A Retablo from a Friend

Is this sweet or what? A dear friend sent me this retablo she painted in memory of Willa. A halo, d0g biscuits, and rabbits! And those pretty mascara-lined eyes.

It sits at my right hand and keeps me company.

Not sure what a retablo is? Ask Mr. Google HERE.

Many thanks, 'Lisbeth!

Willa ~ 201? -2016 . . .

Yesterday I had to make that decision that is so difficult yet such a blessing. 

Willa had not been eating with  her usual appetite and there had been several occasions of urinary incontinence for which I'd taken her to her regular vet. He prescribed some pills; the incontinence stopped. She was still picky about her food but could be enthusiastic about chicken and rice which I fixed for her. And she still ran around with her usual energy.

Then on Saturday she refused all food and there was profuse vomiting on Sunday morning. So I took Willa to the emergency vet on the other side of Asheville. 

After much blood work and several x-rays, Willa was diagnosed with severe/chronic kidney failure. The prognosis was bleak -- there were treatments but little/no hope that they would restore kidney function.

So I opted to let her leave this life, with bramble briars still in her fur from chasing rabbits Friday night.

They brought her to me in a room with a sofa where I could spend a little time holding her and talking to her. 

She was in my arms with her head on my shoulder when the vet put the lethal dose into the already in place IV. My hand was on her heart when it stopped.

It was a gentle passing and the vet assured me that it was the right choice . . . I said I wished I could have that sort of choice if I were faced with an incurable disease.

I held her a little longer before they took her away and put her into a box so I could bring her home.

She's buried by a stone bench on the edge of the woods where she ran and barked and chased rabbits.

Goodbye, little girl, goodbye to my sweet mountain feist.

Feisty?

Willa, whose breed is Mountain Feist, is feeling a little sad now that she knows the derivation of the word feisty.

From A. WORD. A. DAY by Anu Garg

feisty

PRONUNCIATION:

(FY-stee)

MEANING:

adjective:
1. Spirited; full of courage, spunk, or energy.
2. Touchy, irritable, or ill-tempered.

ETYMOLOGY:

From feist, variant of obsolete fist, short for fisting cur, a contemptuous term for a dog, from fist, from Middle English fisten (to break wind). The word fizzle is ultimately derived from the same source. Earliest documented use: 1896.. 

She's fine with the first meaning -- it's the origin of the word she dislikes. She would like it known that she never -- well, hardly ever -- breaks wind.

Unlike her buddy Ali Ali who can clear a room in seconds.

She's Back!

Willa Tries for a Selfie

I was puzzled to find these odd pictures as part of a recent download. Then I reconstructed the event: Willa went with me to town; I had my camera, lens up, on the seat beside her. Evidently she managed to hit the button and take our picture. 

I didn't hear the shutter snap, as I was listening to a book on tape. Next time I hope she gets her face in frame.

Equal Time

Someone asked if Willa plays with Bob and Layla.

 The answer is no. 

She's not comfortable with Layla's size and roughness. 

Anyway, she'd rather be hunting.

Chipmunks.

Not that she's ever caught any,  at least as far as I know.

But they keep a girl's nose busy with their sneaky little tunnels all over the place.

Did I hear someone ask about the kittehs?

This is what the kittehs do, at least during most of the day, this and watch birdies through the window.

At night they rampage through the house,

 doing secret kitteh stuff

Progress . . .

Where, Oh, Where Has My Little Dog Gone?

Oh, but I am. 

A neighbor spotted the two bad dogs about a mile down the road yesterday morning and when John went to get them, they had disappeared. So we  spent the day fretting and worrying that they might have been dognapped or come to some harm. John drove up and down and all around our area, looking for the wanderers; Justin searched in the woods; and various neighbors kept their eyes open.

When at last Willa and Ali emerged from the woods above Justin and Claui's house about 6:30 pm, they were tired, hungry, covered in rose thorns, and magnificently unrepentant. 

We learned from neighbors that they have been making a habit of traveling farther than we'd imagined so, for the time being, Willa and Ali are grounded.  Willa is going to be let out only when Ali is in -- and vice versa. And for the next week, she'll only be going out on a leash -- an attempt to break them of these wandering ways.

Cat Naps

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Canine Philosophy