Blame the last try on the shock of losing Hope - I didn't save the file in
ascii text.
 
Hope was a courageous and dignified southern lady whose only wish was to
live with her people, dook to them and lick them.  Hope was never supposed
to live this long.  She was turned into the Norfolk SPCA and told to "put
her to sleep." We picked her up and Oh what an awful mess she was!  We
estimated her age to be 7, but this was her condition and her living
arrangements: She lived in a gerbil/hamster cage so corroded by feces and
urine that the bars were almost completed rusted through; she had no litter
box and poo and pee were everywhere; her one "blanket" was so filthy it
could have spontaneously combusted;food/water bowls were not present.  Her
condition: a state of advanced adrenals-no hair anywhere on her body but her
feet and head; 6 mast cell tumors across her body, one of which was
bleeding; a cataract in one eye; suspected insulinoma (later
confirmed);filthy from head to tail and covered in fleas; her ear canals
were so full of wax that you could not see into them; she was severely
underweight; from being enclosed in this cage her whole life the muscle mass
in her hindquarters was such that she could not t walk; her toenails were so
long that it deformed her back feet into an unnaturally high arched inverted
"V" and the toenails themselved were about 1 =AB inches long and almost
growing into the pads of some feet!  We named her because we "Hoped" that
she would make it to a vet!  But for all this when we picked her up the
first thing she did was begin to start licking our hands and faces.  What a
sweet little cinnamon lady!
 
Her life since being picked up changed - we spoiled her unmercifully and
took care of the dirt, fleas, ears, toenails, etc and life seemed a little
easier on her.  We were e never able to litter box train her, but that was
no big deal.  We taught her to walk with some success, although she never
was able to walk very well.  I think the combination of deformed feet and
weak back/legs was just too much to overcome.  But what a southern Belle she
must have been in her youth!  Her favoritest thing was to lay on your chest
wrapped in a towel and lick your face and neck, dooking the whole time.  She
survived her various surgeries, including one in which part of her tail that
had died was removed, with a dignity and grace few humans have ever
achieved.  I am glad that she was able to see that not everyone is like her
former owners and that we had the pleasure of her company for this past
year.  Hopi, my sweet little Hopi, you were too good for this world.  I wish
that you will have a better life than the one you had.You see, we picked her
up on September 28, 1995 and we had hoped to celebrate her anniversary with
her, but I guess that this was not meant to be.
 
We have a nice little secluded dune picked out for her, where she will join
Wolf, Nicodemus, Shadow, Mambo and Squeakers with her favorite blanket and a
1996 silver dollar to pay her way across the river Styx to get to Rainbow
bridge.  We truly loved you, little Hopi, and I am glad that you will be
once more whole again, with your fur and feet that work!  We will miss you
so much!
 
Hope ?/1988 - September 7, 1996
[Posted in FML issue 1686]