Your Pet Tributes

'Bob & Bing'

by Liz
(Kettering, UK)

Bob & Bing were my beautiful litter brother Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. When I got them as puppies I only intended to get one dog but when I visited the breeder they played together continually and I couldn't separate them - hence two dogs not one. Sometimes you couldn't tell where one dog started and the other finished. They were inseparable - they ate together, slept together and even stayed together when they escaped the house one day and were found two miles away!

They were beautiful healthy dogs. Bob was the 'leader' and Bing was the 'follower' but they never had any spats of rivalry - they were simply part of each other.

For two years all was well with them. Then, out of the blue, Bob started to have epileptic fits. 18 months later I was devastated when Bing also started to have fits. It was heartbreaking to watch them but, when they were 'between fits', they were just Bob and Bing - normal. Over the coming years, the fits became more frequent and the medication was gradually increased for both dogs.

When they were 7 and a half, I was away on holiday and came home to find that Bob had died suddenly of multiple organ failure (a side-effect of the medication). My dog sitter, who had looked after them many times, said that Bing seemed to know that Bob was nearing the end even though there were no outward signs. For the first time, Bing didn't sleep with his brother and lifetime companion.

I expected him to grieve Bob's loss but he adjusted quite well - I was in pieces for some time. I felt so guilty that I had not been there with Bob at the end of his life and determined not to go on holiday again and leave Bing.

The house seemed so empty without Bob so after a few months, I got Bing and me another companion - a Tibetan Terrier puppy named Candy. What a ball of mischievous fluff and energy. She soon became the new 'leader' but tempered her dominance with 'mothering' Bing - she would wash his face every day. He tolerated her but she wasn't 'his Bob' and the medication he was taking robbed him of his playfulness even when she pulled his tail to try to get him to play. They lay together and ate together.

Four weeks ago (19 months after Bob died) I went out shopping - Bing was fine. I had left the back door open so he could go out (he'd had a couple of 'accidents' recently). Candy was in her crate (I kept them separate at night and when I wasn't there in case Bing had a fit).

I came home 1 and a half hours later - Bing wasn't in the kitchen but I thought he must have just gone outside. I put the perishables away before letting Candy out. She ran outside directly to where Bing was lying in a covered, extra-large crate (put in the garden for shelter). She was jumping back and forth over him (but not on him) - he didn't move. I went over to him and called him - no response. I gently shook him - no response. He had died. I could tell he hadn't had a fit - he just looked as though he was asleep. He looked peaceful but he was gone.

I feel so guilty that I was not there with him at the end. I wasn't with either of them. They were my beautiful, gentle, loving boys and they are missed so much.

Candy never knew Bob but she is grieving Bing's death. For a few days she didn't want to even go into the kitchen at meal times much less eat anything. I've coaxed her into eating now but she isn't eating as much as before (I've found once a day she will eat whereas previously she ate twice). She has become more 'clingy' and sometimes howls at night so I let her come into my bedroom and she's OK then.

I feel so guilty that I wasn't with my boys at the end and even worse, I feel guilty because I felt a sense of relief that the seizures were over.

I miss you Bob and Bing. Are you chasing each other around that bush again now?

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