I read this thread whilst I was at work and nearly cried

We lost our red setter, Ruby, on the 11th of June last year and it was the hardest thing I've ever had to face. My heart was completely shattered. She was very nearly 13. I still can't talk about her without welling up. I was 7 when we got her.

Basically, it had started about a year or so before... we found a lump on her ear which rapidly grew and we got it removed. The PDSA don't test things like that. She made a recovery and was fine over the next year... then she started limping... then she developed this horrible cough... she suddenly went downhill so fast that it was a complete and utter shock.

She was put to sleep at home and we buried her in the back garden in the spot where she always used to dig. We're gonna put paving stones there. There is already a little stone red setter above where she is buried. Sometimes, if we're in the garden we'll talk to her. My dad apologised to her the other day for something... "sorry Rubos!"

It turns out that the lump was a tumour... we were too late and the cancer spread through her body... the vet took one look at her and said, "bone cancer". We were lucky that she was such a healthy dog and we had her for longer. I can't help but wonder if she'd still be alive if we had known sooner.

I still miss her sometimes

I can understand your devestation completely x

Rainbowgirl22 - thanks for your kind words of support. It's difficult just now, lots of little things around that remind us of her - but she did have the best life and we spoilt her rotten! She couldn't have been more loved. I know she's in a better place but we just miss her so much x

I lost my little dog Benny aged 10 and a half on the 10th June this year. He had liver failure and an ulcerated stomach. I tried my best to get him better but couldn't watch him suffer anymore. I miss him so much.

I love you Benna Boo.

I had my 14 year old cat Robi put down at home yesterday, we are very sad. He hadn't been so sprightly for about two months, he had a limp but we just thought he'd been in a fight as it seemed to get better.

Then he went downhill over about three days, we had to rush him to the vets as he was so ill one night.

He spent eight days in an animal hospital and we knew it was too late. We picked him up from the vets and he was soooo forlorn, they had shaved his sides and shins. So we brought him home for 48 hours, loved him lots, stroked him, went out in the garden with him - to make sure he knew we loved him. But he was very ill, his illness would have taken him very soon.

So had the vets make a house call yesterday, he was on the bed, sun on him, us stroking him and he went so quickly.

We really miss him, it seems quiet. But I will remember the good stuff, not the last ten days.

Animals will pass away, you just have to treat them well when they live

Also the thing about cats and dogs (as opposed to humans) is that they `love` us (in their own way) `unconditionally`. So that makes it harder when they die in some ways. I'm a 44 year old reprobate - ive had family and friends die - but Robi only did daft things by accident, animals aren`t malicious or manipulative. That is why their passing can be so hard.

I'm so sorry for your loss too, I think you speak so much sense. Animal will pass away but we know that we have given them the love, attention and given them their freedom of needs when they've lived with us. We can definately be reassured by that fact!

We lost our 10 year old collie cross, Taz in November last year.

He was born blind and had a growth defect that affected his back legs. Rather than nice straight legs his bent inwards at the knees, then splayed back out again. He saw a specialist in Fife who decided surgery wasn't an option. He was managing just fine anyway and apart from a rather strange walk, he could run and play like any typical collie. Even being blind didn't seem to hinder him. He used to use his paw to feel in front of him when in strange places and could easily fetch toys using his nose, or a countdown system (we'd count down 3 to 1 then throw and he'd usually catch the ball)

Over time his hips started to deteriorate because of his weird walk. Then when he was 7 he managed to slip a disc in his spine and I thought I was going to lose him. He was completely paralysed in his back end and incontinent. 6 weeks of total rest and steroids got him back on his feet, albeit a little more wobbly than normal.

He had 3 years of good health after that and coped well with regular painkillers for his legs, until 2007 when everything seemed to go wrong. Then on 14th November he lost the use of his back legs again and was in a great deal of pain. The vet said he had no movement in his hips at all and that there really wasn't anything we could do, so we let him go, with my Husband and I cuddling him.

