Friday pic of an old friend: photo essay of Roxy

[jdf]

Was going through files and found this montage of Roxy's life from one week to her golden years.

[Yzma]

She's adorable... i like spotty dogs... if you don't mind me asking , what happened to her back legs? She's got that... i'm the centre of someone's universe and i love it! look...

[Mary Plummer]

jdf, that is gorgeous! Thanks for sharing with us; I love seeing her pics, and seeing them all together like that is magnificent! I'm going to send you a message, if I can figure out how the darn thing works...

[jdf]

She's adorable... i like spotty dogs... if you don't mind me asking , what happened to her back legs? She's got that... i'm the centre of someone's universe and i love it! look...

When Roxy was 10 years old she suffered a Fibrocartilaginous Embolism (FCE) which paralyzed her hind quarters. It's pretty rare and strikes without warning and can happen to any dog (thankfully not very many). With FCE, the fibrocartilage in a spinal disc "blows out" and damages blood vessels and nerves, causing immediate and very dramatic paralysis. Roxy was walking fine late on a Saturday night , took two or three faultering steps and collapsed - it was terryfing. FCE's are inoperable and any improvement depends on the body's ability to heal itself. Roxy regained about 70-75% nerve function but never enough to walk without her cart.

For the last 5 years 9 months of her life she was a cart dog, but she was a happy girl with a lot of friends - we took her for two walks every day and she got to see all her two legged and four legged friends.

She was indeed a much loved dog and a great pal.

[TheSkeptic]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

[jdf]

Great pics. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you, Skeptic - when I first posted this on the old acme board when it was about to fold, you mentioned that there was a stage in her life that was missing. Since then I've added the bottom three photos - hard to believe that Roxy lived a full third of her life as a cart dog and it was an important time in her life and in ours - she taught me a lot about myself during those years. Anyway thanks for your input- I think at the time, I was blocking a bit on the fact that she was disabled and this version of the montage gives a more complete picture of our wonderful dog's life.

[Nancy (Spuddie' s Mum)]

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful story. I'm sure you must miss her terribly.

[momPaws]

JDF- that is beautiful. She will always be special ..... like you. I think that's why she was meant to be with you and Nancy. God Bless Roxy.

[TheSkeptic]

Your post reminded me of the poem:

A Living Love

If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember . . .



The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter -- simply because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room -- and when you feel it brush against you for the first time -- it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.



The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your longtime friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep when you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet -- and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.



And on this day -- if your friend and whatever higher being you believe in have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own -- on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you -- you will feel as long as a single star in the dark night.



If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you.



But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul -- a bit smaller in size than your own -- seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come.



And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg -- very very lightly.



And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lie -- you will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely to be painful, and leave an ache in your heart--
-

As time passes the ache will come and go as if it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.



But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when -- along with the memory of your pet -- and piercing through the heaviness in your heart -- there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love -- like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this Love will remain and grow -- and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a Love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our Beloved Pets -- it is a Love we will always possess.



~~by Martin Scot Kosins

[Yzma]

Oh deeeer, i'm all weepey again. You guys are all so sweet. It's so very very nice a thought to know that so many pets have such wonderful owners and so many wonderful owners have such amazing pets like Roxy for example....

Cheers!