Last Tuesday I had to make the heartbreaking decision to put down my dog, Star. I came home from work on early Tuesday morning, and she had been suffering from more seizures. Not only that, but during her waking moments, she cried out in extreme distress. It was a sharp turn from her condition on Monday where she either slept or paced the house. Waiting until the vet could take her was agonizing. Once we got there, they were able to act quickly to end her suffering. My husband and mother accompanied me as I said my final goodbyes. At the moment I’m just waiting to hear when her ashes will be ready for me to bring home.
It’s been a bit of a rough week without her here. She was 15-years-old at the time of her passing, and I had her for 14 years. The house just feels way too quiet without Star. I’m still coming to terms with the fact that she’s just gone.
I mulled over skipping this week or not. Have a shorter round up as a compromise.
Africa | Page(s): 430| Patreon
The frantic tug of war continues between the African wild dogs and the lions. It’s amazing the gembok’s guts didn’t come spilling out after this chaos. Instead, it snapped in half at the spine. I’m having a hard time believing that such a feat would be possible without some innards being lost. That said, I’m not about to ruin my YouTube algorithm or search history with researching bloody corpses just to know if this is possible or not. (If you know, please tell me in the comment section.) In the larger story such a detail isn’t of that much consequence. Doubly so since Africa has already taken a bunch of creative liberties including Chui’s radio collar having the ability to stun prey.
My two biggest takeaways from this scene are that Kauket is probably going to go through a bad time soon. Her being bitten and that open wound being exposed to swamp water likely means a bad infection. Even cleaning it off will probably make her sick. Also, everyone’s probably going to have a bad time eating that corpse which has been splashed with the same gross water. Speaking of tainted meat, the dogs have the end that currently has a tranquilizer dart in it. Will eating that meat negatively affect them?
What Lurks Beneath | Pages(s): 910, 911 | Patreon
I get the impression that Skua is actually behind Trout’s decision to promote Wrasse and Gull to advisors. I originally thought because of her body language and her recent fight with Sturgeon, that the queen was just apprehensive about having anyone else near her. However, a commenter pointed out that she’s really uneasy about the decision and Skua reassures her with a nod before she steadies herself. On one hand, the reasoning isn’t totally out of line. Trout feels as if everything has gotten away from her, and having input from the elders could help immensely. The downside is that Gull is directly responsible for the events that led up to Tusk being sent to the sea, and Hake leaving the Family. As for Wrasse, I think he at least has a thoughtful head on his shoulders, but like Gull he might use Thresher’s time as a point of reference for how the Family should be run.
I don’t think this would be an issue if Kelp had stayed behind (though she was correct in Hake needing her more) or if Sturgeon had better trained her siblings in case they were chosen as monarchs. I think she was so confident in being able to handle everything that she didn’t even once consider events getting away from her. At the end of the day though, it’s Trout’s cowardice that has won out. She’ll do anything to please the Family, and instead of punishing Gull for riling everyone up, she’s giving her a promotion.
Gull already used her influence once to get what she wanted in regard to Tusk. Now that she directly has the queen’s ear, things will only get worse. I won’t be surprised if Sturgeon is demoted or banished along with Tansy, the Daisys who joined the Family are kicked out, or she restarts Thresher’s failed genocide plan. (Note: We still don’t know what happened there.) The only wildcard in this might be Wrasse, since he has some decency left. He might either start working with Sturgeon or act as a counterweight to Gull, if he decides to take the new role.
Trout’s reign is shaping up to be potentially worse than Thresher’s.
Golden Shrike | Page(s): 320 | Patreon
Just as I thought, even though Antaras and his family were weary, them staying behind without the March is a nonstarter. They don’t know the lay of the land, and they would have never made it south without guidance. Though I can imagine it must sting to bring your concerns up to the group you’re traveling with for them to not only shrug you off, but have a laugh about it at your expense. In your face. Not only that, but the weather has turned out to be fine so far. This is Usma telling the story, and she’s already confirmed it won’t be fine. When disaster eventually strikes, it’s not going to be pretty. I do admire Antaras a bit for being able to find a smile for his mate and daughter among the ridicule, but it might have been better for him to discuss it with them.
As we can see, his temper is a lot shorter in the present. At the same time, it’s nice getting a glimpse of the deer he used to be. It just makes me all the eager to know how everything played out. On a darker note, I wonder how much of this March will survive whatever’s coming.
On hiatus:
Nothing.
Comics I’ll resume talking about next week:
In The Lion’s Den: The Scarlet Uproar | Page(s): 53, 54 | Patreon
The Order of the Black Dog | Issue 29, Page: 15, 16 | Patreon
Lost Scent | Page(s): 91, 92| Patreon
Home | Page(s): 924, 925| Patreon
I’m sorry: it’s always a painful thing when a pet passes, even when they’ve had a good long life. (Which sounds like your girl did, and she reached 15 years!) When my first poodle passed, we went up to her favorite hiking trail/park* and scattered her ashes into one of her favorite rivers.
