Lovelyish

This made me cry.  I had to put my cat down after she was injured.  It was so hard for me and it still makes me cry. My mom did not have the heart to put our dog down.  She lived a long time.  I got her when I was 17 and she died when I was 32.  I don’t think I will ever have pets as special as those two were to me.

Yep. Growing up I had a weimaraner. Gorgeous, loyal, and full of personality. Haha. He was a part of the family through and through. 

I want another weim, but I live out in the country and don’t have a fenced in yard….and I don’t think that would be fair…so I have guinea piggies now instead. XD

So sorry to hear about your friends little puppy! She looks so sweet. Glad she isn’t in any more pain, though. <3

I disagree with euthanasia as something we “owe to dogs,” and in general think pain management is a better route, but I’m very sorry for your loss.

When I have lost a pet I’ve channeled that energy of sorrow, etc into something creative or useful. Maybe use this sad energy to carry on your dog’s purpose and volunteer for an animal shelter, make a painting of her, write a story about her, or find another way to carry on her legacy through yourself.

Oh man, no. Not yet, I am dreading that day because my dog is my most loyal companion. I’ve had her since she was 8 weeks old, and she’ll be 8 in April. It makes me tear up just to think of it.

I’m so sorry about Deja. She was very cute.

I had to put my cat down last summer.  Part of the reason 2011 sucked so bad.  Tigger was 19 years old and I had her since I was 8!  She was my best friend and companion.  My life doesn’t feel right since she left 

Sorry for your loss.

We had a black and white tuxedo cat that we rescued from a dumpster.  He was with us for about 5 months.  Apparently his little organs couldn’t sustain him and he was gone.  Previously I had no other pets before him, and it took a while to warm up to the idea.  I was very surprised that I grew that attached to an animal in such a short period of time, I didn’t think it was true that people feel that way about their four-legged family members.  That was 3 years ago.  I knew that he was sick, so I knew that he was probably better off.  I still get sad thinking about him, though.  My husband swore that he was just like me personalitywise, but in cat form.

She was so cuuuuuuuuute!  Poor baby

Since I live on a farm and have made the mistake of getting way too attached to many animals, I have lost a lot of pets to both illness and unfortunate accidents, a couple of which I witnessed, which still bothers me.  The most recent one was a little grey kitty that I named Metal.  She was the runt of the litter and was sick ALL the time.  She wheezed a lot and was sort of skinny and mangy-looking, so nobody else wanted to pet her.  But she was my favorite.  Whenever I came home for the weekend from college she would run to me because she knew I would pet her and give her attention.  I wanted to bring her home to live with me but I couldn’t afford the $400 pet deposit and I didn’t want to get evicted.  She lived for about 3 years on the farm but last winter she just disappeared.  I have no idea what happened to her.

The cat my fiance and I have now looks almost exactly like her and was small and sickly too, so we took her to live with us since we can finally afford it.  We spoil the crap out of her   She is the most playful and hyper cat I’ve ever seen!  After dropping a few hundred bucks at the vet, she doesn’t wheeze anymore and is completely healthy

I’m so sorry to hear about Deja.  Poor little thing

I had to put my dog, Mo, to sleep this summer — he was 16-and-a-half and couldn’t eat or move without extreme difficulty anymore, so we decided the time was right.  It was such a painful experience, and it’s been so weird to go about my days without him.  Since we got him when I was six, I could hardly recall what my life was like without him.  He was really a huge part of the family, but, more importantly, he taught us a lot about how to live your life.  The main takeaways are to keep your head up no matter how poorly your life might be going and try to enjoy every minute that you possibly can.   

That’s sad and all but…what was so wrong with her that she had to be put down at 13 WEEKS???  0_O
I’m just curious.
Either way, it’s very very sad.

One thing I always tell people is to NEVER LET ANYONE BELITTLE YOUR LOSS!!!! Just because your pet isnt human doesnt make the pain any less real & some people think of pets as more than animals. The week before Thanksgiving, I lost my dog in an accident at home & it hurt like my own child. no lie. I’ve had her since I was 18 & we got her 2 weeks before Christmas when she was 2 months old. It’s like you lose a part of yourself. I cried for days, I couldnt really sleep because I kept hearing her bell in the hallway. It was like that again when we picked up her ashes (the animal hospital we went to had a service where you could get cremation if you couldnt bury your pet). They handled it beautifully. She was given a certificate from the Peggy Adams League & they put her ashes in a bag & then sealed them in a beautiful wooden box. I was gonna bury them but mom said we should keep them. We’ll put her picture on it with a plaque so no one thinks it’s a jewelry box.

