Silver Morris

FAREWELL MY WONDERFUL SILVER BOY

Pam said “It is with great regret and heartache I have to announce that dear Silver went to Rainbow Bridge on 31st December 2008.

He had appeared to be OK the previous weekend and indeed on the day of Monday 29th, he had his breakfast and a little walk, he was OK lunch-time and he looked OK when I got back from work that night, so I gave him his honey then went to put out his food, he didn’t come out to get it so I went to help him up (which I often had to do) and he just kept collapsing.

It didn’t really look like a stroke and to be honest we never got a diagnosis. He just deteriorated from then to the point where we had to carry him about and by that time he’d also stopped eating. We managed to get him to the vet but you could tell by her body language that it was all a bit hopeless, she said maybe she could pull him round but we’d be back there in a couple of days, and we looked at him lying there and decided it was time to say goodbye, the light in his eyes had gone out.

There were many times during the almost three and a half years he was with us where he looked really ill but I’d always managed to pull him back to me. There were a lot of miracles for my Silver.

We had a very strong bond, but this time he wasn’t in the least interested in me. It was all over very quickly (not quite 3 days). He was a dear soul and I do miss him and wondered whether I’d done the right thing in having him euthanized but he came to me in my dreams that night, big and strong and right in my face like he had a tendency to do, so I took that as a sign that it was OK.

He was a lovely lad, good with people, children, other dogs (even aggressive dogs left him alone, I’d be on tenterhooks but he’d just wobble over to say hello and get away with it), he was good with cats. A real joy to be with.

Love him, miss him. Pam & Roger Morris with Kimba and Bubbs (the cat)”

HISTORY

Silver is adorable. In 2005, this stunning old boy had been a stray, no doubt dumped because of his many health issues. He receives a lot of tender loving care and healing from Pam who first fostered then adopted him and he is great friends with Kimba and another Golden Retriever, Casey.

UPDATE ON SILVER BOY

Silver was re-homed for a short time with another couple, but it did not work out and he arrived at our home on the 19th July 2005 via Lorna and her partner from Greenfields Bunny Rescue and he is still with us (July 2007).  Initially, he was only meant to be nursed back to good health and moved on but I fell in love with him pretty quickly. It took a bit longer for my husband as he felt I had been duped. 

When it boiled down to it, Silver did not need nursing, he needed nurturing, he was taken into a rescue home whilst he lived in Ireland and they fixed him up really well. What happened in the month he was in his new home I do not know, or even want to, as he is with us now, that is the main thing, and I feel that he was Heaven sent.

He is sensitive to salts and phosphates and also beef, so he is on a home cooked diet recommended by Sarah, an animal nutritionist.  It is a real fag chopping meat and vegetables sometimes but all 3 of my dogs are on this diet now and doing so well.

We look after a friends two goldies regularly and when they were dropped off  recently the couple said IS that Silver? WOW he looks fantastic, really loved and cared for. 

He was a bit confused when he first arrived as there had been a lot of changes in such a short period of time but he soon got over it. Even his name was changed (to Paddy) but it did not suit him at all. Whoever named him Silver got it spot on.

He is a bit slow moving, likes a good sniff.  He is very, very affectionate, my friend calls him Thumper or Woodbine, Thumper because his tail is always wagging, Woodbine because he trails along behind.  She thinks the world of him.  My two bitches have accepted him and the youngest was not particularly tolerant of males as she had been used for breeding. He is fine with our cat and he loves children, in fact we are out of the window if we meet children across the field, he always starts to follow them. Broke out of the garden and followed some kids down to the swimming pool the other day.  Needless to say we are now well boarded up.

As his character developed he showed himself to be a cheeky boy, a bit of a wind up merchant, loves toys.  There is nothing about him that is not to like really. For a dog with half his teeth missing, he has no problems eating and he loves bones (he is also rather partial to my husbands shoes)

It may sound strange but I do really feel he was meant to be with us, I could not understand why I was responding to Paulines plea for help at the time as it was never my intention to have another dog and certainly not a male given Kimba’s reaction to them so I broke all my own rules. 

But as soon as he arrived and I looked into those eyes………   Pam & Roger Morris with Casey & Kimba – the Golden girls and the beautiful Silver Boy

A FEW WORDS AND PHOTOS OF SILVER BOY

Pam said. “Some photos of Silver as promised. The two below were taken just after he first came to live with us, see how shabby he looked, yet he was only with the Lambs for a month.

When I first met him I certainly didn’t expect him to last another 3.5 years. Mind he was a dog who needed a lot of grooming – you couldn’t leave him for long.

The other three were all taken last November at the new cottage. They aren’t brilliant photos. It was a new camera and we were still getting used to it, but you can see how much more contented he was and how much better his coat looked.

Though we didn’t get a diagnosis bearing in mind his previous urinary tract type problems, I think he was in kidney failure, looking back there were little signs, just nothing you could put your finger on. Anyway, here is my lovely big lad.”

Silver sadly went to the Rainbow Bridge on 31 December 2008. Rest in peace our sweet lovely boy.