RIP Coconut Jar

This morning it became apparent that it was time to put our friend, the Coconut Oil Jar, to rest. This jar has been one of our best friends during it's time here with us.

Our relationship started with an innocent comment or a link somewhere to the benefits of coconut oil. What? An anti-biotic and anti-fungal all in one? I was sure we could use some of this for something or another. I bought a jar on faith that it would be used and find its purpose.

Well, it found many purposes. The first of note was Gator's tearstains. After learning that tearstains were a sign of candida, an internal bacterial imbalance, I began to do what I could to restore the proper bacterial balance and used the coconut oil externally on the tearstains. It worked like a champ! The first application would soften the brown areas and make them very easy to remove in subsequent applications.

From there, we moved to putting it on hotspots, or other dry, patchy areas of skin. Occassionally it would find its way to a dry nose or a scrape or two.

But no matter where the oil was used, the dogs' favorite use was as a treat. Whenever the Jar was pulled out, everyone would gather around for a fingernail full of the fluffy white stuff. It quickly became one of their alltime favorites.

It wasn't long before the Jar taught them other things. Like how to steal it, even though it was far too big for a pug to carry. Then they learned how to remove the srew-top lid which truly resolved the carrying issue now that they could simply grab the rim of the Jar.

After learning how to remove the lid, it wound up on my bed mysteriously missing coconut oil down to the depth of a pug tongue. With getting past that hurdle, it lasted for quite some time afterwards since I was the only one who could reach down deep enough to get out more oil. It didn't prevent them from carrying it around and stealing it from each other. Finding the coconut jar was a chore at times, but fortunately the majority of the time it would end up back on the bed before I needed it again.

The Jar was one of their best friends. They didn't get depressed or give up in frustration that they couldn't reach the oil. No, they carried it around with awe and respect. The possessor would laud it over the have-nots. It would inspire a rousing game of chase. And they would lovingly and gently chew all around the rim of the plastic jar to the point where it was hopeless to ever reconsider putting the lid back on.

Yes, it was a beloved member of the family. Recently, though, we have been scraping bottom. Just yesterday they all got treats of coconut oil as they sat around me with bright and excited eyes. I figured it would only last a couple more days, so imagine my surprise when I woke this morning to find the jar absolutely empty.

It seems in a farewell to our family, it gave them one last lesson on life. Use your paw to get to the bottom. One of my beautiful, intelligent companions has figured out how to use her paw to scrape the bottom of the coconut jar to retrieve the last tasty morsels.

Farewell, our friend. May you find yourself recycled into the plastic of your dreams.