My first 'oldie' I named Pumpkin.
A little of his story...
I was working as a nurse in my old practice, and he was brought in as a stray. Of all the horrible sights vets/nurses get to see, he was the most sorrowful old boy. Around 20 years, weighting 1.7kg, renal probs, emaciated, matted, terrible teeth, wobbly...I was shocked. Lots of colleagues said 'he's manky, nobody'll have him, he's best put to sleep'. But somebody did have him, and loved him to absolute bits for the 7 months we had him. He used to sleep between my partner Vic and I on a night, sprawled between us, and to this day, the middle of the bed is still known as the 'pumpkin patch'!
I've put on the 'before' photo, when I brought him home, and the 'after' photos, of him looking fab and with his buddy on our bed.
I was gutted when I had to make the decision to let him go... but everything suddenly gave up on him and he collapsed.
His last healthy day was spent with me in the garden as he basked in the hot sunshine all happy with his mum...
And I'll never forget the day when this rickety old boy found it in him to chase the injured, non-flying pigeon I'd rescued... in the garden, I caught sight of a ginger flash out of the corner of my eye, and the pigeon running for dear life away from him!! Talk about funny!!
He always gets a little garden flower with his ashes.
That's why I'll always save/help all the old ones I can... they're fabness!!!
Liz
