Bella Birthday

Bella Birthday
Originally uploaded by studio583art.

t's all about Bella.
A birthday wish.

There is so much that I can say about Bella, so much that she was, that she did, so much that she always will be to me – to us, but I guess that the biggest thing or at least what it was that made her so incredible, so amazing... was she made the world just a little more sane, just that much closer to perfection.

Today was her 14th birthday...it was a hard day, a sad day...I wish I could post to you a happier note, to speak to you of the happiness that she was in our lives for that was what she was so much to us...pure happiness, pure joy. Everyday that she gave us was magic, every moment was a tsunami of wonder and delight and yet I sit here with tears in my eyes and a weight in my chest where my heart was. A dear friend of ours said, "It is not the taking care of them when they are with you, no matter how default or the number of their needs, that is hard...it is living without them that is the true test of your heart." No truer words could ever have been spoken.

We are getting by, one day at a time, distance does not make it easier, it simply numbs the pain, and tears the heart just a little less. It has taken a long time to take our steps forward, the "life goes on" world around you during such sadness makes, if nothing else, you want to withdraw more. But you don't, you can't, because you know if you can make it through this pain...pain that feels it will kill you a hundred times over...well then, you know you can do anything. But we will aways miss her...

Our friends have been incredible, including the many from far and wide across this amazing planet that we didn't even know we had. Bella touched so many and sometimes from places we had never even heard of, that we truly feel blessed that she was ours and that we were able to share the magical journey she shared with us. Thank you.

We are taking steps forward, the world goes on whether you want it to or not so you might as well jump back on the horse. Our lives have changed a lot since last we posted and though I'm not ready to tell all that's happening I will say there been many great new things on our horizon.

OOna kitties the evil mastermind is doing well and yes still working on her many fantastical plans to take over the world and I might say she could do a far cry better than any of our current or future leaders (she promises catnip for everyone, who could ask for more!). As one of her close minions, she is cracking the whip for me to start posting for her again soon.

I loaded a painting done by our dear friend and artist Carl Linstrum, the silhouette is Bella's real profile. We are so touched to have this incredible piece dedicated in her honor.

So...a birthday wish from us on the magical day that gave us our special little Bella. Hug your little furry ones, love them with everything in your heart, talk to them, laugh with them, even take a photograph of them. Every moment that you have is special, every moment you will cherish.

Love,
Gwen, Scott & even OOna kitties the evil mastermind.

Bella Love

Bella Love
Originally uploaded by studio583art.

A Bella Thank You

I’m so sorry it’s taken so long for us to log back on here and say thank you for all the wonderful comments and notes we received.

As you can imagine, it has been extremely hard, we so miss our girl, our third companion in crime. We never thought of her as our pet, rather she was always our third partner in every crazy adventure we always seem to find ourselves in. She was the one that could makes us smile and laugh no matter what we were doing or what was happing around us and in so many ways, she always kept us out of trouble, alway kept us grounded.

It’s so hard to know where to go from here, we have not been able to put any of her things away yet, her beds…her toys..her waterbowls, they are all still out as if she will be back tomorrow. No, we are not kidding ourselves, we know we will have to put it all away at some point, but seeing it there right now sometimes help as strange as that may sound. And yes we have our memories, our stories and we have have so many friends who have spent time with us to listen, to make sure we have a shoulder to get through this. There is so much missing without her but I think what I miss more than anything, the one thing I can never get back no matter how deep in my head I go…is her smell. Her wonderful cinnamon/sweet smell. It was always at the top of her head, that cranial crest like so many weimes have, hers always had this strange but wonderful cinnamon/sweet smell and her toes always smelled like corn chip, but that’s was just another one of those things that made her so funny – corn chip feet and cinnamon/sweet head. I miss that smell, or rather I guess out of everything that I so miss about her, that is definitely one of the top.

She was such a huge part of our art (we have had many other artist, collectors and gallery owner call and tell us how much impact she had for them and us), that we are working on having a piece of art made especially to hold her remains. This way she will always be apart of what we do.

Thank you Susan…Jill…delarever…Anji & Mukha…Carrie, Kyle & Casey Blue…Alisa, Willow, & Luna…Stephanie, Jaeger, Stella & Nina…Erin, Jaeger, & Natasha…Kia, Lylah, Mindy & Nate…Pauline & Max…m+m+t Mac & Tosh…bonita1999…aliywhilly, Whilly…currentclassics

Thank you all and many more, you have touched our hearts with your kindness and love.

