Farewell Flopsy

Farewell Flopsy.  Flopsy died last Monday.  Here’s a picture of Yaneth holding Flopsy earlier this year.  He has been my constant companion since he came to live with us.  Several years ago, while still living in Ciudad Colon, Animal Rescue friends asked if I would adopt some dogs that had been tortured by a very sick man.  He had already killed several dogs and, finally, the neighbors had had enough of hearing the pitiful yelps of dogs getting beaten.  Flopsy came to us with broken ribs, a broken jaw, missing teeth and lesions all over him.  He could barely breathe without whimpering in pain.  I swore the day he came to us that he would never suffer again, if I could help it.  It took a long time for his injuries to heal, and years longer before he would even let us pick him up without yelping in terror.  But time heals all wounds, and we were so glad when he trusted us enough to finally let us pick him up and hold him. 

And, thus, he lived at the farm and went with me everywhere.   We took the most recent pictures of Flopsy, while hiking with Armando and the other dogs down to the waterfalls this past August.  He kept up just fine with all the other dogs, despite having lots of white whiskers – showing his age.  But he remained healthy and active until just a few weeks ago, when I noticed that he was losing steam, couldn’t keep on weight, and began showing signs of kidney failure – an ailment that had already taken his companions, Chispa and Spotty.  Thus, we sadly recognized the same symptoms.  I suspect the cause of the kidney failure but am not sure – we have taken preventive measures. 

The last week, we knew that, soon, Flopsy was going to die and that there was nothing we could do but support him and keep him comfortable – and let him rest peacefully at home.  We have learned that if we take a dog with kidney failure to the vet, the dog does not come back home alive.  In no way do I want to denigrate our very fine and compassionate small animal vet, Dr. Rojas, in Ciudad Colon.  But he would be the first to agree that, sometimes, it’s best to keep the patient comfortable at home and not subject a dying animal to more stress, like IV drips and caged confinement, closed up with other sick animals.  Flopsy had a very good life after his rescue.  He brought smiles to us all with his very conversational…waoo wuoo wao wuoo and was much loved.   Farewell Flopsy.