Ninja, the Stray
I found this puppy – really dirty, tick and flea infested, wet from sewer water, smelly, thin and straggly, unable to walk, and a big belly – while walking home from the market on a beautiful Saturday morning. It was surprising as I usually do not really take second looks at stray dogs or cats, but this one puppy was looking at me with its sorry eyes. It was the first time I picked up a stray and the first time I felt ever so sorry for a creature that was left behind to die in the sewer. The lady on whose property this poor little pup was left to die came out to inspect the commotion at her gate and asked if I just lost and found my puppy. Another passerby said how cute my puppy was. I told them it wasn’t mine and I just found it and was trying to calm it down as it was starting to shiver – maybe from fear from all the attention it was getting.
Anyway, I told the first dear little lady that I was going to come back and pick up the puppy and asked her to just inform whoever who is going to look for it that I picked it up and told her where I lived. When I came back for it, it was already walking away, dragging its scrawny legs and big belly to wherever. I picked it up and spoke with it asking it if I can take care of him for the duration that its owner would come and bring him home. My son was with me this time and he was full of pity for the wee little thing. We put the little thing in a shoe box lined with an old blouse of mine, and place another rag on top of it to keep it warm.
Our dogter (our pet dog who is a female), Teri, was not only surprised but showed animosity toward this newcomer. You could tell by her reaction how she would not make this puppy welcome and would never interact with it no matter how much we coaxed her. Teri kept to herself, hiding in our bedroom for the duration that this puppy was with us.
Same with my husband – almost everyday he would tell the puppy that it did not belong in our home, that it was just a visitor. It’s funny, though, because he was the one who gave this puppy the name Ninja. Why that name? Because like the Japanese spy, Ninja was always in a stealth mode and you’d be surprise that at one time he’s beside you, the next second, he’s not.
By the end of the first hour, Ninja came out of the box as he could not get a comfortable position to get some sleep. I just watched him do those dog three turns before it lay down – but before Ninja could do that, I placed another rag for him to lie on – afraid that his ticks and fleas would be all over our living room. That whole Saturday was spent removing the ticks and fleas on the poor little creature. Ninja obviously was relieved that somebody even bothered to do that for him. Before the afternoon was over, he had his first clean water to drink ( I gave him sugared water to give him a little energy), and perhaps two to three teaspoonfuls of flavored rice. Teri was watchful of Ninja the whole time, wondering why her human mom was fussing over this smelly creature.
Ninja’s blessing on the feast of St. Francis
By the end of the second week, Ninja was dewormed, bathed with anti-tick and anti-flea soap, and checked for mange. There was a problem with his belly, though. It was distended and obviously the puppy was suffering from volvulus. He also cannot bend his hind legs that’s why when he runs, he seems to hop. He adopted almost all of Teri’s bad habits like being choosy with food and barking at us when he does not like being disciplined. But, despite these, Ninja toilet-trained himself and acted as the little guard dog at nighttime. But, he was also too friendly. He introduces himself to just about anybody who appears at our front door – the delivery people, the people living next door, and even our landlord who thought that Ninja was Teri’s baby.
By the first month, October 8th, Ninja was twice his size. By this time, he was following Teri wherever she goes. He even claimed Teri’s spot under our bed so Teri was always on our bed just to avoid being next to him. It was sad that Teri never really liked Ninja because her sheer dislike of the fellow limited her activities. She no longer wanted to go out of the house for her daily sunbathing, no longer lying under my chair while I do my crosswords, or welcoming us back when we come home from work. All these were taken over by Ninja.
A week ago, we started noticing Ninja’s belly to be getting bloated again. We did not worry, however, because he still had that huge appetite. Whatever Teri left on her plate, he literally vacuumed it up. By Monday, however, Ninja seemed to be getting weak. His ears are upturned and he seemingly always wanted to stay in front of a fan – that which we keep turned on for the CPU. By Tuesday, Ninja only ate a few strips of the fried chicken we set aside for Teri and him. This time, it was Teri who cleaned up his plate. By early morning Wednesday, October 31st, Ninja was asking to go out of the house. I accompanied him. He usually goes around and smell all of our greens, but this time he just sat with his head tilted up. We decided to bring him to the 24/7 vet but he seemed to have normalized when he came back inside. Ninja was restless though – he was all over the house, moving from one room to the next, going to the dirty kitchen again sitting with his head tilted up. I went down beside him, massaged his bloated belly and told him to please not leave me behind. He just looked at me and continued on breathing heavily. By 8:30, Ninja lied on the foot of my son’s bed and breathed his last.
The first time we asked Ninja to be seen by an expert, we were told that he wouldn’t be living a long life, what with his volvulus and the problem with his legs. It was a surprise that he even survived. Ninja would obviously have been a big dog, the specialist said – we did not know what his breed was. As I’ve said, I just rescued the puppy. The specialist said that Ninja might have been deliberately left to die as he has many abnormalities – and that if the owner was a breeder, Ninja was of no use to him. So, Ninja was a full breed – of something.
I don’t know why I felt so sad that day and why tears were spilled for this rescued puppy, but then it was a first for me to do such a thing. My son and I called a center which cremates pets thinking that Ninja deserved to be treated a little special considering how we first found him. However, the service was a little too much for us. My son suggested PAWS which offered a free burial service and space. We went there before it closed down for the November 1 and 2 holidays. By 4:00 p.m. October 31, 2018, almost two months after we first found him, Ninja was laid to rest.
Ninja’s burial ground at PAWS and my son saying a little prayer for him.
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