Tuppence arrived in the world on December 17, 1999, and she came to live with us on February 13, 2000. I named her for Agatha Christie’s amateur sleuth, Tuppence Beresford, who was so inquisitive and was frequently in trouble! Tuppence was absolutely crazy about Dexter, though Dexter had to use every bit of his formidable supply of patience in learning to deal with a puppy in the house. Tuppence liked nothing better than when Dexter wanted to play, which happened too rarely, in her opinion! Dexter, on the other hand, was grateful that Tuppence couldn’t yet reach the bed, where he took refuge when he needed privacy. Those days didn’t last long, though!
Here’s another photo of her, after she grew a bit. She and Dexter had by this time become best friends and played wildly each morning. That was followed by lengthy naps in the afternoons — a pretty good compromise!
Tuppence was an adult in this photo, though she couldn’t seem to figure out why she wasn’t as tall as Dexter. Her solution was to hop directly from the floor onto the arm of the sofa (she had springs in her feet, I swear!) and survey her domain from there. She was always either at my heels or on my feet when I was home, which was most of the time. She “supervised” my housework, leading me from one room to the one she knew I’d be working on next; she inspected my quilting; she slept with us, curled up against me as tight as possible. When our grandsons visited, Tuppence was almost a surrogate mother, watching them to make sure they were safe and lying outside their door during naps so she could alert me the second they woke up.
Unfortunately, Tuppence began having seizures at a very young age. The solution for that was, of course, phenobarbital taken twice daily. Over time, this affected her liver. By late October, 2005, Tuppence was diagnosed with liver failure. She was no longer able to bounce up onto the beds (she naturally preferred our bed to her own!) and had very little stamina. Toward the end she was in enough pain that it was obvious, and her poor little body swelled up as the liver was unable to process what she ate. Finally, on November 6, 2005, we had our vet come to the house and release our little Tuppence from her pain. She came to us on a Sunday, and she left us on a Sunday — both of them cloudy and a bit rainy.
This is my favorite photo of my little Tuppence. Pretty, wasn’t she? And she was just as sweet on the inside.