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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Nellie Marie</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Jan(?) 1995 - July 16, 2008</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>After a bloat scare 2 1/2 weeks ago, we took Nellie
on vacation with us--and ended up taking her home to Missouri, just like I did
for Rusty Paws back in 2004 when I brought him home to Texas. We drove out
to the home where she'd first been found--and had her one and only litter of
puppies. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Tonight an hour after her dinner, her belly bloated
up again, so I shoved in the Gas-X expecting it to go down fairly quickly
like it did nearly 3 weeks ago. It didn't. I had to go be
the director of our vacation bible school, but I came home twice to check on
her. She didn't look good, but she wasn't pacing, drooling, vomiting,
etc... I put my head to her belly and heard plenty of gurgling. When
we arrived home for the night, she was on the floor in the kitchen and she
thumped her tail when she heard my voice. I called the after-hours vet
number and they met me at the clinic. They x-rayed her and found the
stomach to be full of air and something wrong with her spleen (which was
huge.) She was not a candidate for surgery, so they sedated her to put in
a gastric tube to relieve her of the air but it wouldn't go in. Sadly, at
10:05 PM I had to send my baby girl--the only girl, feline or canine I have ever
had on my own--to the Bridge. I know she can see again, her ear infection
is gone, and she is with her Sammy, Rusty Paws, Barney, Mr. Whiskers, Butchie
and Bert. But I am still so sad.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Last night while I was sitting in the living room
reading the paper, I thought I saw our solid white old man foster Sapper
standing by the couch. I didn't think much of it, until I realized
Sapper was fast asleep on the big brown dog bed by the window. It could
only have been Rusty Paws, coming to get my Nellie Marie.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> We had been given Nellie and her bonded mate
Sammy on November 7, 1995. Best guess was she was a year old and Sammy was
2. Joshua was 7 weeks old. She was very naughty, taking his toys out to
the yard all the time. She was our Alpha female, making sure even
yesterday at dinner that nobody came near her when she was eating her
dinner. I never wanted my baby girl to suffer, so I had to let her
go. I am so sad. Because Bridget had a friend spending the night, I
couldn't take all of the kids with me to the vet. We took their
picture with our old girl and they said goodbye. I had Nicholas with me,
and he kissed baby girl on the snout after her heart stopped
beating.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>They won't cremate her until tomorrow afternoon, so
they said I could bring over the plaster mold over in the morning and make her
footprint.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Susan and the Hoptown Bassets + 1
+ 7 <BR> Murphy, Jeremiah, Twinkie, Walter, Rusty Paws (ATB),Sammy
(ATB), Barney Boy (ATB), Nellie (ATB) & Bert(ATB),
Bianca(ATB),<BR><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>