our dog died this weekend /pets

Losing a pet is awful, just try and remember all the good times!

I have a scottie dog, and a black'n'white cat. (I'm not putting their names, coz they don't want to be googled)

he wz giving her a hard time haha eg a look which says "i see you are making coffee for yr new friend but did not think to ask me maybe *i* enjoy coffee did you ever think of that? no you did not"

I just talked to my parents about my dog. She is an Itlaian Greyhound. I have been asking them to get her teeth cleaned for what feels like years. This kind of dog is prone to teeth problems and it can shorten their life.

So my parents finally did, and the vet took one of the dog's teeth out! My mother said it was a wisdom tooth but I don't think dogs have those. So I was very upset. But my mother said she doesn't trust the vet because the vet makes money whenever he pulls a tooth, prescribes medicine, whatever. I told her that was crazy talk because our old dog (toy poodle) went to the same vet, had his teeth cleaned a lot and lived to be 16. So my mother asked if we could not talk abou this anymore and then I said oh well, if the dog hadn't gone to live with them, I probably would have had to give her away. Now she is very happy at my parents' house, chasing squirrels and sitting on my dad's lap all the time.

i'm sorry nath!!

I've got a kitty named Pepper who is a Russian Blue. Her coat is gray and velvety. She likes to sleep in the bathtub.
My live-in bf's kitty is named Lucy. She's a tabby cat with very defined stripes. She prefers the bathroom sink.

I have a black and white tomcat called Snorkle, or Snorklemoo, or Cute Little Moocat, or Sogpuss when he comes in when it's raining. He's about two and a half, and I've had him since he was a kitten. There's photos here and here.

(I wanted to call him Elvis originally, but my flatmate of the time vetoed it as 'too sad and geeky'.)

he kinda looked like this:grinning terrier

chris, yr dog is adorable. great pic.

I still have a gigantic grey cat named Pablo who is very silly and outgoing and is much more like a puppydog than a cat in personality.

http://www.ampcon.freeserve.co.uk/fred.jpg

I mentioned elsewhere, he died last July, aged only eight. He had a bowel tumor the vet insisted was inoperable; he lingered for nine months and it was a real ugly time. :(

He was great, though. We might get another dog sometime, but he'll always be special. When I used to do fanzine work, Fred was the mascot!

we used to have 2, but both are gone now, our beautiful girl died last year and our boy died a few years ago. they were both the greatest, and i miss them still.

I have a cat whose almost 17 yrs old. He's a grey tabby, who I've heard are virtually identical to cats in the wild.
I also have two frogs--a Cuban tree frog and a mixed White's/tree frog. They are boring yet very cool.

We have 3 cats, Sharon has 2 and I have 1. Mine, Wally, got run over by a bicycle, probably, when we lived out west a couple of years ago (otherwise he wouldn't have survived, there was a narrow tire track on his tail, multiple bruises, etc.) We'd left him outside for about two hours and had gone out hiking and came back to find him asleep in his chair. He was breathing funny and we didn't know what had happened, took him to the 24-hr. vet and they put him in an oxygen cage. Wasn't sure if he was going to make it but he pulled through, got home, couldn't move his tail for about a week, and then started to move it. The hair on the end of his tail turned white (he's black), and that's the only sign of the accident. That and the nearly $900 vet bill...

I love that cat, he's so incredibly good-natured, one of the best cats I've ever known. 4 yrs. old this Saturday.

We have two cats -- Casper and Milo. We got Milo last November, about a month after Hugo died far too early. Milo's helped us get over Hugo, but no cat could possibly replace him -- he had such a distinct personality.

I have a little dog called Harry. He has got a waggeny tail and currently a baleful look upon his face because I am typing and not wrestling him for the yellow rabbit. He just tried to eat the 'Waiting for Guffman' DVD. When Mr estela gets home and sees the teethmarks he will react with indulgence even though he is historically a fusspot about looking after your things properly.

When I walk Harry he attracts children on bikes. They follow us and shout things, like: 'NOW I CAN RIDE MY BIKE ON THE GRASS AND NOT EVEN FALL OFF!' They can be quite disapproving when Harry pees. One girl said he was very naughty. When we had a lot of rain a boy tried to make Harry look at some snails but Harry ignored them because he had his eye on a chicken bone further up the street.

