In Loving Memory Of
Mocha
November 14, 2001 - June 26, 2004
Anyone who has ever loved and been loved by their pet knows the great loss of losing them. On June 26, 2004, my little buddy Mocha died.
I would like to dedicate this site to the memory of Mocha, that he might live on in the hearts and minds of all those who knew and loved him.
I would also like to invite others to share their love, or their loss, of their pets on this site, for the World is made such a better place because of animals, and they should be recognized for their
contributions of joy, humor, love and companionship.
Mocha's Story
Mocha was born November 14, 2001 in a litter or 5. He was amazingly different from the others right from the start. He was much larger than his siblings and had nearly black fur. His mother,
Laverne, was a pure-bred Chinese Shar Pei, and supposedly so was his father. However, the day before Laverne was to be taken to be bred, she escaped under the fence and got out of the yard, to
be found a few blocks away. So perhaps some hanky panky went on while she was away. 
Many who have met Mocha thought that perhaps he was mixed with Chow, for although he had the
classic Shar Pei characteristics of the facial folds and extra skin, fatty upper muzzle and forward folding ears, he also had gloriously long fur, especially on his tail. (His tail fur reminded me of Andy
Warhol's famous white wig! His fur got lighter and longer with age.) The rest of his siblings had the typical short, wiry fur. Or perhaps he was what they call a throwback, in the hair department.
But no matter how he came to be, I simply fell in love with him. I thought he was just beautiful. 
While the other pups were more aggressive, Mocha was always quiet and shy. He never seemed to
be quite sure of his place in the World, or whether he was loved or not. His sister, Dotty, wildly swings her tail whenever I come home. So much so, you would think it would create an
earthquake. For that, I call her Wiggy Waggy. But Mocha, being unsure whether he was loved or not, had this adorable partial tail wag, which said to me, "You love me, right? Do you love me? I
think you love me, right? Huh, huh, huh?". You couldn't help but love him. Mocha had a funny nervous tick, where he would nibble on his sister's ID tag and license. He
would just keep going until either someone stopped him, or Dotty would nip at him, annoyed. The only time Mocha was ever serious about anything was when we went for a walk. Oh, this was
serious business. He'd hang his head low and flat to the ground and at a steady clip he'd sniff along the entire route, deftly marking his territory the entire way. He'd have this serious look on his face,
like "I'm in charge of THIS operation! You just keep up with me, right? And try not to get in the way." 
Now, while the other dog's would likely sleep on the bed, Mocha usually would not. I think he overheated easily or something. I'm not quite sure what he would do while the others were
sleeping. Occationally, I might hear him go out the dog door, but I think mostly he would sleep at the top of the stairs, where he had a good view of the entrance walkway, so as to keep an eye out for intruders.
I loved to spoil the dogs, and would give them choice tidbits while I was cooking. The dogs had gotten into the habit lately of being hesitant when I tried to sneek them something. They'd look at
the food, look around to see if anyone else was in on the goodies, look at the food, look around. Finally I'd just put the food down, and they'd eat it as soon as someone else came along that might steal it away from them.
Sometimes Mocha would give me this hilarious look if he wasn't ready for a snack. He'd turn his head a little to the side and snarl is upper lip kind of like an Elvis snarl, and give me this "Eew, I'm
not eating THAT!" disdainful look. I'd put the food down, and finally he'd eat it. It's kind of hard to describe the look, but it was funnier than heck. 
Mocha was every bit the gentleman. He was friendly to all, mean to no one. He had a very kind heart. Everyone who met him fell in love with him. And his exotic good looks drew the admiration of all.
I don't wish to dwell on his illness and death. It happened very quickly, within a 6-day period, and came as a complete shock to all. Late one night he came to me in obvious pain. His rear legs were
hurting him, and he could hardly walk. The next morning, we took him to the vet. He had a fever and an infection. The fever improved, but he wouldn't eat. He deteriated rapidly and lost a lot of
weight very quickly. After several days, the vet sent him home to see if he would eat among family, along with his medications. He would not eat. He looked very gaunt, and had a look of extreme
sadness on his face. By Saturday he was having trouble breathing. We took him to a different vet, one with an internal specialist on staff, but within just a few minutes of arriving there, his heart had
stopped. They tried reviving him, but he was gone. It turns out that it was Familial Sharpei Fever that took Mocha. FSF is a rare but deadly condition,
specific to Sharpeis. There is no cure. There were no indicators that he was sick, prior to the day he came to me. Anyway, Mocha will be deeply missed by all, especially me. Farewell buddy. I love ya. I always
will.
Mocha's Pet Pals - Mocha.TheRainierValley.com
