Farewell To Roy

Cutter's Log - Stardate 2102.32.40

The pain had gotten to him today.

Our pet beagle Roy had lived a full doggie life, longer than what most beagles live for. 15 years.

Roy had been blind for about half of his life because of cataracts, but in the past year he had been suffering from intestinal failure. He passed away this afternoon. We had him for 14 years, getting him less than a year after we moved into a current home. We were always with him and helped him through the pain until it was just too much to bear.

The house will be different without Roy. With his intestinal pains he had lost sense of what time of day it was. We would have to let him outside in the middle of the night, letting us know with a bark. That may seem like a negative example of "it's different without him" but we loved him more and more the more we know he wasn't going to be around for much longer.

We had a golden retriever in the past, but he had problems with his 1s and 2s to where we couldn't take care of him anymore. Plus, we weren't allowed to have animals in our house, and hid them when the landlady came by. We all loved him, and hated to see him go. His name was Simba (after the Lion King), and was the dog that helped Michael get over his fear of them.

We wanted another one now that we owned our own place now. I remember the first night he came home. Danny had never heard of a beagle before, but knew it was much different than a golden retriever. Danny thought beagle dogs would eat people. When dad brought him home through the back yard, Danny climbed on a dinner chair and was scared because he thought the dog was "going to eat me!"

Roy was a young pup full of energy. At first we kept him in a pet cage, and when he woke up - I swear it was like the wrestler Ultimate Warrior making his ring enterance. Then he got loose from his leash at times and just RAN! He got lost around Sterling a good six times when he was at his best. But every time we would eventually find him.

Just having a pet that was full of energy like us kids were was absolutely fun. I would take him for walks over town, have fun with a tennis ball and a laser pen. Of course after a while we all get older.

Roy had developed cataracts after about seven years and his sight was limited. We could tell with him hitting walls and such. While this limited him, it didn't limit our love for him. Thus, he was mostly kept indoors with us.

I never shared much about Roy with anyone, and that was probably because I'm not much into animals. I had a hamster that died, and that kind of traumatized the part of me that makes non-humans anthropromorphic. I wasn't able to play with him a whole lot because of school and journalism and things like that, but my younger brothers were.

Very late in life he became absolutely confused and deaf, and would often get in people's way when we were walking around the house. This bothered my parents somewhat when they would nearly trip over him. The mood got a little worse with them and Roy. But he would also be in my way, and I would nearly trip over him - and I didn't say anything. He couldn't help himself, and I understood it.

His potty breaks took place when I was watching TV late at night. Just a simple tap on the head, or a rub was the kind of language that Roy and I had when it came to getting around the house. Only the two of us shared this, and that kind of helped make me learn to enjoy having a pet around the house.

Dealing with Roy was a small factor in my earlier frustrations in this Blog. But now that the time has come, I can feel better for him. I've taken part in many funerals with the same pastor, and he always says the same thing.

Roy is in a better place. He is no longer in pain, and is no longer suffering. All his many wounds are now healed, and he will live in us forever.