Yesterday I took him for a walk and we saw this little boy who lives in our street. The boy pointed up the road towards a tiny girl who is very pretty and stuckup and reminds me slightly of Violet Elizabeth Bott. The boy said: 'That's my fwend. She always says "it's an emergency!" even when it isn't.'
Then he pedalled off towards her.

A few moments later Harry and I were walking past the little girl's house. I heard the little girl say urgently: 'Is Ceecee at home?', and the little boy said 'No she isn't'. He sounded patient.
The girl said imperiously, 'We have to go and see!'
'She isn't there.'
'But...it's VERY IMPORTANT!'
'Nothing's important.'
'YES WE HAVE TO, IT'S VERY IMPORTANT!'
'Alright.'

I've been lucky enough to have three great dogs in my lifetime, two of which have shuffled off their mortal coils long ago. I can still remember the exact time and place that i found out they had died. But as strong as it is, it's nothing compared to the joy that they brought me.

Funny, but the third dog no longer lives with us, but with my sister. Long story. I miss her, but she lives in such luxury that she doesn't have time to miss me.

Weimaraners rule. So do mutts.

I have 2 chinchillas (my rental doesn't allow dogs). We originally named them Dr. Bellini and Edie but we found you tend to baby talk to chinchillas so we actually call them Choo Choo and Bling Bling. Their last names are Pocky so when they do something bad we say "bad Pocky".

I have no pets at the moment. If/when I move, I think I'll move some place where I can have a cat.

http://photos.yahoo.com/bc/lumi_029/vwp?.dir=/&.src=ph&.dnm=zero.jpg&.view=t&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/bc/lumi_029/lst%3f%26.dir=/%26.src=ph%26.view=t

A friend of mine said it looks like "Spuds McKenzie fucked the dog from the Little Rascals"

When some proud son of man returns to earth,
Unknown to glory, but upheld by birth,
The sculptor’s art exhausts the pomp of woe,
And storied urns record who rest below:
When all is done, upon the tomb is seen,
Not what he was, but what he should have been:
But the poor dog, in life the firmest friend,
The first ot welcome, foremost to defend,
Whose honest heart is still his master’s own,
Who labors, fights, lives, breathes for him alone,
Unhonored falls, unnoticed all his worth,
Denied in heaven the soul he held on earth:
While man, vain insect! hopes to be forgiven,
And claims himself a sole exclusive heaven.
Oh man! thou feeble tenant of an hour,
Debased by slavery, or corrupt by power,
Who knows thee well must quit thee with disgust,
Degraded mass of animated dust!
Thy love is lust, thy friendship is all a cheat,
Thy smiles hypocrisy, thy words deceit!
By nature vile, ennobled but by name,
Each kindred brute might bid thee blush for shame.
Ye! who perchance behold this simple urn,
Pass on—it honors none you wish to mourn:
To mark a friend’s remains these stones arise;
I never knew but one,—and here he lies.

I am relieved that his suffering didn't last long. He was 13 and had cancer, so we were prepared for this.

Hope you feel better soon xx.

Best wishes, Kerry.

Indeed -- and think of it this way, you last saw him alive rather than dead.

Elsewhere on the board I talked about losing Suzy, who of all the family dogs was the one I picked. She died too young. I am glad I wasn't there when we had to put her to sleep.

(Do you mean a mogwai?)

xpost

xpost Haha! Luna, you should see my house!

they probably just didn't suck up to him and kiss his ass like dogs would, boo hoo. he probably just doesn't understand cats.

small animals stink because they shit everywhere. i heard you can train rabbits to use a litter box, though.

I want a cat of my own, but make do with the neighbourhood scroungers for the moment.

i feel for ya. it hurts like all fuck.

I was a wreck when my first dog died, work just didn't understand when I told them I wouldn't be coming in that day. So, I know how you feel :(

The Nedster speaks wise words.

The other day at work I got into a rather lengthy discussion with a customer about our pets. We both agreed that pets really are family members.

But I wuv him.

What should I do?

Luna, you're right too.

The best thing about Cody is that he's only nine months old. Which means I could have him till I'm 55. Milo too. They're such beautiful dogs. How anyone ever threw them away is beyond me.

http://www.tryfoneblog.com/photos/8b/2d/a01bb6b2aa44.jpg

That's Cody and Milo.

who would think that?

