Gold
Ribbon Rescuers & Friends,We have sad news...this morning, we put our dear old foster girl, Abby Browning-Biba to sleep. She was just a few days short of her 14th birthday.
Abby was a resident at North Austin Animal Hospital, for 2 months, when her elderly owner died. When Becky LaBrum & I met to evaluate Abby, we fully intended to just look, and then go home to plan for a logical foster home...someone who would be prepared to take on an elderly Golden who might not live much longer. Abby was fragile & mostly deaf. She walked with difficulty, and her hips were strangely asymetrical. Her skin was inflamed & bare in spots. There were incontinence issues. Becky & I listened to the litany of Abby's medical woes, as we rubbed our palms over her arthritic body. We thought about her sad story & looked into her eyes. We were smitten.
The morning I met Abby was my 46th birthday...and she was my present...I brought her home.
Abby lived with our family for 6 happy months. Abby quietly, gradually became friends with our 5 other Oldsters & our zany Golden puppy. She hung out on piles of soft dog beds, 5 inches thick...kitchen-bed to living-room-bed to bedroom-bed. We created paths of rubber backed rugs, end to end on our slick tile floors...she refused to walk unless those rugs were positioned to her liking.
Nightly, Abby went on our 5:00 Dog Drive...6 Goldens in the back of the Explorer, watching the neighborhood glide by at 15 mph. Evenings, Gary lifted Abby onto the couch, where she felt deliciously naughty. On Tuesday afternoons, Abby rode across town to Carol's for our group meetings...we brought along her soft bedding & she joined us...one of the girls.
Over the last couple of days, Abby's eyes weren't as bright as usual, and she stumbled when she walked. Her body began to betray her. Last night, Gary took Abby for her nightly 3 block walk, but at the end of the driveway, she collapsed, so he carried her home.
...I'm trying to tell you that Abby was special, and we loved her. She required tremendous amounts of care, more than I've mentioned. ...But Abby was such a light filled, gentle individual, that living with her was a blessing. Helping Abby was a pleasure and a joy, and sharing her last 6 months was a happy, happy time. These Old Goldens are treasures.
Margo