Treat your pet loss like any other. Talk about it, go to meetings. You may have to look online but they do have meetings for pet parents who lose their friends. I’m gonna go to one soon. Keep the items too. Sometimes rushing to get over things makes it worse. I keep Snow’s collar on my desk.

When you’re ready, get a another furbaby. You’re not replacing your friend, you multiply the love you had. We got a rescue dog & a kitten from the pound & I love them dearly. Snow would have too.

I’ve never had to make that decision, but my sweet dog that I’ve had for 11 years died this past Thanksgiving. She had a heart attack. It was so hard for me that I skipped class that day.

That is so sad! People who don’t own pets just do not understand how tough it is. Your pet is part of your family. A few years ago, my dog had to be put to sleep. She was 12. One day, she had a seizure. Then, that evening she had a seizure that lasted through the night and really right up until she died. I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad cry so hard. I know that for me, talking to people who have been through the same thing, and writing about it helped a whole lot. And then when you’re ready, get a new dog. My new dog really helped me come to terms with the death of my last one, because I think the hardest thing was coming home and not having anyone there to greet you. Or when I’d drop food on the floor and realize I had no dog to just run over and eat it. You’ll always have a place in your heart for your dog, but it definitely helps to open up your heart to another.

My family lost our cat years ago. She was 20…it was a sad day.

I know the day my dog dies will be one of the worst days of my life. Probably equal amount of pain I felt when my dad died. He’s my best friend.

I had my border collie when I was about 1 and we had to put her down when she was 15 years old. She was such a good dog and really smart. She had cancer, but we got her into surgery and she was all better, and she also broke her hip when she was older. She got it fixed and then eventually got arthritis and was really old and in alot of pain so we put her down. I was really sad because I had her ever since I was a baby

That’s so sad.  Poor puppy. 

I never had to get an animal put down, but I’ve had a lot to die.  The saddest was probably my cat Buddy.  I was like seven or eight years old and I saw him under the car and I thought he was asleep so I pet him.  He was cold and hard.  I remember crying really hard and I was probably screaming as well. 

Yep. First dog died of dehydration (we were on vacation and the pet sitting left our 3 dogs and 6 puppies out in the Arizona summer with no water) but I was only 4, and she didn’t like me. Then we put down my second dog when I was 8, at an old age, because he had a collapsed trachea. I was sad, but it didn’t hit me too hard.

The two hardest deaths were my last two dogs. One died when I was 18, from old age, peacefully. I expected it, but we had her since I was 3, and she was the dog I grew up with. And she was a really good dog. I still get teary eyed thinking about her, and my mom also is still mourning her death after 3 years now. A little less than a year later, my parents put my other dog, who I had since I was 9, down because she had cancer. They weren’t able to wait until I got back from college, so I never got to say good bye. My dad became very depressed and for the first time in my life I didn’t have a dog.

We got my current dog 3 month after the death of the last. It definitely helped me cope with the loss. Biggest downside is I am very attached to him though I don’t see him often due to college and will see him less once I start to work. His breed isn’t known to live long. So I treasure every moment with him, more than I ever did with my other dogs. And I worry a lot when he shows any signs of being sick. All my dogs have died as at least “senior” dogs, and I had a hard enough time dealing with the early death of my friend’s puppy when she got hit by a car :/ (she was supposed to be my dog’s playmate/girlfriend).

I’m so sorry for your loss. I know exactly how you feel, though. I’m going to tell a few stories and they’re pretty long, but… I feel the need.