I still cry about missing the first cat I ever had, Cocoa. I got him when I was 8. When my mom left, my dad didn't know anything about how to care for, well, anything. Long story. But he didn't take any of our pets to the vet or buy them food. He said they're farm animals now, they'll have to survive on their own. My poor Cocoa was a weak little spoiled housecat. I went to live with my mom for the summer. My dad went off to live with his gf for the summer, abandoning our animals. They almost all either died or were lost. :-(

accentmonkey, they're so cute.

My condolences to Nick and Je4nne.

I really dreaded the day one of my kitties would die. I've had both of them ever since I moved out on my own and knew they were getting up in years. At least when Bengal died in Dec. my new BF was with me. If I had to have dealt with that on my own it would've destroyed me. Now, my remaining cat QTip is the most spoiled kitty in the world. He's only 12 so I hope we'll have a few more good years with him.

I already don't know what I'd do without my dogs.

And the thing about the cats? I didn't mean that anyone here would think that, but (especially in Ireland), people just don't see cats as animals that you would form the same bond with as you do with a dog. I blame the fact that when everyone lived on farms, the dog was part of the family while the cats just hung around the barn, keeping the rats down.
Cats in many parts of Ireland are seen as pests and are routinely "removed" by pest control agencies. It's very sad. Things seem to be a lot better in the US. I mean, I love my puppies, but they're not as comfy to pet at night when you're watching telly, you know?
Sarah, that's the saddest story.
Rock, I'm really glad Tracy's okay.

I'm really the first cat owner in my family - they're all dog people. I think they think it's a little suspect, too middle-class.

Failing that, give him to ME! (I wish I could have about 12 dogs... I love them so much)

Best wishes to all the noble bullydogs and the humans lucky enough to know them.

Yes! Has it already been three years since Basiel died? :-( God, I miss him. We still have Lucy but she's getting very old. :-(

Jay Vee's Return, I'm sorry you will have to put your doggie to sleep. :-((((((((((

We kept Cody with us in the end and he and Milo are happy dogs. At least they claim to be, when they're not claiming that we never feed them enough.

Just because the link to the other source seems to have gone, and I like to see my dogs up here.

Roxie passed on last night a couple of hours after I arrived at my Mom's. Her body was obviously giving up and so we rushed her to the 24 hour vet's in order to let her rest. I was with her until she left us, telling her all her favorite things and making sure she at least felt my presence with her. She'll always be with me.

My love, and hers, to all your beautiful pets.

Our cat, Killick, died last night at the vet's. He was a little under the weather on Tuesday night, and was very sick all day Wednesday. I took him to the vet yesterday morning and they kept him in and gave him antibiotics and fluids, but he didn't bounce back.

Poor guy was only a year and a half old. He never got the hang of retracting his claws and so you would often come upon him in a room, patiently waiting with one paw above his head for you to free him. He would chase after hair elastics and bring them back for you to throw again. He would crouch at the top of the stairs when you threw his ball up there, his ears flattened against his skull and his eyes crazy wide as if he was going to spring into action any second. Then he would just watch the ball go right over his head and go back to looking at you again.

Our cat Ossi, who's somewhere between 12 and 16, had a stroke about a year ago (eyeballs started going tick-tock like a Japanese novelty clock) and was given a death sentence by an emergency vet who said "strokes = brain cancer" and said that the fatty cyst he's had on his belly for years was clearly a malignant tumor. My wife and I grieved like nobody's business, before he was ven gone. We wanted to believe that euthanasia was the mature decision, but we couldn't do it; feeling like sentimental idiots, we got a second opinion from another vet. She immediately vetoed the cancer diagnosis, weaned him off the steroids the emergency vet had given him, put him on big doses of vitamin B and said he'd get used to the brain injury and learn to stop his eyes swinging back and forth, but we'd need to feed him more because controlling that takes energy.

He's currently staring at me typing this, eyes steady as a rock, wondering why I chose that PARTICULAR flavor of cat food for him for lunch, very much not dead and with very little signs of last year's stroke (he IS skinnier, and on bad days he has some vision problems, but no personality changes or memory or intelligence loss, thank God).

To a large extent, we acted originally out of an inability to let go of our beloved boy, but I was also thinking of two of my childhood pets who were euthanized by the same vet in my hometown in one year, for reasons which struck me at the time as dubious.

