Then there were three

Today we said goodbye to our sweet Poppy.  She had been battling with health issues for well over a month.  What first started as an eye irritation progressed into what we believe was neurological damage of some sort.  We  took her to two different vets and had phone conversations with three others.  We tried antibiotics, eye drops, eye ointment, vitamin E, electrolytes, spirulina and apple cider vinegar.  We hand fed her cheese, scrambled eggs, bread, rice, milk and yogurt.  We did everything we knew to do, but our attempts were for naught.  It's hard to believe that just two short months ago, she was like this...

and for the last several days, she spent her time like this.  Her neck had started to bulge, her tail feathers hung low and she sat hunkered down staring at the fence.

Throughout it all, she still spent time with her friends, following them very slowly around the yard.  I think they sensed that something was not right and many times we would catch them surrounding her, as if to lend their support.

What has always mattered most to us with our pets is their quality of life.  I cannot count how many times I have prayed for a sick animal to die in her sleep, but unfortunately that only happens 99.8% of the time.  More often than not, we have to make the agonizing decision to have them humanely euthanized.

Sunday morning, I discovered Poppy could not get out of the nesting box where she had chosen to sleep for the last few days.  When I picked her up and put her on the ground, she fell over.  It had become increasingly harder to force feed water and foods down her and I knew it was only a matter of time before her body gave out.  She came in the house and we made her a nest in a cat bed and positioned her in front of a heater for the entire day.  The dogs and cats came by periodically to check on her and keep her company.  Spending the day babysitting a sick chicken was probably not how Neal wished to spend his birthday, but he was a real trooper and didn't complain a bit.  We continued to try to get her to eat or drink with no luck. That evening, we tucked her into a cat carrier in the bathroom and again I prayed she would die peacefully in her sleep. 

We made the appointment with our vet and stood by her side as she closed her eyes and drifted over to The Rainbow Bridge.  We cried, as we always do, and we silently thanked this special creature for coming into our lives.  We realize many people would have culled her long before now.  We were even advised that the best thing to do would be to hold her upside down by her legs and smash her head against a rock to end her life.  Quite obviously, that person had no idea who she was dealing with when it comes to animals!  To many people, she was "just a chicken".  To us, she was a beloved pet, worthy of the best care we could give her. 

RIP sweet Pop Pop. You will be greatly missed.