He was such a special dog, always looking for cuddles or someone to throw a ball for him, even when he was in pain or unwell, his tail wagged constantly. The day we had to have him put to sleep he was wagging his tail at the vet, despite being in so much pain.

I miss him so much

This thread is so sad

I`ve had to make the decision today with my Mum to let our collie, Hollie, go this week.

The vet rang us with the results from her tests and she has raised kidney enzyme levels, which can be helped by leaving her at the surgery for a few days on an IV and meds, but it won`t fix it forever.

She`s already incontinent and being sick everyday, has cataracts, and her back legs are going too. I think we have to let her go so she can be at peace without any pain.

Mum is beside herself, Hollie is nearly 17 years old, so I`ve said that I`ll deal with everything. I`m trying to be strong for her, but it`s so hard.

Dreading calling the vet tomorrow...

Let her go today. She seemed to understand and we stayed with her while the vet did her injection.

I`m heartbroken

so sorry to hear your very sad news .

never wanted to post this, but my poor little Pumpkin was put to sleep yesterday

I think it was a stroke in the night. She wouldn't eat or drink when I found her, crouched by her wheel, just after 6 in the morning. When she tried walking she didn't get very far and was having to drag herself, and when she stood still, she was wobbling from side to side. It was breaking my heart to watch her, and I just kept stroking her and trying to comfort her as much as possible. She must have been in pain, as she tried to bite me and flew onto her back when I tried to pick her up the first time - totally unlike her - though I managed to get her out with her towel.

I got to the vets for as soon as they opened. The vet I saw didn't clarify exactly what was wrong with - presumably they can't from a short physical examination - but he said she was "seriously ill" and was having breathing trouble - her breath had been laboured all morning, and she'd been making a ticking noise as she did it. He said he could prescribe some medicine for 24 hours and see how she is tomorrow with no guarantees, but she was so poorly, and with the not eating or drinking either, it just didn't seem fair for her to suffer any longer, as she was clearly distressed.

I took her little body home and have buried her in the woods near my house, in a pretty little spot. I miss her so much already. She was my first hammy, and no matter how many others I may have, she will always be my first, my beautiful girl.

Sleep tight gorgeous girl, you'll stay in my heart forever

Thank you, that`s kind of you.

It was so hard to see the light go out of her eyes

Big hugs to everyone on this thread, I know how hard it is.

I had to have my beloved 14yr old Cat Percy put down 3 weeks ago last Tuesday. Bless his heart. I still well up when I think of him because it is still quite raw for me. I have photos everywhere and one under my pillow.

I took him and my other cat in for routine jabs last jan and the vet found a lump in his tummy. Anyway, he opened him up the next day and found a large tumour and several smaller ones. during lots of discussion the decision was made to treat him with chemo. it went really well. he was never poorly throughout it and had got himself into remission, but in June he wasn't very well and I took him to the vets and he was diagnosed with kidney disease, so the poor sole was battling cancer and kidney disease. Renal food was advised, but because he didn't really like it me and the vet agreed that he could eat what he wanted!!! On Mon 15th Sept I must have had a 6th sense because i cried on his head and told my mum that I thought I was losing him. I took him to the vets the next day and she took some blood and said that his kidneys were failing, and that the kindest thing would be to put him to sleep. The worst thing that I have ever gone through. They carried him though to the surgery and me and hubby stroked him, kissed him told him we loved him and then he went. So, so sad and I know exactly what everyone on this thread is feeling.

I have been assued by family and the vet that the 9 months that I gave him were like 5 years to Perc, and they were happy and loving 9 months, although there were lots and lots of vet trips and medication. Bless him. xxx

R.I.P. my lovely Perc. Love you. xxx

Call me soppy, but I think this is lovely, I dread the day one of my beloved dogs has to leave us but I get some comfort from this poem, well acually it just chokes me up!


