name game

My husband and I name all our pets after our favorite characters in movies. 

First was our small, black,  carnival-prize bunny, Ed.  She was named after Holly Hunter’s character in Raising Arizona.  (Short for Edwina – turn to the right!)  We didn’t win her in the carnival, one of my nieces did.  When we found out my niece won her we went to the carnival ourselves and dropped at least twenty bucks at the ping-pong-ball-in-the-glass game trying to win our own.  We justified it as trying to save a poor, most certainly mistreated animal.  Really we just wanted something small and soft to squeeze.  We were ultimately given the bunny because obviously my husband’s sister and brother-in-law are much smarter than we are.  Having  a pet bunny is like having a deaf, incontinent cat that chews on everything.  I swear that rabbits must not conduct electricity, because every electrical cord in our apartment was chewed down to the wires.  We gave Ed away (cage and all) to a mother who wanted a small animal for her home-schooled kids to learn from and take care of.  My husband thinks they ate her. 

Next was our cat, Hi,  named after H.I. McDonough, also from Raising Arizona.  Then, Nikita, from La Femme Nikita.  Shortly after was Ripley, which was Sigorney Weaver’s character in the Alien movies.  Our latest addition is Mathilda, which was Natalie Portman’s role in the film The Professional. 

As carefully chosen as all our pet’s names are, we usually call them by some elaborate nick-name that we’ve concocted. 

Ed was Rocket-Butt, because of her ability to go from completely still to three feet in the air in a fraction of a second. 

We normally call Hi, Boo, or Boo-Kitty.  Sometimes Boocifer or Booelzebub (he is rather evil).  Other times he’s Orange One or Long-Tail (these are his Native American names). 

Nikita was usually referred to as The Husky (not very original, we know).  But, there was also Husky-Mutt, Fluff-Mutt and Howler-Mutt.  Princess Cross-Paws and Nisquita were also popular. 

I think that Ripley wins in the number of nick-names category.  Chub Scout, Roundly-Houndly, Hippobottomus, Thunder-Chicken, Ottoman-Dog, Ripilina and Chub-Mutt are the most often used. 

We’ve only had Mathilda a few days so Silly-Tilly is all that we’ve come up with so far for her.  Well, there’s also Worm-Butt, but we hope that the vet takes care of that on Friday. 

Missing her

Yesterday was the hardest day.  Walking her into the vet, walking out without her.  Holding her head as she slipped away. 
We’re having her cremated.  Yes, it’s a crazy dog person thing to do, but we don’t care.  The thought of having to dig a big hole and then cover her with dirt was making us both emotionally ill.  Our vet cremates the pets himself on his own property.  He assured us that he does it one at a time.  We bought a nice metal urn for her and will be able to pick her up in a few days. 
She’ll go on the mantel.  Right next to grandpa. 

Ultrasound

The vet said her blood looked okay, but something may be wrong with her liver.  We have an appointment for an ultrasound on Thursday morning.  The situation is everything but ultra sound. 

More waiting. 

Not sure how much more of this we can take.  My husband is beside himself with worry.  I’m beside him, worrying for him and the husky. 

It’s ridiculous how attached we let ourselves become.  It is almost guaranteed that we will out-live our pets, but we don’t hold back our hearts.  We pour our love into that finite space knowing that it will all burst apart one day.  But, what is the point of owning a pet if you are not willing to shed a few, or a thousand, tears when they are gone? 

Sick puppy

No joke.  I have one. 
Okay, technically she’s a six year old husky, but she’ll always be my puppy.  She’s not eating, drinking a lot of water and not moving very much.  The vet has her blood.  We’ll know more on Monday.  But what am I supposed to do until then?  How do you explain to a dog that you’re trying to make it better?  How to do you pet her, kiss her, look her in the eye so she will understand that you will do anything to make her pain go away?  She wags her tail when I pet her and say her name.  I cling to that. 
I hope I’m being dramatic.  I hope that she is just being bitchy and not eating because we haven’t found the exact chow she wants.  Maybe it’s middle age malaise, or maybe her New Year’s resolution was to lose some weight.  I don’t know.  I joke because I’m scared. 
She’s dreaming now.  Paws twitching.  I hope she catches whatever she’s chasing.  I hope her dreams make her happy.