vale aeternum Eoos

Our most chowy Chow Chow is gone...
Farewell daybreak, groaner, night nurse Eoos...

Eoos was named after the Greek godess of dawn, sadly she lived not even two years...

She was our talking Chow, she could bark, yelp, groan, cry and all of this in different tones and volumes, each with a different meaning.
She was the most "chowy" Chow Chow we have ever had: aloof, introvert, loyal, opinionated and caring. Most Chows mature slow, but she was very slow maturing, looking back this might have been a sign...

When we think of her a lot of songs are associated with Eoos, like this adjusted version of the Banana Boat song:

E-oos, me say E-oos
daylight come and me wanna go home

She watched over us at night, she woke up Frank several times when his heart arrhythmia started when he was asleep. This condition is not lifethreatening, but Frank gets very tired, the longer it goes on, the more tired he got. He can stop it when he is aware of it.
Eoos woke me up too, a few times before we found out my thyroid was not working well. Because of this we called her night nurse Eoos, a Dutch band "Doe Maar" has a song called Nachtzuster (Night nurse), a translation:

Night nurse, what should I do without you?
Night nurse, I am burning inside
Night nurse, help me, I am in pain
Night nurse, what am I without your care?
Night nurse, will I live tomorrow?
Night nurse, help me, I am in pain

The end came suddenly, after she was spayed, she seemed to be allright, but she got a servere allergic reaction, called anaphylactic shock. The vet called the university vet clinic in Utrecht for advice, but they gave little hope. They called the bloody stool Eoos had "shock shit" en said there was not much that could be done. But Eoos did not want to give up, cried and yelped to tell us she did not like it at all.

Don't betray me, don't leave me
don't give up, but fight for me.
The night is cold and the day without color,
my life would be empty without you...
So don't take away the love you gave to me,
please love me!
please don't leave me...
(part of a song by Marco Borsato)

We decided to take Eoos home for the night, hoping she would be more at ease there. I watched over her all night, she only napped a little and when awake she was still crying. Early in the morning I got too tired to stay awake, so I woke Frank and went to sleep. Frank took Eoos back to the vet, together they explored all chances, but it was in vain. At the same time the vet and Frank concluded that the fight for life had changed into suffering and they decided it was time...

I went with Chimay to the vet. Chimay had always reacted very calm when one of our dogs died, but this time was different, Eoos was her daughter. When Chimay saw Eoos' body, she licked her head, as if she tried to lick life back into the dead body, this was heartwrenching to see. But even Chimay could not conquer Eoos' death.

And, very strange, since her death Frank has not had any heart arrhythmia, like night nurse Eoos took the problem with her.

Vale aeternam Eoos, farewell for ever Eoos


So many heartwarming reactions from all over the world after Eoos' death. A neighbor, Charlotte, made us a small sculptue of Eoos. It has a special place in our library, next to the photo of her favorite brother Esmo.

Lelystad, September 1st, 2011