Wow, I can’t believe I never saw this blog until I noticed someone commented on it yesterday. By April 18th I was more than hopelessly addicted to teh qte yet its like my mind couldn’t deal with this so it didn’t see it.

We had our beloved cat Handsome euthanized on March 23rd. He was 16, in kidney failure, unable to regulate his blood sugar and a cancer survivor. He hadn’t eaten for days even though I cooked for him and my husband started buying him sardines. He was hiding under my son’s bed alot (and my son doesn’t live with us) so he wanted to leave us. He still loved us at the end, giving us his morning chirp and was glad to see us, but he was done. There was no doubt in my mind when I took him to the vet, but my husband still questions it. He has left a hole in all of our hearts, the human and feline members of this family. It does hurt less now than then, but there are still so many times I miss him.

Wow. This was certainly a good idea…. Sadly, I can’t take the survey because I’ve never experienced the death of a pet, though I have experienced loss.

Back when I had just finished grade 4, I had to give my dog Benji away to the humane society because we were moving and couldn’t take him with us. Benji was the first dog we’d owned that we’d gotten as a pup, and I had named him myself, so I was rather attached to him. It was hard to leave him behind, even though I knew he’d find a good family. Almost as hard as if he died, I think. Not quite, though.

But, you do recover… well, I did. I think I had an easier time than most because of my generally non-sentimental nature. Plus, we bought a long-haired chihuahua puppy after we moved. ^^; That helped.

Mara, I had no idea of this belief, but I love it! In fact I hate it when people say “fluffy went to doggy/kitty/bunny heaven”, because heaven would not be without our beloved pets. Do you know which tribe is it? I’d love to know who the Wise Guys are!

Just as a note, for anyone who is curious.

The researcher, who was hoping for 150 replies, ended up with 7300 thanks to cute overload.

Thanks so much to everyone who participated!

I’m taking up lots of space now, but I wanted to add one more thing. Someone once told me there is a Native American tribe who believes when we go to heaven we are met by all of the animals we have known in our lives. It is they who judge our character and decide our fate. I love this idea, and every time I hug my kitties, or read about someone hurting an animal, I think of this belief and hope it’s true. Seems like a pretty good ruler.

Fifi,

All we can do is the best we know how. My Nibbet was older but seemed healthy. She got sick pretty rapidly in the end. We scheduled the appointment at what we thought was the right time, but she died the night before. There is a part of us that will never forgive ourselves. But, my father that night, who was the closest to her, she never left his side, slept on his chest every night for years, heard a meow that woke him up. He searched and searched for the meow but never found the source. He isn’t an outwardly emotional man, in fact, that is the only time I heard him say anything spiritual, but he believes it was her, thanking him for letting her go her own way. She was always so independent, it isn’t hard to think that is what she wanted. Tears are flowing now, and I’m at work. No matter what choice you make, he knows you love him. *hugs to everyone*

I lost my 14 yr old White Shepherd a month ago. I knew it was time, and my other elder pup knew as well. Doesn’t stop the hurt here, but she is swimming in a lake somewhere. Thank you so much for posting the survey and comments. They have helped.

I lost my childhood cat over three years ago… and I still bawl like a baby when I think about her.

Thank goodness I have two cuddly bundles of fluffy love to squeeze when I need to! Both of them were what you would call “problem fosters” – pets no one would want to adopt! One has bad asthma and the other was so feral, she’d rip your face off. Now, everyone comments how healthy and LOVING they are!

Grieving is hard, but it is amazing how quickly your heart forgets pain when it needs to love. My best wishes and love to everyone out there who needs it! And even to those who don’t. =^.^=

Hm! I went to take the survey and the connection was reset while in th middle of it because there was too much traffic! Guess this is a good thing, hehe.

I had wanted to share about my rat Claire… I had her when I was 10, and I’m 31 now… She was 5 when she died, quite a ripe ol’ age for a rat! However, she still has a place in my heart, even now. I even had a table in the student union center when in college on flea market days handing out flyers entitled Rats Make Great Pets! They sure do.

Anner, thank you for the link. I do have a good vet for my two rats (as the vet I take my cats to doesn’t do rats). Anchovies made it through her infection without a problem, and we got Kippers to keep her company after Sardines died. Neither one has been sick since, and I hope to keep it that way.

‘Chovies and ‘Dines were both babies, within a week of each other in age, but ‘Dines was half ‘Chovies’ size. She was just too fragile.

(For anyone curious, the rats have fish names since they live in a large aquarium.)