From Frank:
Our one-and-only majestic Roux died of pancreatitis this morning, less than a week away from what we have always celebrated as his birthday. He would have been about 10 years old.2021-02-15 05:35:16
He fought like hell for a week to surmount the pain and to power through the illness, but he hadn’t eaten much of anything in almost a week and had stopped drinking water on Monday and was eventually just too weak to hang on anymore, even after a visit to the vet yesterday afternoon to give him subcutaneous fluid. Our hearts are torn to shreds right now.
Roux was with us for the past eight and a half years. He was a huge and sometimes all-consuming part of our lives and he made us incomparably richer for having been able to spend that time with him in our home and in our hearts. He brought us joy, love, lots of laughter, sometimes frustration, and the wonder of being able to wake up every morning and to have such a glamorous and splendid creature in our midst. I loved taking pics of Roux because his beauty was always just stunningly right there in living color, even when he was giving me the death stare or the side-eye. (And even though Roux hated the camera.)
Knowing that this day would inevitably come doesn’t make it any easier when it does come, especially when it comes far sooner than we had ever expected. He had been seemingly doing decently in general up till last week, other than getting older and getting around slower than he used to. I had hoped that he’d be with us for at least another five years or so. But that was not to be. The house will never be the same without his loud howls and roars that rang through the whole neighborhood.
Hold your loved companions extra-close.
Goodbye, dear magnificent Roux — and we’re embracing you forever in our undying and infinite love, our sweet, cranky, loud, obnoxious, wonderful, incomparable royal highness.
From Steve:
As Frank wrote a little while ago, our Roux is gone. The vet believes pancreatitis overwhelmed the other organs, and he went into shock and slipped away in my arms at 2:15 this morning while I tried helplessly to get him to keep breathing. He fought the good fight for us. He had some pain medication and was apparently in no pain as he transitioned. We carried His pain for Him as best we could.
The house is preternaturally quiet, and the unreality of this has truly shut me and my brain down. But for the Roux and all he did for us, here’s one last, final Royal Despatch:
With great regret, Hound House announces officially: His Imperial Majesty The Roux, the Magnificent, the One and Only, the First, departed across the Rainbow Bridge at 02:15 this morning, surrounded by His churls and his court, bidding Him farewell. He has new realms to conquer, and we have no doubt He is already setting things to rights on that side of the Bridge. I’m sure He will immediately demand biscuits as well as status reports from his Advance Scouts, Sascha, Bosco, Tessa, Feargal, Fred, and Bayley. They’ll all make a Mighty and Unstoppable Army with His Nibs at its head.
His Majesty’s decline was slow, but An Final Indignity was perpetrated on His Person: To wit, He was drugged and His personal physician shaved the Royal Belly and conducted an ultrasound, which found no evidence of cancer or tumors, save some age-related changes one would expect to see. His Majesty objected as strenuously as He could muster to the indignities of all this, but this one last and final Assault upon HIs Person was endured as best He could. He returned to Hound House for observation and rest, but alas, His churls were powerless to resist his insistence upon a New Campaign of Conquering Better, Greener Fields in Realms Beyond Our Reach.
His Majesty the Roux will shine forever in our hearts, and in the hearts of all his fans and supporters.
We thank everyone for their support and love. We especially thank Caleb Beasley for finding and pulling Roux from the shelter, where he was emaciated, abused, and in great need of love and attention; his foster mom Heather Nijoli Robinson for putting Him to rights and getting Him into our care; for the Basset Waltz for making him a Prince of the Waltz that one year; to the whole Belly Rubs organization and legions of bassets and fans for doing the work of angels; and to the Royal Doctor, Wyatt Cleveland, and the wonderful staff of Lebanon Road Animal Hospital in Hermitage for their care and assistance and support of Roux, His Court, and His Churls.
On behalf of Roux, Frank, and Fergus, Charlie, Goose, and Bo, and I, thank all of you.
We shall end this Final Missive about His Majesty the Roux with a somewhat altered quote from Steel Magnolias:”[We] realize … how lucky [we are]! [We were] there when that beautiful creature drifted into [our lives], and [we were] there when [he] drifted out of it. It was the most precious moment[s] of [our lives].”
