Pet Thread

[meow]

LiveAquaria

Annnnd I spent $200

[Shyster]

On the subject of fish, the YouTube channel "Foo the Flowerhorn" has some of the best aquarium videography I've ever seen. Even if someone is not into aquariums, the videos themselves are a nice, relaxing watch, with calming classical music. He has a number of tanks that he records, one of them featuring the titular flowerhorn. Here's a no-filter planted Betta tank:

[NTP66]

LiveAquaria

Annnnd I spent $200

They regularly sell fish that cost four figures. You won’t be disappointed with them.

[meow]

Nice. I only got plants and some driftwood this time. We have a real nice little aquarium shop near me. I hope I keep having good experiences buying fish from there. Shop local, amirite?

[dodint]

Elmers in Monroeville was my favorite.

[NTP66]

I shop local when I can, but online shops can get so much more than the average fish store - especially in the saltwater realm.

[meow]

Still thinking about the rainbow shark. What is your beef with them?

[NTP66]

They’re notorious fin nippers. If you do get one from a local pet store, you may want to ask if they’ll accept a trade in should yours turn out to be a menace. Maybe you’ll luck out and you’ll wind up with a peaceful one.

[dodint]

Cadence passed today, perfect to the end. The vet that came to the house said she was unusually compliant through the whole thing. It was so peaceful the actual moment of passing was undetectable without a stethescope. She just closed her eyes and was gone.

To help cope I started writing a letter to her about a week ago. I added some pictures and put it online if anyone really wants to get a feel for just how much mutual adoration the three of us had for one another.
http://nathangess.com/2020/04/17/a-lett ... inal-walk/

Took this at Linn Run on Thursday. We went for a nice walk this morning, but the trip to Linn Run really was her last great day.



I feel very much unburdened, we had this hanging over our heads since January. The last two weeks trying to get the timing exactly right was hard, but I am pretty sure we got it exactly right.



I miss her already.

[AuthorTony]

I'm sorry. I know what it's like and my heart breaks for you.

Edit: I made it about two sentences into your letter to her and was a bawling mess.

[dodint]

The letter is pretty raw and unpolished but it's straight from my heart to hers so I am not going to fuss with it anymore.

[willeyeam]

[Willie Kool]

So sorry dodint.

[NTP66]

So sorry dodint.

[skullman80]

So sorry dodint.

[shafnutz05]

Dodint, so sorry for your loss. I choose to believe there IS a Rainbow Bridge out there, because I can't fathom truly never seeing our best friends again. My condolences

[MrKennethTKangaroo]

I think its pretty sweet that you got to go to Linn run. That is as good of a send off as you could ask for

But it still sucks

[Dickie Dunn]

So sorry dodint.

[Lemon Berry Lobster]

So sorry dodint.

[tifosi77]

RIP Cadence. She was a very good girl.

Saying goodbye to such a good girl is difficult in the best of times, but with everything going on right now.......... please give Mrs Dodint a hug from all of us.

The letter is beautiful. If you need to vent, you know how you can find me.

[Gaucho]

sorry dodint

[dodint]

Thanks everyone, with the isolation and all I've been hanging on the kind words here and other places I've mentioned it online. Normally I'm not very responsive to that kind of thing but I'm feeling very alone right now and it helps a lot.

Dodint, so sorry for your loss. I choose to believe there IS a Rainbow Bridge out there, because I can't fathom truly never seeing our best friends again. My condolences

I'm too rigid to allow myself to let my mind wander enough to entertain that as a certainty, but I'll fully admit that it would be great if it turns out that way. Thanks.

I think its pretty sweet that you got to go to Linn run. That is as good of a send off as you could ask for

But it still sucks

It was such a beautiful day. The weather called for it be be a little chilly and windy but it turned out to be clear. Even in the woods the sun shone down and warmed us. And there were no crowds, we only saw two other couples and they kept their distance. She really did have a great day in the woods. She was enthusiastic and had no trouble getting around. She even leaped up over a few fallen trees in a way that I haven't seen in months. We had a nice dinner (takeout from Rizzo's) and drove back home. When she fell asleep on the couch I curled up with her. She was dreaming and doing that bit where the dog will make muffled barks and gently kick their feet as if they're chasing something. I hope they were the best dreams. Later that night we went to bed and got a restful night of sleep. I could not have asked for a better day with her.

Friday was tough. I was moody and disagreeable and the dog, as usual, mirrored my disposition. Her trip to Linn Run had been so great that I had serious doubts about whether we were going through with it too soon.

We made the best of Saturday, but what are you going to do? The appointment with the vet was at 1pm. We laid in bed later than usual then got up to go for her walk. She was happy to be out walking but the enthusiasm had wanted. She was the slowest she had ever been and had a lot of trouble getting in and out of the car. When we got home she refused a treat for the first time in her life. I don't know if she was putting on a show for me, sensing the end was near, or really had given up. Either way her demeanor that morning gave me enough validation and subsequent strength to be strong for her in the afternoon.

RIP Cadence. She was a very good girl.

Saying goodbye to such a good girl is difficult in the best of times, but with everything going on right now.......... please give Mrs Dodint a hug from all of us.

The letter is beautiful. If you need to vent, you know how you can find me.

Yeah, Ash and I have been alternating in supporting each other. We rarely cry together it seems, we just take turns being available. Helps to have great friends, too.

When you said goodbye to Carlin it shook me pretty good because I knew Cadence's time was getting shorter. I thought about Carlin, and you, through much of this process. Your willingness to share that experience is a part of why I've chosen to not internalize and push away my feelings through this. Thank you.

[meow]

Well this stinks. I’m really sorry dodint.

[tifosi77]

It took me probably a year to get to a point where my first impulse when thinking about Carlin was to smile instead of cry; I dreamt about her almost every night during that time. I miss her goofy face very, very much, and not a single day goes by that I don't pat the tattoo of her paw print I have on my chest.

You are a very lucky guy to have that ahead of you, because of what experiences cleared the path for that journey.

[dodint]

Thanks.

For now waking up in my house feels like being in a hotel. She slept between my legs for years, the only time I got non-constricted sleep was when I was on the road for travel. Combine that with the quietness and having moved some of her things away already it has completely changed the character of the home.

I went to the Anheuser-Busch museum on my way to a race in Kansas last year. We picked her up a clydesdale stuffed animal. For some reason she played with it a lot but never tore it apart; her favorite thing was to tear the stuffing out of toys. I took her collar and put it on this toy and have been putting it in her chair and on the shelf on our headboard. It sounds absolutely juvenile but it is an effective alternative to nothingness while I wait for her cremains to come back.