UPDATE (May 22): If you had told me that a week after this photo we would be euthanizing our beloved Jig I would have spewed a string of flavorful invective in your specific direction. But that’s just what happened and I am heartcrushed. A couple days after this snap Jiggy became a bit lethargic and reclusive, not in and of itself cause for concern. Then on May 20, his appetite diminished and he completely refused breakfast and dinner the day after. We knew something was up and planned to address it medically, and on Friday morning we found his head had swelled so badly that it was pushing his left eye outward. Two local hospitals were unable to see him (one not until the following Tuesday!), so we got him to an emergency hospital with my hope given the sudden inflammation that it was an abscess caused either by a bad tooth or perhaps an embedded foxtail. The doctor counseled that her examination did not show that relatively simple explanation and that it appeared to be a growth more than likely malignant — or if it was an infection of some sort it was from deeper inside his head. The suggestion was to do a CT scan for the most definitive view, but that would come at a tremendous cost and seemed most likely would lead to a surgery of which Jiggy’s survival was in doubt and his prognosis poor. So we elected with much difficulty and much sorrow to say goodbye. Thankfully, though in this Covid-19 era of telephone-only veterinary treatment, Susan and I were allowed to be with Jiggy at the moment of his passing (coincidentally in the same room we said goodbye to our beloved Ranger in November 2018). Farewell my dear Jiggy.