A couple of folks wondered if Meltdown hung on so long because we wanted her
to.  Actually, we originally expected her to go within weeks, then since
November we've known she could go any time, but each time something went
wrong Meltie seemed to have the attitude that between Hanan, Steve, and me
we could set anything right again.  Remember that her only pain from her
ascites was early on when it began in November but since she had such an
amazing tolerance of furosemide that became beautifully controlled, and
until the final clots she threw the upshot of each one thrown before was
that she came back to near perfect shape within 12 to 36 hours.  Through the
entire year and a few weeks I don't think she had to force fed more than
four meals, either.  It was only (how long?  -- something like a week?) ago
that she tried (and succeeded until I caught her) to gallop.  She stopped
eating for part of a day two days before she passed on, but then she started
again on her own, as she had done once before.  She was able to take walks
on her own until something like 11 at night or midnight the night before she
died, and she was still playing then.  For whatever reason the clot in her
left kidney did not hurt her the day it happened, though it did the next
morning which was her final morning.  She insisted on meeting a new child
the day before she died.  She was still cuddling us and Warp.  If anything,
Meltdown probably thought we'd be able to fix her final damage as well, but
the only gift we could give her then was the final one of a mercy shot, and
that was the only thing which was fair to her at that point.  She probably
enjoyed life more than any other individual of any species I have ever
known, and by doing that she sure showed us what having that sort of
attitude can achieve.  We'll always be happy that her suffering was short
and her life was full because she decided that it would be.  She'll always
be an inspiration that way.
 
Love,  Sukie
[Posted in FML issue 1894]