In Memoriam · 8:08pm Nov 18th, 2018
On Saturday, 11/17/18, my dog Percy died. He passed away at the age of ten years and almost four months, between 4 AM and 7:40 AM.
I'm not really a fan of most social media sites, believe it or not. I'd never had enough friends for Facebook, never really saw it's appeal way back when, and Twitter and Tumbler didn't suit my tastes entirely. I think I just like writing blogs like this better, and I like the way this site is designed. And honestly, I felt a need to write something here. Maybe I'll write a journal on Deviant Art too, not sure.
Yesterday was a horrible shock. I woke up and went to get Percy off my mom's bed as per usual to feed him before I go about my business, but he was dead, eyes and mouth open.
He was an old dog, and a number of months ago, or maybe a year, he was diagnosed with heart failure. He was on medication, and he was pretty tired sometimes, and he'd also developed a problem with a restricted trachea around that time (or was that also caused by the heart?), so he often made this squeaking sound. The vet said today that most likely, he'd had a heart attack.
We got back maybe an hour and a half ago from having a "Pet Taxi" service take his body to the vet for cremation. No ashes for us. My mom didn't want that. But they'll send us a ceramic paw print, and also gave us some fur.
My mom is devastated, to say the least. Her daily routine was centered around him. She petted him, fed him all his snacks (many, many snacks), had him sleep on her bed, and he even ate dinner with her when she'd give him little pieces of her roast beef. She's a dog lover at heart, especially bichon frises like he was. You would not believe how many bichon-related things she has. I've contributed of course, but point is, she loves them to pieces.
Percy was my second dog in life. We got him in 2008 just a few days after my first dog, Scotty, also a bichon (hypoalergenic dogs, since we had allergies, but not specifically dog-related) died. Really fast, but it was my mom's decision. Percy was only 14 weeks old when we got him from the same breeder as Scotty. I still remember him as a puppy, barking happily in my arms when I picked him up to put him on my mom's bed.
He was a big, gluttonous, overweight, spoiled dog who already had some minor disorders to start. He was my mom's "babies" as she called him. She named him after the lead character in The Scarlet Pimpernel, after a movie she adored. Percy wasn't a very smart dog, to be honest, and he was timid. But he was very affectionate, and he will be missed greatly. I've already cried a lot yesterday.
Ironically, yesterday morning, my mom got a box of hypoallergenic treats she'd ordered for Percy. He'll never eat those now.
I know this is a mess and probably sharing more than I should, but I don't really care. I wanted to write something. I'll already be writing down other stuff for myself, just so I remember. I want to remember.
Percy (07/19/2008 - 11/17/18).
Goodbye, puppy.
So sorry to hear that, man. Are you guys doing okay?
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Better day by day, yeah. Taking lots of pictures of stuff, slowly writing things down to remember it. My mom's doing a bit better too, though it's still so weird, since there's such a massive hole in day to day routines.
Even for me, just getting up in the morning is weird, reminding me that Percy's not here anymore. Getting him off my mom's bed and feeding him was the first thing I did every single day. That, and I keep remembering Saturday.
My mom's arranging for a new puppy. It'll take a few weeks for it to get here. To be honest, my mom wasn't sure about us being able to handle a puppy at first, but it's a basic certainty. First time for a girl dog here too, not to mention a more... normal-sized bichon. Hopefully I can make the house is puppy-proof.
Thanks for the comment, by the way. I really appreciate it.