When I was 2, my mom took in a stray cat from our neighborhood that we used to feed outside. I named her Patsy, because I had a book with a cat I thought looked just like her called “Patsy the Pussycat”. Then, we found out Patsy was pregnant before we had taken her inside. She ended up having 3 kittens. I named them Tiger, Buttons and Squeaky. Tiger and Buttons we kept, but my mom didn’t want 4 cats, so we had to give away Squeaky to a family friend. Buttons became my best friend for the 8 years we had together. I would go downstairs with my blanket, spread it out on the love seat and she would jump up, curl up between my legs, and we would go back to sleep together, since she wasn’t allowed to go in my room. My mom just found her underneath a piece of furniture, one night, and she was already gone. I was in 5th grade. I mourned for years. I had such a hard time with life after that. It hurt me so much, that when I realized I would never understand why, or how it happened, I stopped believing in God. I asked why over, and over, and over. And when I realized there were no answers, I was done believing in fairy tales.

More recently, in July of 2010, we had an outbreak of FIP in my house with 21 cats. In a two week span we lost 5 of our pets. 2 of them were just about 2 months old. Another, was the first cat I had truly loved since Buttons. Her name was Klopsy. She was only just over a year old, but she had been sick her whole life. She always coughed, sneezed, and she had a lot of upper respiratory problems. We had taken her to the vet multiple times, but they just couldn’t find anything wrong with her. They would give her antibiotics and other types of medicines but it never helped any. Then, all of a sudden, she didn’t want to eat anymore. She was getting thin and weak, and one night we rushed her to the only open animal hospital 3 towns over. We spent all night just trying to figure out if there was anything else we could do. They gave her some IV fluid and they wanted to keep her, but we wanted to take her to the vet we knew and trusted her with, so we took her home and hoped for the best. It was 5 or 6 in the morning by the time we got home, and I had so much trouble sleeping… then at 8am we took her to the vet where they immediately took her into the hospital part and hooked her up to an IV. They later told us she had a fluid build up in her stomach and that’s why she wouldn’t eat. They said she had FIP, and it was incurable… When my mom called me that day I was a wreck. She said they had suggested we put her down, and my immediate reaction was, “You are NOT going to kill MY cat!” But sure enough, later that day, she was put down. It was absolutely horrible for everyone. My boyfriend and I spent the next week crying with each other at random times when something reminded us of her… and he doesn’t even like cats. She was the first one he ever grew to love. And she was taken from us way, way too soon because of an awful disease.

I know this is like… a novel of a comment, but I love my animals more than anything and losing them… is worse than losing another human being, to me. It’s harder for me to see a cat die in a movie than to see hundreds of human beings die. But all of this has taught me to never take for granted the time you have with your animals, and to always devote a little time to them each day, no matter how busy or tired you may be. In the end, all they want is a little of your affection… and it isn’t too much to ask.

The loss is hard, but the pain will fade… and the memories will be there for the rest of your life. Cherish them, and share them with others. It really does help.

xX Ame ~*~ Hana Xx

So sad!! Omg, heart is breaking now.  I know how this feels.  I had to have one of my rabbits put down because she got so old she couldn’t walk anymore and clean after herself and I tried to hold on to her as long as I could, until finally you knew, she was tired already and sort of gave up living and clearly was not happy anymore.  I really didn’t want to let go, I was willing to keep tending to her in her cage, but everyone knew it was time so with a broken heart I let my dad take her to the humane society to be put down.  I think it’s so hard because you sort of feel like you could still have them with you, unlike a situation where they die on their own.  That was one of the more harder deaths I’ve had to deal with because of that.  I don’t know what I’ll do when my dogs pass…I try not to think of it.  I feel like people sometimes downplay pet deaths and they kind of look strangely at you when you’re mourning it because it’s “just a pet” but I think it’s as bad as losing a family member and a pet is definitely an immediate family member.  

