The Life of a Princess By Dr. John H. Jones

                                       

                         For years we kept on our refrigerator an old “Peanuts” comic strip.  Charlie Brown says to Snoopy, “What would you say if I told you I was going to devote the rest of my life to making you happy?  We’ll go for long walks in the woods and romp around in the yard.  You’ll sit in my lap and I’ll scratch your ears, and we’ll watch TV and I’ll give you cookies.” 

                        To which Snoopy replies, “What kind of cookies?”  That in a nutshell was the essence of our little Welsh Corgi, “Bunny.” 

                        She was known to many of her friends and fans as “Princess Bunny.”  Maybe because of my own Welsh roots, I was never completely comfortable with that royal title and usually referred to her as “The Bun.”  And I think she liked that.                     

                         But, the title certainly suited her. Unlike our Border Collies whose goal in life is to be eternally busy and devoted to their sheep herding “job”, Princess Bunny never really cared much for work, even though Corgis are technically a herding breed. 

                        Why work when you can beg?  She did that quite well, probably because she was very, very cute---“too cute for words,” according to her Aunt Cindy.  Although I loved her dearly, in a world of givers and takers, Bunny was a bit of a taker---a taker of treats and affection, and a stealer of hearts.  Somewhat aloof at times, if a treat was involved, she quickly became your best friend.  She was generous in her appreciation, too, and would reward her benefactor with multiple “low fives.”  Being a Corgi, "high fives" just weren't possible. 

                        Like many princesses, Bunny also had a royal carriage, my wife’s Honda Pilot, and relished the heated seat as they rode back and forth to work every day.  She never lost touch with the common man, though, and was always up for a ride in the “big truck,” where she liked to stretch her long Corgi body on the pick-up’s bench seat.

                        Bunny made a yearly pilgrimage to Mrs. Wiechart’s first grade class at Franklin Elementary School where she was a hit with the kids.  She was even a “Children’s Best Friend” at the Delphos Public Library, and was awarded a certificate for that. And. the Women in Science Conference held at Premcor Refinery was frequented several times by “Bunny in Science.” Like another Princess of Wales, Diana, Bunny was a splendid goodwill ambassador.  I guess she did have a job after all.

                        One day last April, Bunny wasn’t herself.  Somewhat sluggish, she didn’t do her usual dive into breakfast. Having parents with ready access to a blood chemistry machine meant a serum profile was in order. 

                        Bunny had been hypothyroid for years, and a liver enzyme (ALT) had been elevated for quite some time, but she showed no ill effects from either.  A test taken a month earlier revealed no major changes.  The results of this new test, however, caught us completely off-guard, and not in a good way. 

                        Bunny was in kidney failure.  Her creatinine value, an amino acid used to monitor renal function, was substantially high.  This was an instantaneous, slap-in-the face realization that our precious little dog was going to die. 

                        But, that didn’t mean we were going to let her go without a fight---especially her mother, “The Bon.”  Yes, that could be confusing. 

                        Possible causes were considered and explored, a plethora of tests run, and every known treatment tried.  Bunny lost no weight during this time, and continued to look good, and act, for the most part, like her old princess self. 

                        Bunny maintained this vigor because of her mother’s steadfast devotion to her diet, constantly tweaking her protein and carbohydrate sources to keep her interested in eating.  One more meal meant one more day.  We knew we were losing the battle, though, as her creatinine values kept creeping up, in spite of Bonnie’s efforts.

                        Euthanasia is something my wife and I deal with virtually every day, and we are constantly impressed by the courage, dignity, and grace shown by our clients when they make this difficult and painful decision.  We, too, have had to make this decision for some of our own pets, but even the thought of doing that to Bunny was heartbreaking and inconceivable. 

                        Early one Monday morning in January, that decision was taken from us.  At 3:20 a.m. we were awakened by a single gasp, and Bunny was gone.  The little princess, who took so much of our hearts (and our treats), at the very end of her life, gave us a great gift. 

                        So what kind of cookies?  Whatever kind she wanted.  She was really cute.

 

 The Lima News- March 6, 2011

The Delphos Herald- March 15, 2011