Just as I'm writing this, Rosa, the sweestest donkey of our shelter, was PTS.
Early summer, soon after her feet trim, Rosa developed a nasty abcess, to the point she laid motionless, in excruciating pain, for several days, without eating. She recovered, but not totally. Her hoof dropped off, she developed another healthy hoof, but she never regained her appetite.
As a consequence, her weight dropped and she became more and more thin and frail. We gave her vitamins, introduced all kinds of novelties in her feed, just to get her to eat. Deep down, I knew that unless she put on weight, she wouldn't survive the winter...
She also became rather arthritic and she seemed to move in discomfort. Most mornings, she needed help from us, in order to stand up...
Last week I noticed she was developing a huge bulge by her hip bone. Over the weekend, the bulge opened and it turned into a massive abcess, draining. This was a good sign and she seemed to regain some of her appetite. It looked hopeful.
But yesterday she didn't get up and the abcess was filled with pus again. We needed 3 men to stand her and one of her legs had no feeling and was ice cold. We spent the rest of the day massaging her leg. As we left, Rosa was standing, munching, but her pastern joint had still no feeling nor mobility,. The abcess drained again and she seemed releaved.
But I knew her time was up. I still had the chance to tell her how much I loved her and how important she was to me.
I came home and I told DM that Rosa had came to the end of her life track. We agreed to call the vet and leave to his discretion euthanasia.
I only have one regret, the fact that I wanted to be there with her, to hold her head in my lap and to caress her, to kiss her goodbye, but DM said he'd call me as soon as the vet got there, and he never did...
I know he only tried to protect me emotionally, but I wanted to be there for her...
Rosa was one of the most beautiful, gentle natured donkeys I ever met. She didn't like the other donkeys, but she loved being around people. Often Rosa would greet us by the gate, or she'd wal all way along the shelter's field to meet me and to say 'hi'
I'm gutted.... This has been a dreadful end of the year, with so many losses, and Rosa was no doubt one of the greatest.
Rosa had been with us since February 2008.
This was one of our earlier pictures, spring 2008.
RIP my sweet. Life will never be the same without you and my heart shall carry your hoof prints.
