...: Marsh Chatter
Ziva Crosses Rainbow Bridge
Saturday night at about 11pm, July 11th, 2020 - amid the COVID-19 pandemic - Ziva had reached her limit among her Earthly family.
Ziva has been sick for more than a year. She became diabetic - which meant weekly testing and adjusting her insulin injections, until finally arriving at an amount which worked for her.
Besides being diabetic, for about the last year, you could tell that her body was beginning to show her age. Unfortunately, her mind was still puppy like.
She wanted to play ball. She tried jumping but only one or two would happen before she had to rest. She tried running after her herding ball. Too many times she cartwheeled and hurt her tender left front paw - an old Frisbee catching injury.
Old age is tough. It is even tougher for a pet - because they cannot directly speak to us. We have to rely on basic communication - that look in their eyes, the slight limpy walk, or the slow careful climb up the back steps.
Ziva knew it was time - but she didn't tell us. She came in from her "last outs", went upstairs before me, while I closed up the house - our nightly habit for years.
She laid down in her spot in the hallway.
When I came up - I knew something was up - as she did not have her back to the wall. Her feet were towards the wall.
She was also breathing "funny" - if you've seen the last stages of death - you know what I mean. I had the feeling, at that point that Ziva was leaving us. I sat down next to her head and rubbed her ears and head - like I've done since she became part of the family in late 2009. I listened to her and talked to her.
After a couple of minutes when I was sure this was not a 'spell' - I woke Shari and let her know. We both sat with her as she finished her life with us.
Ziva when we first met her
Thank you, Ziva. We enjoyed having you with us. Everyone loved you.