[Dailydrool] Abner

[Pamela McQuade]

I have to thank everyone for the outpouring of support we have received following Abner's death. It has been heartwarming to hear from so many Droolers, many old friends and many whose posts I have read with enjoyment but never corresponded with. I will try to answer all the notes in my inbox as soon as my brain is really functioning well again.

This morning I spoke with our vet. I'd called about a prescription for Jane, and the head of the practice, who was working today, asked to talk to me. She's very forthright at moments like this--something I have often been thankful for. She told me that we'd made the right decision. Bloat surgery, she said, was hard on any dog, but would have been especially hard on Abner. It was good to hear that we'd made the right choice, the compassionate one. But of course our hearts and minds are still in shock. 

We will miss our crabby boy who was really a sweetie at heart. But I wonder if I'd have it any other way. A dog who has loved you deeply should be missed. To do anything else would be to be terribly hard hearted. Dogs entwine themselves with our lives and should remain a part of them, even when it hurts.

Bel and Jane and Duncan the c at t seem to know that something is wrong--perhaps because we are so upset. Though Abner gave them a hard time too, I think they feel the space in the house. In time they will understand that Abs is not just visiting the vet but really gone. When the ashes come, I will let them sniff them, and they will know what happened.

Thanks for all your support in a tough time. Droolers are the best.
Pam, food slave to the Dashing Bassets