Trooper came to us as a puppy, about two months old. He was born May 1st, 1991. He came through two owners after leaving his litter mates, a pet shop and then a woman, who, for whatever reason, decided she did not want him. Perhaps he was not show quality. In any event, it must have been a scary time for the little guy, being shunted from one place to another, without a chance to bond with anyone! That was about to change, in his favor.
Our son and his wife took him, and presented him to my wife and I, in July of 1991. We fell in love with him at first sight! He was so lively, and full of love, we could not have given him up for anything. But, he was about to face the worst time of his young life!
Just a few days after he came to our family, I came home from work one night, about two o'clock in the morning, to find him laying listlessly on the living room floor. He was very weak, and could barely raise his head.
After I woke my wife, we bundled him into the car, and rushed him to an emergency veterinary clinic. After testing and examining him, for what seemed like an eternity to us, the doctor came to tell us that Trooper was suffering from Parvovirus, almost certainly a death sentence, especially for a puppy of his age. We were crushed by this news.
We discussed, with the doctor, whether we should end his suffering. The doctor said she would like to try to treat him. So we decided to see what would happen, and made arrangements to transfer him, in the morning, to our regular veterinarian.
Later in the morning, I went back to the clinic, and transported Trooper to Pacific Avenue Veterinary Hospital, in Tacoma. After checking him over, the doctor placed him in a quarantine area, where he would stay for the next several days.
Each morning, I would go to the hospital, and look in on him.Every day seemed the same- he showed no sign of improving, but neither did he seem to get any worse. Finally, one morning, when I arrived and spoke his name, his head came up, and he feebly wagged his tail! I was so happy, I cried a little (read, more than a little)! He was still so weak, he could not yet get up, but he was getting over the sickness, thank God.
It would be several more days before he was well enough to come home, but finally, the wonderful day came when we could bring him home!
When Trooper came home, he joined our pet family, at that time consisting of Corky, an Old English Sheepdog, Buddy, a Yorkshire Terrier- Poodle mix, Squeaky, a long-haired hair machine cat (she REALLY shed), and Spud, another cat.
Corky has now gone ahead, to wait at the Bridge. When he was here, he loved to carry his traffic cone around, waiting for someone to try to take it away. He loved a game of tug-of-war! The cone sits alone, now. Perhaps he has one to play with, while he waits. I hope so!
Another of Trooper's playmates was Buddy, the Yorkie-Poodle mix. Buddy came to us from a family that was moving to another city, for a new job, and could not take him. He was a feisty little guy, and gave as good as he received. He is shown below, along with Corky, getting their instructions on what to do next, from the ring-leader, Trooper. Buddy is now waiting for us at the Bridge.
As can be seen in the picture above, we made the mistake of having Trooper's coat clipped, thinking he would be more comfortable in the summer. We did not make that mistake again. Fortunately for Trooper, his coat did grow back fairly well, but never quite as beautiful as it was originally. We have ever since felt guilty about it.
June 09, 2003, was a very sad, wrenching day for Suzanne and I.We discovered that Trooper had developed an aggressive, fast growing tumor that was attacking his spleen. The veterinarian, Dr. Tim Gintz, informed us that Trooper would very likely die on the table, were we to decide to have him operate. We decided to spare him the trauma, and asked Dr. Gintz to let Trooper go peacefully. We spent the last hour of his life stroking his fur, and comforting him as he started his journey to the Rainbow Bridge.
Trooper grew up with our cats, and always got along very well with them. Seen here , in one of his favorite poses, is Spud, the senior cat. Spud was with us for sixteen years.Sadly, Spud has gone to the Rainbow Bridge, to wait with the rest of our pets, for us to join him.We have added several cats to our family, since Spud's departure.Nicolai, Black Bart, and the newest member of the Bell kitty family, Kirby.In the future, I will add information and pictures of each of these to their own page.
Trooper's departure left us with with a huge emotional gap in our home, and it was not long before we adopted Taz. I will soon have more on his page.
This page will be added to, frequently. Please check back. Updated July 08, 2008