sunny bunny

Sunny Bunny - Piper Belle
unknown - March 15th, 2010

Beauty is ever to the lonely mind a shadow fleeting
She is never plain, she is a visitor who leaves behind
the gift of grief, the souvenir of pain

Christopher Morley

When I adopted Piper in mid October last fall she was very thin. The shelter didn't know much about her as she had arrived there via the dog catcher - no one ever came to claim her. It was obvious that she had very recently had puppies, that she had possibly been still nursing when she was picked up. She mothered stuffed toys and squeaky balls, gathering them like babies in the nest she made in her kennel at the shelter.

She & Bess hit it off, instantly, and like a house on fire - the cowboy and I would often comment how lucky we were to have two dogs that played so well (and so much) together. Miss D, the senior boss dog of our new pack of three, was always content to referee, to step in with an intimidating snarl if she felt Bess & Piper were getting too rough with each other. Quite suddenly Piper stopped tolerating Bess. She didn't want to play anymore and really seemed to want nothing to do with Bess. We assumed that it was because Bess was growing so much bigger than Piper and Bess (a 9 month old lab puppy) was/is rough, rowdy and a brat - most of the time. I began to worry that Piper was depressed and I wondered if she'd be happier in a home where she was the only dog. The next sign that something was amiss was Piper became very finicky about her food, her appetite was at times non existent. I spent many days trying to dream up something that would appeal to her. Eggs one day, beef another, cottage cheese ... She was already such a thin dog it became crucial every day that I got her to eat at least two small meals.

A few weeks ago we began to notice her breathing was laboured and she had developed a retching cough. We went to our local vet twice. Blood work, stool samples and a possibility of lung worm - perhaps ? maybe ?? It could be this ?? It could be that ?? This weekend Piper stopped wanting to go on our twice daily walks, it became nearly impossible to get her to eat anything and her breathing had gone from laboured to a puffy kind of shallow panting. I decided it was time for a second opinion and yesterday we took her to the vet in the nearby town, 45 minutes away - to the vet who has been looking after all of my animals since I've lived in this little village - 17+ years.

Everyone made such a fuss over Piper yesterday in the reception area at the vet's office. Everyone always does - everywhere we ever went people were always so drawn to her. That face cuter & sweeter than a stuffed toy dog, the funniest most expressive ears, the waggiest tail, huge gigantic paws that looked as if they'd been grafted on her from some much larger breed. A shaggy, wiry coat the colour hinting at some coyote heritage and her personality as warm and gentle as a lamb - Sunny Bunny I nicknamed her just days after she came to live here.

Piper's xrays yesterday showed a chest cavity filled with tumours. Lung cancer. The vet suspects that she may have been much older than we initially thought and that yes she must have had this cancer for some time. I was talking to MLou this past Saturday and I remember saying how I was worried that PB might have heart failure she seemed suddenly so very frail and weak. As the vet and I looked at the xrays yesterday she just put her arm around my shoulder and said I'm so sorry Susan. Oh ... I'm so sorry Piper Belle.

She was with us for 5 months. She simply adored the cowboy. Every single night she sat between us on the sofa to watch the evenings movie presentation. She watched each movie with such intensity that the cowboy would tease her and suggest perhaps she was paying such rapt attention just in case there might be pop movie quiz in the morning.

Miss D loved her, we all loved her and we already miss her. Sleep tight sweet Piper Belle.