[Gpdd] RAINBOW BRIDGE: A Rewrite of Ebeneezer of the Three Jolly Rodents

[Algernon07 at aol.com]

According to a song playing on the radio right now, "life goes on, long after 
the thrill of living is gone...." 
       
   Perhaps it is that way sometimes, but it sure isn't always so!      

       Ebeneezer WoollyBear never lost his sense of aliveness or the thrill 
of living even up to the very end. 

   Described once as "a pig for all seasons," Ebeneezer, a rex, truly was 
unique. He was bright, ever inquisitive, always on the lookout for fun. He was 
the jolliest of the Three Jolly Rodents.

       He hurled himself into life and plunged into every opportunity it 
offered. He and his cagemate Wilson would do figure 8 laps around their 
cuddlecups, with Ebe periodically throwing himself into one, landing on his back -- 
gaily waving all his little feet and paws in the air then leaping out and 
rejoining Wilson in the race. And he never just walked when he could purr and 
rumblestrut, ladies in the vicinity or not.

       I don't know exactly when he was born -- sometime in late July or  
early August of 2002 -- less than two years ago. He was described to me as a 
"lion guinea pig," so it's fitting that he was a Leo.

       I remember the day we "met" although he had not yet become my guinea 
pig. He had been an unexpected to gift to one of my young grandaughters. His 
original name was "Cutie Pie."

    I had been looking forward to meeting the little guy. He was still small 
when I first beheld him. I picked him up and held him against my lower chest 
and fell in love with those intelligent, inquisitive eyes that never left mine. 
He was rather a funny looking character, too, with coarse hair and a funny 
little face. 
       
       I wanted to kidnap him then and there. 

       Eventually I got my wish and was given "custody" of him. There was no 
way I'd relinquish him.

       He lived with a GP friendly cat at his original home who, neverthless, 
once bit him on the ear. But even as a little fellow, Ebeneezer, would turn 
around and give chase. My cat is not GP friendly sorry to say so they could 
never play together. Still, Ebeneezer was not afraid of him and would leap, turn 
and eye him challengingly whenever the cat reached through the cage and 
touched his backside.

       Along with Wilson and Mr. Cooders, the other two of the Three Jolly 
Rodents group, Beethoven was his best buddy. He was thrilled when Beethoven 
invited him to perform The Rumblestrut Blues with him on the Cape Alava trip. 
Snickers and Snowball were also part of the band. The guys currently have an 
unreleased CD in progress.

       And of course we all know where this is going, and it is becoming 
increasingly difficult for me to write. 

       Last Wednesday night (a week ago) I realized that something was very 
wrong with Ebeneezer. I got ahold of a recommended (but out of town) vet who 
would see him the next A.M. I actually debated whether I should shop around a 
bit via the phone. I should have. I was convinced that he had some kind of 
urinary bockage or intestinal blockage or perhaps (I hoped) just some painful anal 
impaction. Vet announced that the bladder was fine in terms of blockage -- 
alas, no x-rays were taken. Why didn't she ask if I wanted him x-rayed? Why 
didn't I insist? I did mention the possibility of a bladder stone at least three 
times. She assured me that she'd be able to tell and that there was none. She 
looked up further info on guinea pigs and decided that it might be cystitis. She 
gave me Baytril for him. Such relief, the night before I just "felt" that I 
was going to lose him.

       For now let me skip the details -- the yummy treats I ruined for him 
while he was still wanting to eat by powdering crushed Baytril (sp?) on his 
cantaloupe, green pepper, water mellon. And then there were the romaine/yogurt 
roll-ups. And of course the struggles with the attempted syringe administerings 
of medication and water.

       I called Sunday night wanting to meet someone at the vet's office to 
have him put to sleep. He was in such misery that evening, wheeeking and 
straining terribly to produce tiny spots of urine that were mostly blood. I doubled 
his medication dosage knowing he was only getting about half of what I was 
trying to get down him. I even thought it was helping because he'd go through 
periods when he was resting, cuddling beside me, climbing up on my lap and chest. 
And his eyes never lost that alertness, that special bright light. That 
bright light that resided within him.  I did get one of two tiny piggy bites of a 
couple favorite things down him -- tried syringing water, all that. At least he 
managed to eat a nice little piece of apple.

       Another regret -- he loved corn on the cob tho I seldom give it to the 
little guys. I thought of giving him some that night but never quite did. I 
think I was afraid that that might make things worse.

       Strangely, that last night, when he wasn't in intense pain -- and even 
when he was, there was almost a sacred aura around us. Almost like the 
comforting presence of God.

       Joe, George the GP's daddy, says that they feel and know that love and 
that night it went both ways. We were enveloped in a sacred stillness.

       I took his cage in beside my bed that night and when he again began 
wheeking pitiously, I got up with him, dosed him with more medication while 
praying that it was cystitis but somehow almost knowing otherwise. And so we spent 
more time togther on the couch.

       The next A.M. I made some phone calls and took him in to another vet, 
traveling in the opposite direction -- an exotics vet.

       They sedated him for x-rays and then I had a decision to make. Had I 
chosen this vet the previous week perhaps he's still be with me, recovering 
from surgery. As it was, the prognosis was poor. I have, in the past, waited too 
long to bring things to an end and the pain and suffering that resulted haunt 
me yet.

       So I made the decision to have him put to sleep after carefully 
inquiring as to how it was to be done, what they'd use, etc. They sedated him 
further, brought him back to me in his little blanket and I cuddled him to me as the 
vet injected him. I told him all the things I wanted him to know. The vet 
periodically checked his heart and in a few minutes it had stopped completely. 

       He was gone.

       I brought his little body home, laid him peacefully on the little 
while blanket and simply stroked him and wept for several hours. I did lay him, 
still on the blanket, in the cage he shared with Wilson for a little while. 
Remembering Jim with Koko and Abby, I felt that Wilson too might need time with 
Ebeneezer. I'm sorry that I didn't also give Mr. Cooders that opportunity. I 
meant to.  
    
    I had called someone to come and dig a grave for me so when he arrived 
our private time was over. Ebeneezer is buried beside the lilac bush he helped 
fertilize in life.

       So Ebeneezer is no more -- though I know he is with piggy friends  
waiting for me to one day meet him at the Bridge. 

       Still, my heart is broken.

          For those of you who have lost their dear ones too recently, I'm so 
sorry I couldn't write. I ached for each one of you as I read of the loss of 
such special and much loved little ones.

God bless them all,
Alge