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ROSIE
Rosie came to live with us when Fien was 8 years old. Puppy Rosie was beautiful, she had a fawn fur, big brown eyes, very special eyebrows, and a charming marking, thumb print, on her forehead.
Rosie was a very energetic, slightly naughty little puppy. When she was a puppy her specific eye brows made her look a little cheeky, but when she got older her eyebrows and black markings gave her a more sad look, as if she was always sorry for herself.
She followed Fien everywhere. When Fien jumped on the sofa, to have a nap there, Rosie followed, and when Fien went back to lie down in their bed, Rosie jumped off the sofa too and joined her there.
When Fien passed away, we immediately knew we would need a new sister for Rosie. They had been together for 6 years and Rosie looked so lost without her older sister.
Rosie had changed, from a lively, dynamic, 6 year old pug, to a much more mature, older pug, right after Fien passed away, and she kept this more mature character also when her new little sister Matilda came to live with us.
From the moment Matilda entered the house it was obvious that this little black monkey would take over all the attention, just like what had happened when puppy Rosie came to live with Fien, six years earlier.
It was funny to see that Rosie immediately fitted in the older sister role, and we sometimes saw her being so annoyed by the constant bothering of puppy Matilda who couldn't stop the wrestle and bitey game. It was exactly the way Rosie had behaved herself, as a puppy, we just wondered if she remembered ;)
ROSIE IN HOSPITAL
When Matilda was only 1,5 years old, Rosie became ill. It started with diarrhea, and later an unexpected eye ulcer. In the weeks all this was happening, we went to the vet several times. The eye ulcer was treated with medicine and healed, and with medicine and antibiotics it looked like the diarrhea went a little better for a few days but didn't go away totally. And a few days later, on a Sunday morning in February, we thought her condition wasn't getting better, so we took her to a special pet hospital.
The first few days in hospital the vets thought it was lymphoma because of what the ultrasound had showed them, but after a few days, when the results came in from the cultured cells, they learned it was a dangerous bacterial infection. One that can happen to every dog, and all humans too.
She was in a bad condition; she had a severe inflammation, fluid in the abdominal cavity, liver failure and an extremely low platelet count. They started to give her a more wide cocktail of antibiotics, more focused on bacteria and infection, and they were going to drain off the fluid.
After a few days the vets were pleased to say that her condition was stable, the drain was removed, only the haemoglobin, and the platelets were still low. The doctors expected this to increase within a few days when she'd regain more strength. For the first time in 6 days we felt a little relieved and with a little more confidence we went home.
I cannot describe what went through me when the vet called me early the next morning to tell me that Rosie passed away..
We were told that the bacteria had been an extremely agressive one, and the antibiotics hadn't been able to save her. That night her blood pressure had dropped and, she had a septic shock, that had affected her heart.
We felt an intense sadness.
SAYING GOODBYE
So we brought her home that morning, back to our house, where Matilda would be able to say goodbye to her. And so she did. We put Rosie on the sofa and little Matilda sat with Rosie for 8 hours, first she sniffed her for 2 hours, and after that she sat next to her, by her side, and later she cuddled up to her. Sometimes she would look at us as if she wanted an answer.. We shed a million tears.
After 8 hours Matilda jumped off the sofa and we knew: She's okay now.
We're very happy we had the opportunity to bring Rosie home to let Matilda sniff her, so she knew: this is Rosie, but she's not here anymore. It's so important for the other pet to be able to say goodbye and to cuddle her friend for the last time..