We are not sure if we will be able to post about OOna the evil mastermind any time soon, it is hard to really get into wanting to post right now. OOna is healthy, doing great and still working on her plans to take over the world, though her humans are not much help to her with the execution of her plans right now, she is being understanding and misses her big sister too (she still looks for Bella).

Thank you again, and take care.

Bella Goodbye

Bella Goodbye
Originally uploaded by studio583art.

The Last Post.

And in so many ways the most difficult.

We are completely devastated and overwhelmingly crushed with grief, we have lost the center that was our heart.

On June 29th, 2008, we had to let Bella go. Bella was diagnosed with subungual squamous cell carcinoma the week before the Memorial Day Weekend. We had been working closely with Dr. Stubbs, Bella's Internist and Dr. Corse her surgeon to make the right decision for her treatment. We decided to amputate the toe and she came through the surgery like a champion. She maneuvered the splint and did not allow it to slow her down.

During the past few weeks, she had developed an infection in the toe next to the one that had been amputated. We continued to visit Dr. Corse with follow ups and the toe began to heal slowly. Unfortunately, early Friday morning on June 27th, Bella experienced her first of three seizures. Another would follow thirty three hours later. By Sunday morning, we knew our time together was limited, through council with her vets we knew that she had developed a brain tumor. That morning we decided to take her to Stone Mountain for a good car ride that did not involve a vet visit. The morning was great, she got to walk around, smell things and explore as much as she wanted. She had a really great morning. The sky was overcast and there was a nice breeze in the air and she was happy to be with us on yet another adventure. This would be the last the three of us would share together and this time will always be treasured and adored.

When we returned home, Bella had her third and final seizure. This one was the worst and when we got her back from it we could see in her eyes that she was tired and could not go through another. We have always been told that we would know when the time was right, and worried that we wouldn't, but like always Bella guided us and told us what she needed us to do. It was the hardest decision we have ever had to make, but we knew we had to let her go. We made arrangements, we did not want her to have to go through another seizure. She did come back to us one last time and we were able to say our good-byes and she each gave us the tenderness of her heart. She passed in her own home on her own bed peacefully.

We will miss her deeply.

Thank you to all her wonderful friends here and across the world, it has meant so much to us to have been able to share our beloved Bella with so many. Yes we are in the process of writing a book of Bella's story and if we are able to get it published we will let everyone know.

This will be our last post.

As always, love from Team Bella...Gwen & Scott

Bella & thewrapping

Bella & thewrapping
Originally uploaded by studio583art.

The wrapping of a foot...

We were just sitting around wrapping B.'s foot and figured,
"Heck, this is pretty darn fun, bet others would enjoy seeing this oh so exciting even!"

Oh, ok, maybe it's not thaaaatt exciting, but hey it's still pretty funny - the girl is still a ham for the camera, silly thing.

Don't get too close, Bella will get you with a kiss.

OOna cottoncandy

OOna cottoncandy
Originally uploaded by studio583art.

The OOna kitty evil mastermind getting a little love...


Obey the OOna kitty!

Bella smiles

Bella smiles
Originally uploaded by studio583art.

She always smiles!

And so the angry foot strikes again, damnit. At least little Miss. B. doesn't let it get her down, always ready for a giggle and a smile.
Well, we have gotten most of the swelling in her angry foot down, though the infection (which was mostly in her middle toe did cause her nail to fall off and of all places right outside the vets offices. So you can imagine there we were 8:30 AM, going in to see Dr. Corse, (we think little B. has a crush on her new favorite doc, since the foot thing started, we have been back and forth to see Dr. Corse 11 times, and yes, we now think that Bella is just trying to come up with stuff to see her doctor dreamy). So course we are both saying crap...crap...crap cause once the nail came off she's finger painting the whole lobby, not what you want to see when you are trying to get the foot better. The good thing is that with the loss of the nail, it seems that the infection is on it's way out (Clavamox is a good thing!), the bad thing is the club bandage is back and it has to be changed out twice a day which means we had to take a crash course in how the properly change and dress the foot. Fun, fun!!
Well, it's really not that bad, the purple nose princess is a super patient and will let you manhandle her without any complaints. She never tries to nip you or stop you from doing what needs to be done. Her foot and toe really are looking much better, believe it or not, we're hoping, with the way it's going down, that her foot should back to normal by the weekend.

Oh, and how great is Dr. Corse...he gave us his personal numbers and email so that we could contact he at any time of the day or night. What can I say, Bella charms them all, she's just such a little doll, she melts every heart.