l| a time to be silent and a time to speak |l

Lesson from Tort #1

One of the two tortoises in my house had been sick - for quite a while. But it was only discovered about 3-4 weeks ago, when I saw that its eyes were not able to open even though it was awake in the day. I was quite shocked and googled for a trustworthy reptile specialist vet that I could bring it to.

Apparently it had been malnourished somewhat over a period of time (probably years of just simple, pretty standard veg). Seriously, torts should just be left alone in the wild, where they'd have a balanced diet with a variety of food available. Vet prescribed jabs, and even though it was a cold-blooded creature and unable to protest vocally, I felt bad poking needles into it 'cos it must have hurt. Being visual creatures, it didn't eat but only drank some water when I soaked it in warm water for a while each morning. After three trips to the vet's, it continued to deteriorate and today, it finally is gone... =/

Even though I don't claim it as my pet (my Dad bought it about a decade ago), these past few weeks of being a pet caregiver made me hopeful for its recovery and prayed that it would be one of the fortunate 50% of cases that would survive such conditions. When I discovered that it had died, I know that I shouldn't keep pets. Yet, physical death is an easier and cleaner matter to deal with.

Sad thing is, I'm one of the culprits who caused its premature death. I didn't take ownership of it even though I knew nobody else really did. I could have made a difference (without procrastination) -- and where I am now or will be, this is one lesson that I'm reminded of.

There's still Tort #2, looking healthier but I shall not take chances. Hopefully it will outlive me...! Ha.