Maiden: Short life, but long memeory

Maiden was a daughter of Cash and Minnie. She has a male litter-mate called Divine. Both names came from Simon Sim, my friend. He gave Maiden the name: Saiyai Thai Maiden Fortune. As for Divine, he gave the name: Saiyai Thai Cash Dividend.

At the time, everyone encouraged me to keep Divine and Maiden for myself because they're very good. The Cash-ness in them are obvious. Even Daneil, a French exhibitor, who showed strong interest to purchase a Cash's puppy, when I told him that I wanted to keep Cash's puppies for myself, he kindly understood me. At the time, everybody sent me a congratulating email saying that I was doing the right thing, keeping them.

At the time, I was also in contact with Peter and Ellika, a very nice couple of breeder and exhibitor from Sweden. With their sheer determination to purcahse my puppies, including their pursue for a permission for temporary quaruntine, I agreed to sell Maiden to them. I was only going to keep Divine, the male.

Both Divine and Maiden are very cute and lively. Both share a characteristic: they both wag their tails cheerfully. But as time goes by, a few months past, I noticed that Maiden is very small. Almost just half the size of her litter mate. But she's lively and sweet. Anyhow, since she was so small, I told Peter and Ellika that she may not be suitable for breeding, so I asked to change Maiden to another Cash's puppy. Ellika was disappointed because she liked Maiden very much, but she accepted the offer and thanks me for my honesty. I was happy to keep Maiden with me no matter how small she is or whether she'll be useful to me.

About last week, I decided to take Maiden to a vet to check why she's so small, since she eats a lot. She was still lively and wagging her tails happily when she saw me. Only in her eyes that made me noticed that she was unwell. The vet did a check-up on her, and it would take 3 days for the test result to come. In the mean time, I didn't think anything serious would happen to Maiden. I've seen many teacups in my time. I don't like teacups, but I don't mind having Maiden even though she's a teacup. When the result came the day before yesterday, it was found that Maiden had a problem with her disgestive system. The problem was that the body wasn't bringing in any of the minerals from the food she eats. I've never seen such a condition in any dogs before. The vet said such a condition is rare. One in a thousand. It's an individual problem, not genetic.

What I found out about Maiden, came to me suddenly. The vet gave me some medicine and vitamins to help her, but the vet wasn't sure it was going to help because her body takes in very little of the minerals.

I was sad, and prayed that Maiden has a long life with me. She didn't have to go anywhere anymore. She was going to live with me. Yesterday, I picked up Maiden and hugged her in my arms. She wagged her tail and looked at me lovelingly. A dog that wags its tail in such a way shows happiness, but her eyes showed sickness. At that moment, I almost saw the word "good-bye" in her eyes. Maiden wagged her tail in my arms for many minutes. Maiden wag her tails like Divine. They do it very rapidly. But when I saw the "good-bye" in her eyes, I noticed that she's doesn't wag her tail as quikly as she used to. And it stopped. Her eyes closed. And her soul left the body.

I think her soul was not very far from where I was standing. She must have wondered why I cried and cried. At that moment, she was no longer in pain. No longer tired. And she was going to dog heaven.

Maiden had a short life. Only almost 3 months old. But Maiden will live in my memories for as long as I live.