Grieving the loss of a pet..........my best friend

[bnewt]

Whelp. I didn't need that tonight. Him talking about driving home for work just gutted me. When my girl had to be put down, my supervisor was awesome and gave be a couple of days to work remote just so I wouldn't have to make my hour long commute each way. That first drive home from work the following Monday? I didn't want to go home. I would've rather driven to Hell to be honest. But I drove home, and the sound of just silence as I opened my door was.....so deafening.

Pets are family. Period.

haven't watched that, and not sure I want too at this time.........
sure understand what you mean about going home........Casey would always meet me at the door as I came in from work. He was always
glad to see me. Seeing him made the crap from work disappear. Even after he lost his sight, he would try to find by following my voice. Once he was close, I would pick him up and give him a big hug. He would respond with plenty of "kisses". Just hard not having that love to meet you at the door.

 

[bnewt]

Unexpectedly had to put down our sweet 15 year old golden yesterday. She was obviously declining but didn’t think yesterday would be the day. First time having to do it. Awful but today is worse.

Got her in San Francisco. She moved cross country with me to Charleston, SC a couple years later (we had an epic road trip on the way). Then to Chapel Hill and eventually Raleigh.

She saw me getting married, build and sell two businesses. She welcomed home two little human girls (first one she was unsure about) then two cats whom she immediately befriended.

True water dog though hilariously hated baths (assume she didn’t like feeling confined).

15 years was a great run. Will never be another dog like her.

Condolences to all the rest in this thread on their losses. The timing of the OP and subsequent stories have been helpful.

sound like you had a great life with her. she grew with you and your family. sorry it had to end for you

 

[AmericanDragon]

Had to say goodbye to a cat back in October after 15 years. Took one her her kittens (who is now around 15 herself) into the vet this Friday only to find out it now might just have the same disease that killed her mother.

 

[bnewt]

Had to say goodbye to a cat back in October after 15 years. Took one her her kittens (who is now around 15 herself) into the vet this Friday only to find out it now might just have the same disease that killed her mother.

pets are great until you have to face ending their life........who gave us that right
still have a hard time getting over having to make that decision

 

[AmericanDragon]

Well thankfully my cat just lost 10% of their weight in a year because apparently she decided to get ready for beach season 😂 instead of having the same disease as the other cat

 

[JDHoss]

I am sure that a lot of people think that the grief experienced from the loss of a long time companion is crazy, but I can tell you, mine is real, very real. My wife and I had to put down our 14 year old shis tzu (Casey) yesterday. This was one of the most excruciating, painful things that I have ever experienced. This is the 2nd time we have had to go thru this horrible experience. Both times, these loveable, cuddly dogs, contracted glaucoma, causing them to become blind. Our 1st shis tzu had back problems her entire life. Our 2nd one was basically healthy his entire life until his blindness. Both of these adorable creatures filled our life with joy and happiness. They would meet us at the door every day coming home from work. They could not wait for us to pick them up and hug them. They would shower us with "kisses". They were not pets, not dogs, they were our children, as we weren't blessed with any human children. Unfortunately, Casey had developed a cough, almost a crupe cough sound, that he could not shake. He had been on a couple types of medication for about 6 weeks. At one point, I thought that he had gotten over it, but it returned even worse. When he was enduring one of these coughing spells, it broke my heart. I'm not sure if it caused him to be in pain, but it had to hurt him every time they started. He was also on drops for his eyes, and some mild pain relief for arthritis. Before this cough, he would lay beside us on the couch all night, content to be in our lap or cuddled up beside us, especially the wife. After he developed the cough, he was unable to do that. He would rest for a short time and then he would have to move around before he could settle down again. Maybe that was a sign of pain, and I just wouldn't see it. In bed, he would sleep between us, with his head on one of our pillows. You can't believe how this caused us to love him even more. This morning, I awoke at 5 a.m. and saw the snow coming down. My first thought was that Casey didn't like the snow, then it hit me, he was gone, never to see the snow again, and I will never see him again. Funny he didn't like the snow, as he was snow white, with a soft cottony coat and a touch of gold on his ears. We called him our angel, and know he is with the angels, and my parents. Sorry for the ramblings of a 67 year old man that can't stop crying over his best friend's passing.

Really sorry to hear that, Newt. You’re absolutely right about how tough it is. We lost our boy Sam a year ago. I have seen my parents and my older brother die, and Sam’s passing hit me as hard as any of them. It’s been a year, and there’s not 30 minutes passes by in a day that we don’t think about him.

 

[bnewt]

Really sorry to hear that, Newt. You’re absolutely right about how tough it is. We lost our boy Sam a year ago. I have seen my parents and my older brother die, and Sam’s passing hit me as hard as any of them. It’s been a year, and there’s not 30 minutes passes by in a day that we don’t think about him.

you are correct

I was with my mom and dad as they took their last breath. Just as hard holding my "little buddy" as he took his. That limp feeling is something that I will never forget. Probably would have been easier to take if he had passed on his own, with God making the decision. But having to make that decision, twice now, makes it even harder to justify and accept.

 

[WayneDougan]

Not to be insensitive here, but I've always found the easiest way to get over the loss of a dog is to go get a puppy ASAP. Generally speaking the dog that passed away was in rough shape and moving slow. Injecting optimal cuteness of a new pup + the fact they are complete lunatic psychos when they're little takes your mind off the old dog. Worked for me this year!

 

[ukalum01]

Had to let our Havanese go yesterday. They told us he was 7 when we got him from the Humane Society and he made it one day shy of another 10 years with us. By far the most chill dog I’ve ever been around. Not sure what his life was like before we got him but that little guy a great one with us. He was the best.