After 11 years this was our frst Christmas without our boy Butch . He died of cancer 4 months ago .

He was everyones baby . The best companion and so much fun . We miss jim dearly but especially the last few days .

We never bought christmas crackers because they use to scare him when they popped and we never watched any tv shows with buzzers as he didnt like them either .

Anyone else spending their first christmas without a beloved pet this year ?

Sorry to hear that.

We did have 2 dogs but lost one of them 3 years ago - at xmas. So although it's our third year without him at xmas, it's harder this time of year as it makes us think of him.

He got ill on xmas day, and had to be put to sleep Dec 28th. We took the tree down the same day and that was it.

This year our surviving dog fell ill - 2 days before xmas. So we found ourselves sat in the same vet where harry was put to sleep - on xmas eve. She seems to be getting a little better now but the thought of the kids losing 2 dogs over xmases was unbearable.

So we know how it feels.

Loove to you and our thoughts go with you. It's a time of year when we miss all those who have gone ahead of us, eh? The human and the pets. x

It's been my first Chistmas in over 35 years without at least one pet. The last of a long succession of animals was Ella who died of heart failure last February. She was only a very tiny cat but she left a huge hole in our lives.

My dog .I miss him more each day .

I had other plans so I had to leave my cat at home alone from 24th - 26th. Felt bad but she was fine.

our first christmas without our dog who was pts in july aged 14.
http://i221.photobucket.com/albums/d...d/P0000183.jpg
christmas day was especially hard as he always had his own turkey dinner and would stand beside me as i carved it.

R.I.P

Its hard losing a pet at xmas. I lost my first one over 23yrs ago. This year we lost 1 of maiseys kittens and 3 off vera's kittens. Also another one of maisey's suriving kittens died at 11wks. Vera kitten bug died in my arms at 5wks old. I never want to go through that again. As the years go by the hurt goes away but memories never fade, wether you have had you pet 1 day or 25yrs they will be always in your heart

We lost our lovely little dog a few months ago, although we now have an adorable puppy, we knew we would still miss our lovely little pal. He loved christmas especially getting under the tree to hunt out his present. He was such a character and we adored him.
Our little puppy has brought so much fun and joy to our home and we do love him but I still miss our little mate and always will.

I lost my beautiful cat, Zack on October 1st from cancer. I didn't know until the last couple of weeks that something was wrong and I feel so guilty.
I adored him, he slept next to me every night and purred whilst I sung to him him and stroked him to sleep. This Christmas and New Year has been emotionally agonising for me. I'm crying my eyes out as I write this.
I want to start the New Year thinking of all the lovely memories, but the pain is just too bad at the moment. He is buried under the tree in his favourite spot in my back garden and I ache with pain in my heart everytime I see it.
I got 2 kittens a few weeks before I knew he was dying, and they and my two dogs bring me comfort, but I have lost friends and family,but this grief is almost unbearable.
I wish I could just look back and be happy for the time we had together, but his suffering in his last few days clouds all the wonderful memories I have of him.
When I realised something was wrong I took him to Pets At Home, but the useless vet said he was just obese, but I was still worried and I took him for a second opinion and it was cancer.
I miss him so very, very much.
R.I.P Zackie, darling. Wait for me in Heaven, sweetheart.xxxxxxxxxxxx

Sadly I have lost one of my oldest cats today, she was a grand little lady who was always a bit of a runt since we found her aged approx 2 years old . She lived a very inactive life as she was deaf but was a cute as they come, she died peacefuly a few hours aged 14 years ago after a kind local vet travelled 40 miles to open his surgery for her but old age got the better of her. R.I.P wee Scrounger.:sleep:

Not my first christmas without my cat but i thought id would vent in here cause i cant really talk about it elsewhere, i lost my cat 13 years ago just before christmas, my parents marriage broke up and i went to live with my dad, my mother took the cat without asking as she thought it would want to make me go live with her. Thats the last time i saw my best friend, i got him when he was just a kitten and had a brilliant 11 years with him, he used to sleep on my bed at night and he was such a gentle cat he would let me hold him which ever way i wanted. He got ill and my mother had him put down without even asking me if i wanted to be there.

Ill never forgive the *****.

My 8 (nearly 9) year old dwarf lop bunny died today.

His name was Murray, he'd been around for nearly a third of my life. Im not sure how i'm going to manage without him.

I feel for you luvmypets, I am in a similar position, still hurting like hell at the loss of a beloved cat last year and christmas always makes things worse. I think we all have guilt and blame ourselves that we should have done something earlier or differently, futile though it is, but they are so good at hiding illness and do go downhill very quickly. I agree it's like an ache or pain that doesn't go away, even if we have people and other pets they don't compensate for the loss. Your post is very upsetting and worrying as you sound so down. I hope you are feeling at least a little better since then and wish you all the best for the new year,

I've lost rabbits and hamsters which was bad enough but I can't imagine losing my puddies

My thoughts and huge hugs to all those who have lost their beautiful furbabies x x

I found this post upsetting and worrying when I first read it on new years day, 10 days ago. As someone who is still depressed at the loss of my own cat last year I posted a response hoping to be at least a crumb of comfort, but she (I think female) has not been on here since. The tone of this is more than depressing and can anyone read it without getting upset as I do. I am genuinly worried about this person. There is no way of contacting them if they do not visit this site. Does anyone know who this is or have any ideas?

Not over xmas but Sunday morning I found my beloved black 12 year old cat dead outside our house on the grass part next to the pavement..obvioulsy he had been knocked down...this was 2am in the morning when it was -2C

Just a few hours before he was his usual wild self, so full of energy, never been to the vet, never been ill, had a very good appetite

In his last few years he had become so affectionate for some reason, very loud purr etc, loved to need away etc

I often had to feed him around 2.30am as he (Fred) would not stop whining - now the house is so silent without his many varied meows...I use to turn him around so his front paws were on my back, I could feel his claws digging in as he was getting excited about yet another feed

It was our first Christmas without our beloved little Jack Russell who was sadly put to sleep in October after suffering from kidney failure.
She would have been 13 on Christmas day.

First Christmas without my lovely black and white moggy Meeko. She was a grumpy old sod, which hated most people, but I loved her.