It’s been a pretty gray day here today. We’re all still mourning Nip’s loss. My wife took Nip’s body to our vet’s this morning to be sent out for individual cremation. It’s expensive but we feel it’s the least we can do for someone who’s been our friend for so many years.
I don’t know whether the dogs actually know that something’s wrong or they just take their cues from us. I suspect some of both. The dogs have behaved differently today. They’re more protective both of us and of Tuck. Jenny assumed her normal power position, triangulating between my place at the computer, Tuck’s cage, and the television. She was three or four feet closer to Tuck’s cage than the spot she normally stakes out.
Mira wouldn’t leave me this morning to go outside or for any reason whatever until I’d risen. That’s unprecedented—she was clearly taking care of me.
Tuck is doing better than I expected (and better than Nip would have under similar circumstances). He ate a leisurely breakfast. He’s never known a time before when he didn’t have to compete for food. And now, for the first time in his life, he has to groom himself.
My condolences to you and your family. I assume Nip is a parakeet. I deeply mourned the death of my parakeet, Velvet, when I was a child, and so did our Collie. They were fast friends. Your post reminds of the importance of our daily lives, so easy to overlook in the face of the grand sweep of history deposited by the day’s grim news.