Awww! I’m so so sorry about your pet. That is such a young age. I almost had to go through this- last year my puppy, who is now a year old, broke his arm and we didn’t have insurance and the cost of surgery was 4grand! My dad wouldn’t pay, and we thought we were lost without the surgery. I bawled for a whole day and got on the phone with PETA and other animal care organizations trying to get money from them for the operation. I couldn’t stop crying to the PETA lady and she told me that while they couldn’t give money for the operation, they would put my puppy to sleep for free. I wanted to rip her eyes out, I was so angry. But when my puppy came home the next day with a splint, he was in so so much pain and I cried at the thought of putting him down because it might be the best thing to do. However, the pain lasted only that night, and I stayed up all night with him trying to get him to calm down because of the pain he was in, and my brave little guy was fine in a few days. The splint came off in about 6 weeks and while he doesn’t use that arm as much, he can run with it (SUPER FAST!) and he’s not in pain anymore and I’m sooo thankful we didn’t have to put him down. I used to laugh it people who cried when their pets died, thinking how could someone be so emotionally attached to an animal? And then I got my puppy. I love that little guy to death. He can get annoying because he’s just so full of energy 24/7, but I just love him so much And I know I am going to be absolutely devastated when his time comes. But for now, he has a long healthy life ahead of him and that’s all I want to look forward to

I’m so very sorry again about Deja. I think a funeral would be a good way to get closure, but sometimes just crying it out helps. And I totally agree, there is a dog heaven and Deja is definitely in it! 

One thing I’ve noticed about people who were raised sans pets is that they have no feelings whatsoever for creatures.  Not all, just most.  I think we do our children a disservice by not allowing furry fellows into our homes, to teach them compassion for all God’s creatures, not just humans.  And I think of women I’ve known who never had children, but had pets, and the pain was every bit has biting and strong for them as if it had been a child.  I’m 58, had animals since before I could walk.  One picture shows me at age one, standing while holding a huge cat.  Every home I’ve lived in has become a cemetery of some sorts, because I choose to bury the passed animal on my property and have a little ceremony for it.  My children’s lives have been much more whole because of the gift of pets, brit cats, dogs, a rat, gerbils, you name it.  I have loved them all.  I do understand the money limit of spending on animals as well, and those decisions are the most painful of all, but my life is still richer, even through the pain.

. Indeed I have. Fish all the way up to dogs. Each death is equally painful. When my first dog died I cried, when my favorite dog died I curled up into a ball, when my first rabbit died I was devastated, when our first betta together died we were beyond heartbroken. The death of a pet is never an easy thing to deal with, and it is perfectly okay to mourn for awhile. But we are masochists and keep getting new critters to love and eventually lose.

Sorry to hear about Deja she looks so sweet.

When I was a little kid, my mom’s cat hemorrhaged from his nose while I was holding him and ended up dying later at the hospital. And when I was in like 7th grade my guinea pig got sick, and I thought I could nurse him back to health because he wasn’t eating. He ended up dying, it was so sad

I just hope my cat lives a really long time. She’s 3 and 1/2 now so I’ve still got a long time with her thankfully!

So sorry about Deja. We had to put our cat, Comet down a year ago. We had him for 16 yrs. Our animals are a part of our family and it was soo tough. We were all devastated. He was my daughters “baby”. I remember when she was a little girl and he was a kitten and she used to wheel him around in her doll stroller. He loved it. She had him cremated and his ashes are at her house in a wooden box that has his name engraved on top. We still miss him.

The first pet I had to put down was my 3 day old colt . He was such a beautiful little horse, but has septic shock =[ .

My first pet that was solely mine that I lose was my 12 year old British Bulldog. Such a sad day, and of course he had to die when I was at school. But now he’s cremated and I’ll have him forever. Best dog ever, it’s been 2+ years and I still haven’t had another dog. 

13 weeks?? Too young! I’m sorry! = (

My dog Buddy lived a long life despite being sick a lot. It got really bad towards the end. Seizures and constant pain because of a tumor in his ear. Actually the first vet we went too thought it was just ear infections. The second one we went to said the medicine that we were giving him just made him sicker. We couldn’t afford the surgrey. I think it was almost 5 grand. I miss him dearly my poor little pup. It hurts so much to lose a friend. and such a loyal and completely loving one at that. 

How awful. I’m very sorry that you had to go through that especially when your puppy was so young. We had to put down our 15-year-old border collie mix October 2010 and then our 13-year-old lab in March of 2011. It was devastating and nobody in my family took it well. We were so attached and it was hard to let go so our border collie was kept alive one day too late. I will never forgot how much pain my dog was in and THAT is the worst part. Time does make things a lot better though. I miss my dogs, but I try to focus on the good memories that I have of them instead of on their final moments.