Goodbye, Cotton.

We woke up with one less family member today. Cotton, our golden retriever, was put to sleep last night around 8:30. God wants us to give thanks in everything, so I want to write a short bit about the joy Cotton brought to our family.

We adopted Cotton when he was a pup from our friend Tillie in Wichita, KS, whom had adopted him from the Humane Society. We brought Cotton home to Haven,KS, where we lived at the time. He and Dixie, who was still a pup as well and had only been with us for about a month or two, hit it off right away. Travis whistle-trained Cotton to hunt, just as he did Dixie. Cotton "hunted" for enjoyment, however, not for business like Dixie did. Cotton was the nose of the two and Dixie was the speed. Watching them fetch the fetching dummy was always hilarious to watch. Cotton would almost always find the dummy first, because of his sense of smell. He would take it out of Dixie's path, lay down, and put his trophy between his front paws as if to say, "I got it. Victory is sweet." Dixie, however, was sometimes right on his tail and Cotton didn't have time to go protect his prize. Dixie is about business, the business of fetching her dummy or bird and then bringing it back to Travis for praise! Cotton, in a feeble attempt to dissuade Dixie from taking the dummy, would run around in circles, while Dixie tried and would finally succeed in stealing the dummy right out of his mouth! This game was the source of endless laughs for all of us. Then Dixie would run back to Travis with the stolen dummy and she would get the praise. Cotton brought many smiles, love licks and company to our family and we will miss him.
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Travis called me from his cell phone last night (just as he had gotten home from work) while I was fixing supper and told me he was across the street with our neighbor, Keith. He instructed me to quickly find a veterinarian, because Cotton was convulsing.

Dogs need to run once-in-a-while, so I let Dixie and Cotton out every Friday when I mow so they can go romp for a few hours. They always back home at dark or before then. Dixie and Cotton have also developed a relationship with Keith, our neighbor, and his scrawny LITTLE mutt named Chubaka. Keith said all three dogs were playing and suddenly Cotton threw up and started convulsing shortly thereafter.

We made the decision, based on Cotton's alertness, to take him to the nearest animal emergency center, which is about 30 miles from here in Mandiville. We took the two back seats out of the van and loaded up the family, plus Cotton. Travis sat in the back to calm and comfort Cotton during the trip.

Cotton's situation was not hopeful, based on the veterinarian's opinion once we got to the emergency center. Cotton's temperature had been so high (it didn't even register on their thermometer) and he had convulsed for so long that she said he would only have about a 25% chance of surviving and living a half-way normal life. She said he most likely would not be able to control his bowels again and would need to be on seizure medicine the rest of his life.

I was at McDonald's getting supper for the kids when Travis made the wise decision to put Cotton down.

Cotton was in a cardboard "coffin" ready to come home with us when I returned from McDonald's with the kids. We asked the woman at the front desk for a moment with our kids to explain. The kids were very upset, of course. Telling them their dog had died was not easy or pleasant. It hurts when your kids hurt and you are helpless in turning the situation around. We explained Cotton did not hurt anymore because he was dead and that he was going to ride home with us in a box so we could bury him in our yard.

The mostly-quiet, tear-filled ride home was difficult for everyone. Madalynn asked at one point, "Mom, is Dixie going to be lonely?" I told her most likely she would be lonely and sad because her friend was gone.

The evening seemed surreal and we tucked into bed feeling sad. Today is a new day. We plan on having a nice little doggie burial for Cotton after Travis gets the hole dug for his dog coffin so the children can have some kind of closure and hopefully understanding. Life is bittersweet.