed up, looked almost fuzzy, lost all her color and suffocated to death on old tank water.

Looking on the bright side, this is our first family pet death. You know…this is a good opportunity to feel loss and learn how to handle it, right? So we gathered around the toilet, said nice things about Cherry and her life and then flushed her into fishy heaven.

Once that suction took hold of her lifeless body, PJ fell completely apart.

Cherry, I’m sorry. You were a very good pet. See ya on the other side.