RIP Derwood
by suzi
(St. James Missouri)
Derwood is the last of 3 brothers that I bought in the Winter of 2013. He passed away this afternoon after being nursed through hind end paralysis and a tumor on his neck. I got even closer to him than I could have imagined these last months after he lost his last playmate, because I spent much more time interacting with him so he wouldn’t be bored. In his last few weeks I hand fed him everything healthy that he would eat, and I hung his water bottle of gatorade near his head for ease of drinking. I hand washed him which encouraged him to groom and covered him with his blanket at night. It created a bond between us that is now every bit as painful as loosing one of the more popular companion animals such as a dog. Who’d a thought? These wonderful animals deserve so many more than the ‘1000 days’ nature gives them.
Derwood is buried near his brothers in the perennial garden under the window they lived next to most of their lives.
RIP dear boy, I’m so sorry.