I guess what I want to say is this:

1. There are many vets who are a little trigger happy with the euthanasia -- shop for yours carefully, and if there's a no-kill shelter in town, ask them for a recommendation.

2. Get a second opinion, and consider vets who also do alternative medicine (I don't think most purely alternative health practitioners are worth much for people or animals, but the ones who add it on to standard school medicine are very often the best around).

3. There's no question that our cat is old, and that we'll lose him sooner than later, but (and we know this from beloved humans we've lost) it'll almost certainly be easier to let him go when we know that we've done everything that we could, and aren't just giving up because a doctor says the situation looks bad and the patient's old, so what do you expect?

I was already a bit of a wreck this past week. I'll be a worse one tomorrow.

RIP Lexie.

sorry to hear about that, ned :(

Oh Ned, I am giving you hugs in return. :-(

Both our pets are now long gone to doggie heaven. I still miss'em terribly.

Oh no.

RIP Lexie. May the love she brought into the world continue to spread.

Very sorry about this, Ned. It always hurts so so so much :(

my friend's boxer, also named lexie, died earlier this year too. sorry ned :(

Sorry to hear that Ned, I'm reading your journal and tearing up at work, a lovely piece of writing.

sorry to hear about your dog, Ned.

I was reading yesterday about hamsters as pets... the little fellows only live for three to four years. I don't think I could handle feeling sad about them dying that often.

Thanks everyone.

DV, I had a few hamsters when young, and yeah, they go pretty quickly.

Aww shit, I know how it feels and it hurts like hell. Hope you're okay soon Ned.

It didn't even occur to me to search for a thread when our family dog died of old age (fourteen years!), ailing hips, and liver failure a month ago tomorrow. Lots of love, Ned.

My condolences, Ned.

We had to put down our beagle earlier this year as well. It was hard, but he was lucky to have made it 15 years, much longer than I thought he'd make it five years ago. Condolences to Ned and everyone else here who has lost a pet.

aw ned. I'm so sorry. :( my dog died earlier this year, she was almost 16

My sympathies, Ned.

So sorry, Ned.

Oh Ned, that's heartbreaking. She looks gorgeous and sounds like a really fun and memorable dog.

Not about anyone here, and not about a dog. But man.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/one-cat-three-lives/

i read that earlier. very touching

Had a Byronic black long-haired tom cat as a kid which came in one day missing an ear and covered in blood.

We wrapped him in a towel and gave water, etc. He'd obviously been in a serious fight with another animal.

After about an hour of making a fuss over said tom cat - who, it became clear, was not too badly damaged apart from the missing ear and was hardly even shaken - one family member went out to the front of the house.

On the road: one Jack Russel terrier, dead, throat hanging out.

At this point the cat was lounging around, stretching and flexing, generally looking pleased with itself and luxuriating.

There was no collar on the dog so we had to call the dog people (would this be the PDSA? I can't remember) and have it taken away.

There was no way to tell who started it. So we decided we'd basically not have the tom cat put down, innocent until proven guilty etc.

Tom cat spent the rest of his days sauntering around, and us unsure as to its moral standing.

both could have been attacked by the same thing?

what kind of cat is meeno?

our old work cat would run out onto the sidewalk street to attack dogs. also a big, mean tom.

from mom, re our beloved family cat, a sweet roly-poly orange tabby who would have turned 22 this year:

He had many problems, according to the vet, including a tumor on his front paw, lack of circulation there, an enlarged liver, loss of muscle mass in his hind paws causing his loss of ability to walk at all, severe weight loss, loss of appetite, etc., etc. He was dying. Cats are stoic and don't show pain. It was obvious that he was suffering. The decision was very difficult.

He was cremated and buried with other animals at a pet cemetery on Long Island.

http://farm1.staticflickr.com/22/33991427_5ca817c528_z.jpg

:(

Sorry to hear that JBR

I'm so sorry- that's always hard to bear, no matter how long and full a life they may have had with you. I just learned that one of my parents' cats has cancer and has, at best, weeks or months to live. In a way I'm grateful that it was discovered relatively early and they can make the most of the time they have left with him, but I'm devastated I'll never get to see him again. Raising him as a kitten is one of the few things that kept me going after a few extremely bad years (including my first cat suddenly dying of the same cause) and I though I know I shouldn't I can't help feeling guilty about this

Sorry for your loss, JB.

Aw, little dude. Hugs to you, JBR.