A very sad day.

On March 31, 2005, our sweet and loving companion, Rubu, passed away after a short battle with aggressive lymphoma. She was 11 years, 11 months old. Rubu was born on a farm in rural Minnesota and I adopted her from a co-worker when she was 6 weeks old.



She was an adorable friend who would cheerfully greet all visitors, and never complained about anything. She always knew where I was in the house and would follow me around and keep me company. She loved to watch the squirrels on the deck and usually slept in the living room to keep an eye on the backyard. One of her favorite things was to jump on my back while I was leaning over. I would walk around the house with her taking what we called, an elephant ride.



During her last few months, she was losing weight due to her illness. We were giving her prednisone and a digestive stimulant twice per day. Somehow I think she knew we were trying to help her. She tolerated having medicine squirted into her mouth, and didn't get mad at us. She would spend hours sleeping in my lap in the evenings. Two nights ago, I went to bed on the couch with her in my lap and we slept together for hours. Yesterday she jumped up into my lap and seemed okay, although by now she had become nothing more than skin and bones.

This morning, she quickly took a turn for the worse. She could hardly walk, her breathing was labored and she was moaning. We took her to the vet and learned that we needed to say goodbye. She continued to purr even in her last minutes.

We will miss her dearly.