Augie Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 2 minutes ago, dpberr said: I get to practice what I preach tonight and it's going to be terrible. I’m so sorry to hear that, but you know it’s best. Good luck.
Reed83HOF Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 31 minutes ago, dpberr said: I get to practice what I preach tonight and it's going to be terrible. Sorry to hear that man; hang in there
Misterbluesky Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 (edited) 2 hours ago, dpberr said: I get to practice what I preach tonight and it's going to be terrible. Sorry that it's time.Peace to you and your family during this tough time,God Bless. Kevin Edited April 11, 2019 by Misterbluesky
Golden Goat Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 On 4/1/2019 at 12:58 AM, Turk71 said: So sorry for your loss ODB, my little buddy Harry is almost 14 and I feel crushed whenever I think about losing him. He is still active and happy but I know it is inevitable. I can only imagine what you are going through. Sucks. I'm in the same boat. My beagle, Radar, will (hopefully) be 15 in October. He still eats like a horse, but he can't hear or see well anymore. I'd say I'm bracing myself, but I'd be lying. I have no idea how one goes about doing that. 1
The Real Buffalo Joe Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 I can't even imagine. I've never lost my own dog, but my aunt and uncle had a dog I was close to that they had to put down, and my cousin has had to put down three of his dogs in the past four or five years, all of whom I've been close to, and it still hurt. The dog I have now is the first dog that's truly been my dog. He's about 12. Still active so I know he's got some time left. But I know when he's gone, I'll be out of commission for a week.
Chef Jim Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 This is the problem with having pets instead of kids. You tend to outlive your pets. We're on our third cat. The first one got pretty sick. We got him before we got married when we lived in Miami. He traveled with us to WNY on our way to Chicago to get married and then off to California after the wedding. He was part of our family. We he was sick we tried everything to help him. We fed him intravenously. It was so sad watching him just waste away. We took a weekend trip to SF and got a call from our friend who was popping in to look after him. He had died. I swore I was never going to let a pet suffer like that again. Our second cat developed throat cancer. We made the decision with the help of the vet to put him down. Vet said his throat could be restricted and he may suffocate. I dreaded that drive to the vet to have him put down so I researched and found a vet that would come to our house to put him down. It was nice to have him go sitting in his favorite perch. On our third cat. First female cat. She's a b**ch and can't wait until we put her down. I kid I kid....... She's my favorite of the three so far. It's gonna suck when we put her down but again that's life with pets. So my condolences. It's kind of like when you lose a close family member or friend. It's sad and it's hard but here's the best thing you can do. Is focus on all the love and joy the brought you. Save all the photos/videos mementos you have. I videoed our first cat as he was dying to Pink Floyd's Pigs on the Wing (Part 2). To this day it still gets me every time I hear that song.
Augie Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 When our last dog was put down, it was a complete surprise. She was fine....until she wasn’t. A tumor in her chest (we had no idea existed) broke loose and was pressing on her heart. She was so scared. I was glad I could be with her at the end. We had to explain to my son when he got home from school. His first words were “I wish I had played with her more”. So true. Gotta go now, taking my Gracie for a walk. 1
PromoTheRobot Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 (edited) My daughter keeps rats. They are actually very nice pets, very bright and playful if you socialize them early. The downside is they die in 2-3 years, often from cancer. So my daughter has to put them down often. She just did the latest one yesterday. She said she had to bring the deceased rat home so the other rats could see that their cage mate died. First they prod and jostle the body to wake them up and then go off to a corner to mourn for a while. Rats depend on having rat buddies. Keeping a single rat is cruel. Edited April 12, 2019 by PromoTheRobot
Misterbluesky Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 (edited) 1 hour ago, Augie said: When our last dog was put down, it was a complete surprise. She was fine....until she wasn’t. A tumor in her chest (we had no idea existed) broke loose and was pressing on her heart. She was so scared. I was glad I could be with her at the end. We had to explain to my son when he got home from school. His first words were “I wish I had played with her more”. So true. Gotta go now, taking my Gracie for a walk. It's cold here tonight,but I'm going with my bride and Ellie soon.She loves to look at the deer that surround the park.I wouldn't have went out with them tonight if it wasn't for this thread. Edited April 11, 2019 by Misterbluesky 1
Augie Posted April 11, 2019 Posted April 11, 2019 38 minutes ago, Misterbluesky said: It's cold here tonight,but I'm going with my bride and Ellie soon.She loves to look at the deer that surround the park.I wouldn't have went out with them tonight if it wasn't for this thread. This is what life’s all about. It’s easy to do the “easy thing” and lose track of this! My girl is fixated on a cat in the backyard thru the screen door. She wouldn’t know what to do with it! She just wants to play, they cat would probably take her eyes out! These are the little things in life we need to cherish.
dpberr Posted April 12, 2019 Posted April 12, 2019 (edited) Thank you all for your thoughts. It felt good to read them. It was very difficult to do. She was a 16 year old cat who was in a lot of pain from a likely kidney tumor. I felt some peace as she passed because she didn't want to lay down because of pain, and had stopped eating and drinking. She was pretty dehydrated. We learned a lot about ourselves and our thoughts about death from our other cat who passed away at 16 from cancer. In hindsight, we extended his life probably a little longer than we should have. We pulled out all the stops in a desperate attempt to stave off the inevitable. This time around, we didn't want to extend life simply to extend it or to make ourselves feel better if it meant she'd just experience more pain. I think we all do the best we can in the moment. Edited April 12, 2019 by dpberr 3
Wacka Posted April 14, 2019 Posted April 14, 2019 I mentioned my brother's 19 year old dog in this thread (we put him to sleep in 2015). Today my brother said he will probably have to put his 18 year-old cat to sleep this week. She is barely eating eating anything, is getting thinner , won't touch her treats (which have catnip), and the ed her a piece of ham this morning, She threw it up this afternoon.
RaoulDuke79 Posted April 14, 2019 Posted April 14, 2019 21 minutes ago, Wacka said: I mentioned my brother's 19 year old dog in this thread (we put him to sleep in 2015). Today my brother said he will probably have to put his 18 year-old cat to sleep this week. She is barely eating eating anything, is getting thinner , won't touch her treats (which have catnip), and the ed her a piece of ham this morning, She threw it up this afternoon. From my experience cats seem to have a pretty long shelf life. I had two growing up that lived to 17. My wife had one that was 20 and I saw someone at the vet last week who had a 22 year old cat. Mine will be 12 in August. He's a fat heap, so I dont know how far he'll make it, but he's grumpy and tough and those type seem to stick around.
The Senator Posted April 14, 2019 Posted April 14, 2019 Putting a dog down is like your best friend begging you to pull the plug ‘cause he’s terminal and suffering. You just want them around longer, and it hurts like hell. I’ve had to put 3 down, one was a tiny puppy with distemper, totally blind but still trying to find the newspapers we had spread for her. Another was a giant St. Bernard with mange - it was the only way the vet could relieve her misery. The third was just old, could no longer stand or walk, and had to wear a diaper. It sucks. My sympathies. If I have any worthwhile advice to offer, get a young puppy to replace your old friend. Do it soon. You’ll never really replace your old friend, but caring for and training a young puppy will help take your mind off the sorrow. JMO .
Recommended Posts