Bobbie came into my life when I began courting my wife in late 2002. He was very hostile to me the first time I met him as I saw my then girlfriend home after a late night outing. It was very natural of him to behave that way as he wanted to protect his young mistress from a total stranger he had never met before. Ah....., that was our initial greeting.
When Lisa and I got married, Bobbie moved in with us into our new house. He liked the new place and did not take very long to get accustomed to the new environment and identifying his favourite resting spot, which was the entrance to the kitchen. During the day, he would lay at his spot with his pillow, blanket and stuffed toys, waiting patiently for us to come home from work. When he heard us at the door step, Bobbie would frantically jumped and barked to express his excitement in greeting us. On many occasions when I came home after a long business trip, he would jump on me in joy when I stepped into the house. I knew he missed me - we had a special bond.
About a week ago, Bobbie was passing out stools containing blood. Shortly, he began vomiting food which also contained traces of bloods. Worried about his condition, he was immediately admitted to the animal hospital. We learned from the veterinarian that Bobbie's immune system had began systematically attacking both his red and white blood cells and his platelets level was low. Bobbie was administered some pretty strong medication to raise his platelets level and he began to show signs of improvement. The vet discharged Bobbie on Wednesday when he was seen lively and active, platelets level restored to normal and stopped vomiting; much to our delight.
Things took a sudden turn when Bobbie began vomiting food and suffering from diarrhoea yesterday. The vomiting stopped and he was up and active again until late into midnight, his vomiting and diarrhoea became frequent, to a point where there was hardly any solid food to discharge. He was breathing heavily and felt weak; one could tell he was in some kind of a pain. He was admitted to the hospital first thing in the morning when it was opened and the vet decided to keep him in the hospital for observation. Initial assessment suspected that he could be reacting to the strong medication to stop the immune system from attacking good cells, but the stomach was experiencing gastric complication. Both Lisa and I last saw Bobbie when he was taken away from the consultation room to his cage. By lunch time, we got a call from the hospital that Bobbie collasped in his cage and could not be resuscitated after several attempts. Though the cause of his death is still unknown, a post-mortem procedure would have to be carried out to find the answer. But to Lisa and I, it did not matter any longer as God had decided to take Bobbie away from his suffering to be with him. We are sad but thankful that we need not decide on the best choice to end his pain, like putting him to sleep.
From a total stranger to being a part of my small family set up, Bobbie is a son that I have never had. As I am trying to finish the last paragragh of this posting, the sight of Bobbies' toys and pillow bring about droplets of tears for a loss I did not expect. Tonight, the house is unusually quiet as both Lisa and I grief silently on our own. Bobbie will always remain in my heart forever for as long as I live and I shall miss him from today onwards. To Bobbie, my son, may you find peace and comfort in God's embrace. I love you always, my son.
