Kristen Bell and her two daughters, Delta, 5, and Lincoln, 7, bid their cherished rescue dog farewell after she got an infection over the weekend. The Frozen actor shared a heartbreaking message to her beloved dog, Barbara, on her Instagram Story on Friday.
In the bittersweet post, Bell explained that her baby Barb got sick of the weekend. She took the dog to the vet only for her to be diagnosed with Giardia, an intestinal infection caused by parasites.
Kristen Bell thought her rescue dog would “pull through,” but unfortunately things took a turn for the worst.
“It looked for a while like Barb was gonna pull through,” Bell wrote on Instagram. “Even though Barb is a (gorgeous) fighter, shes gone septic and her lil body doesn’t look like its gonna pull through.”
“On our way to the vet now to say goodbye,” Bell wrote and shared a teary selfie of herself driving to the vet. “Trying to stay super grateful for the 2 years we got to spoil her like the Queen she is.”
The actor then acknowledged The Dog Cafe in Los Angeles “for bringing her into our lives.” The cafe aims to “revolutionize rescue dog adoption” by enabling people to have “quality time” with dogs that need homes.
Later, Bell posted a picture of one of her daughters with a digital heart sticker over her face and a face mask over her mouth, giving Barb one last pet. She added, “We love you Barbara.”
Bell also posted a picture of herself, wearing an animal print mask, saying her final goodbyes. Her little pup’s eyes are closed in the photo and she was lovingly snuggled into a warm blanket.
Just a day before the Barbara posts, Bell shared and husband, Dax Shepard spoke at a marketing summit for Advertising Week 2020. According to E!, the couple opened up about how they’re bonding and staying positive right now.
She explained that she encourages her children to name three things that they’re grateful for each morning. Shepard added that the practice was inspired by the 12 Step Program, following his opioid relapse and his journey to becoming sober once more.
It has a huge impact on me and it seems to work for the kids as well,” Dax said of the gratitude practice.
“We’re in the bed sometimes at night, they will say, ‘Does anyone want to talk about what they’re grateful for?’ And immediately [my] mom heart goes crazy, and I’m like, ‘Sure, if you do,’ trying to act cool,” Bell added. “I’m shocked by how into that our little girls have gotten.”
Shepard has been very candid about his struggles with opioid addiction and just days after celebrating sixteen years of sobriety, the Parenthood actor admitted that he had relapsed.
On a recent podcast called Armchair Expert, Shepard discussed, in detail, how he’s been coping over the years. He admitted that while his first eight years of sobriety had no gray areas, his last eight years had quite a few of them. From injuries to losing his father, painkillers had become a part of his life and for the most part, he was using the prescribed medications as he should, until he wasn’t.
Shepard told his listeners that things started to get really bad about six months ago. “I’ve not ever yet bought [painkillers],” he said. “And then I do…For the last eight weeks maybe, I don’t really know…I’m on them all day.”
He came clean about the relapse to his podcasting partner, Monica Padman, and later to Bell. He also thanked his fans for their continued support. “Just quickly, I want to say thanks to all the people that have been so unbelievably lovely to us in response to ‘Day 7.'”
We’re glad the Shepard has the tools he needs to find his way to sobriety once more and that he’s sharing those with his entire family. We feel that after the loss of their beloved dog, counting blessings and naming things that each is grateful for would be a therapeutic and healing experience. RIP Barb! And, good luck to this family as they navigate through this difficult time.
If you or someone you know is also dealing with addiction, the SAMHSA National Helpline is there to help at 1-800-662-4357.
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