Sad news from commentor Joe F. (His note actually arrived early in the week, but I kept looking for “an appropriate time” to post it):
After my first email, Clover lost sight in his left eye and began to lose his motor skills on that side as well. We tried to see if a few days would find progress, but in fact it went the other way, so he has gone to a better place. It was a very difficult decision to make, but after snuggling with him for an hour today, there was nothing except resignation and detachment in every part of his body, so the choice made itself. Once the tears dried, I realized that it was absolutely the right thing to do.
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My best friend is gone and the hole is bottomless, but I have such a sense of gratitude for having this beautiful animal come into my life and profoundly changing how I look at the world; he will always be with me.
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I am so grateful for all your warm wishes, it left me in tears every time I read them. If you could do me (and Clover) one final favor of posting the sunlight picture one more time with the sad update and my great thanks to all who posted wishes which made this tragic time just a bit more tolerable.
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Thanks to them all, I can never truly express how much their thoughts meant to me. No new dog on the horizon for me right now, but when (not if) I do bring another dog into my life, it will be a Wheaton Terrier in Clover’s honor.
Better news from commentor Patty, about her feral-cat-rescuing aunt in North Carolina. (Patty mentioned that she and her husband are in Germany, where he’s stationed, which is part of the difficulty):
thank you so much for the links. there are many more resources in the rdu area than i realized. right now i am in kind of a holding pattern; my aunt hasn’t come to the realization yet that she can’t afford to keep caring for all of these cats. i am waiting to give her the list until she is ready. i respect her too much to push her; i’m just ready when the time comes. she has gone through so much lately that she doesn’t need pressure from me.
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the good news is that my husband contacted some people regarding her house situation and she is not in immediate danger of losing her house. so that is a big relief.
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it is truly humbling that so many people have come forward with suggestions and caring. the power of the internet and good hearted people is awesome.
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thanks again for all of your help! will let you know as the situation progresses.
And good news from commentor Redshift:
The update on the Howard County hoarding case rabbits is that there are now only 33 [out of the original 78] left at the shelter. Still a lot, but that’s an amazing number that have been adopted or gotten into foster homes.
(He sent me a clip of the seven baby bunnies he and his wife are fostering, but I have to get an embeddable copy to share for the Lunar Year of the Rabbit.)