*After checking to make sure ashes were allowed up there, of course!
Also no idea what’s about to happen in Golden Shrike, but my gut says “Mostly Bad Things.” I just don’t know if it’s going to be wolves, avalanches, snowstorms, or something completely different!
Thank you! Yeah, 15 is a long life, though I wish we had more time together. I’ll treasure the years I did get to spend with Star. Oh, spreading the ashes of your first poodle at her favorite hiking trail is very cool!
The newest page is out now, but yep snowstorm. Exactly as what was alluded to, and boy does it look like a really bad time.
i had a similar case with my poor old boy biscuit. he was always a happy cheerful dog, but old age hit him really hard. first his hips were going to the point he struggled to go out for relief. we were planning to get him wheels when he also started having some severe seizures. shortly after he stopped eating and getting him to take a few sips of water was a struggle. we finally had to make the big decision to help him cross rainbow road.
the other dogs in our family missed him just as much as we did. crying by his bed and searching around his outside sunning spots.
Oh man, I’m sorry to hear about Biscuit. Old age does hit dogs hard. Star did have trouble with her hips and joints as she got older, but right up until the last day she was still eating and drinking. Though it was rough to see how fast the cancer did its thing. But yeah, once your dog starts to struggle like that, it’s definitely time to say goodbye. Oh, that’s so sad with the other dogs missing him. 🙁
I’m sorry about your Star. Losing pet always hurt. I’m sure you gave her 14 amazing years.
Thank you!
Yeah, I treasure my time with Star. She was quite the character.
I’m not sure about gemboks but I once saw a video of two wild dogs breaking a hare on half and no guts were spilled. That being said‚ hares are much smaller than a gembok being dragged by lions and wild dogs.
While I don’t think the daisys will be banished‚ I think they will be segregated and given the minimum food to survive. Though‚ maybeTrout would have an excuse to banish them after what happened with Tusk. Her collaborating with Gull is such a red flag‚ that’s the same woman who helped kill her sister in law.
Antaras used to be such a sweetheart in the past. Amazing husband and father but sometimes the best people are the ones who can turn into the biggest monster. Loving so much can turn into something terrible if that love is taken away from you. I’m glad this seems to be the reason and not power‚ antagonists driven by love are far more interesting imo.
I know you said you wouldn’t talk about dragon slayer but things in that comic has been… Interesting to put it simply. I would love to read your takes (not only about the comic but the author and community)
Oh, that’s interesting! The more you know, the slightly gory version. XD
The segregation and bare minimum of food is pretty awful, but I imagine if it plays out like that, many of them would take the deal. It beats starving out in the forest. Still, if they stay it’s because Trout did the bare minimum of pushing back against Gull, which seems unlike given what happened to Tusk. And if she can allow that to happen to her sister-in-law…Yikes.
Oh yes, I fully agree. A deep love can drive people to do awful things when the person closest to them is lost in such a tragic way. I’m also glad it’s not a type of villainy driven by the desire for power. We’ve seen enough of that. It makes Anataras sympathetic without excusing his ultimate actions.
Oh boy. The Dragon Slayer. Once this comic wraps I will be reviewing for you readers. I just…I can’t with the weekly updates. Home is already enough for me. Friends share their thoughts about it with me, and sometimes I check out a few pages. I think my biggest question regarding TDS is… What the hell happened here? Is this really from the same person who wrote White Tail and To Catch a Star?
thought i should add on about the spilling guts thing. and its not as much as you think because just about every animal has their organs in a sac of sorts, the peritoneum. issues like hernias is when organs, usually intestines, break free of the sac. you have a similar thing going on with your heart. its not free open, but wrapped in a sac.
you could be cut down the little and still be holding all your organs in very well as long as the sac isn’t split.
its def artistic choice here though, as we should see a string out of “upper” organs like the stomach stretching with “lower” organs like the intestines.
Oh, that’s fascinating! You know, I think I once learned about how when people hunt deer and field dress it, they have to be careful not to nick the stomach. I guess the hunter would need to cut through sack to get to the stomach.
Even with the peritoneum sack, we should still see a bit of organs if this scene was a bit more realistic. Still, it’s pretty cool to know that the guts just won’t come spilling out so easily. I guess that Hollywood magic did it’s job on me. XD
As people before me stated, mammalian entrails are connected by peritoneum, which prevents them from moving all over the abdominal cavity and to some extension should prevent them from spilling outside if animal is wounded (or ripped in half in this case).
I’ve learned something new tonight! Thank you for sharing about the existence of the peritoneum and how it prevents guts from spilling out or moving around.