The Rainbow Bridge

There is a bridge connecting Heaven and Earth. It is called the Rainbow Bridge because of its many colours. Just this side of the Rainbow Bridge there is a land of meadows, hills and valleys with lush green grass.

When a beloved pet dies, the pet goes to this place. There is always food, water and warm spring weather. The old and the frail animals are young again. Those who are maimed are made whole again. They play all day together.

There is only one thing missing. They are not with their special person who loved them on Earth. So, each day they run and play until the day comes when one suddenly stops playing and looks up. The nose twitches! The ears are up! The eyes are staring! And this one suddenly runs from the group!

You have been seen, and when you and your special friend meet, you take him or her in your arms and embrace. Your face is kissed again and again and again, and you look once more into the eyes of your trusting pet.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together, never again to be separated.

what a really, really lovely poem. made me well up thinking about meeting Perc and kissing the top of his lovely head again. Thanks for the poem.

Our lovely, beautiful, 11 month old boy, Billy, was knocked down by a car the day before last new year's eve. My children and myself were there when it happened, it seemed he saw us coming down the road and crossed to meet us.

Luckily, for him, we were there when it happened, and he 'went' quickly with one of us holding him, (my teenage daughter stopped the traffic and picked him up from the road as a second car approached) he then died in her arms.

The people who knocked him over stopped, and tried to help, I appreciate that and can't imagine what they must have been feeling. We spent what seemed like hours after crying together on my doorstep.

I've had animals all my life, guinea pigs, rabbits, dogs, other cats...absolutely loved them all...but Billy was the 'one' that really stole my heart. He was so lovely, he was my friend, he got up and went to sleep at the same time I did, I would say hello to him and I got a 'certain' meow back, he even knocked on the front door when he wanted to come in. I could go on forever

Seeing Billy being knocked over has affected me and my children and myself in ways I couldn't go into here....but we have learned to love his memory, his loving nature, the funny things he did, the way he put his paws around my arm when I stroked and cuddled him.......I will never forget the knocking at the door...how clever was that.

I feel so much for anyone who truely loves a pet and feels the true sense of loss that comes with losing them.

This thread is lovely, where else can I express my love for Billy, I'm sure 'cat hater's' and people who don't understand this sort of love for an animal will read this and cringe But that's not my problem

i lost my wonderful newfoundland Molly 2 years ago a week after my dad died, she was only 4, was a very bad time in my life,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pClK9KdWDI0

a trubite to my angle

Our spaniel was put to sleep in June, hard to believe how quickly time has gone by, it still feels like yesterday at times, but he was 13 and was very ill, not eating or anything or if he was it was very little, so it was the right choice though it is always hard to accept, but he knew or hope he knew we loved him so so much, oh dear, im getting all teary and have to start work soon!

We had one of our cats put to sleep in April 2006 and the other one yesterday

I need to tell the story so sorry if this turns out really long but I think it will help me...

We rescued Molly and Millie from Battersea just after Xmas 99. They were about 10 and 8 respectively and absolutely lovely.

Molly was the first to go - she got too frail and thin and wasn't eating properly. The vet said that it was cancer but he didn't think she would survive an operation so we did the right thing.

Millie was left on her own and she did really well for a couple of years....but then she had to have a tablet every day to stop her being sick. And she lost lots of weight. This weekend just gone she was struggling to walk....and kept falling over. Then on Sunday night she was sick and as she was going downstairs to her litter tray she fell down the last four stairs....we took her basket downstairs while we went to work. We went home to pick her up for the vets and she was just sat there looking miserable. When we went to get her carry case she got out of the basket and fell over so we knew.

We went to the vets and he took one look at her and said that if we wanted to put her to sleep he wouldn't object...she was so thin and lifeless really compared to how she had been a couple of months ago when he saw her.

So we did the right thing...I can't tell you about the actual event cos I can't see for tears but she was peaceful.

She will be cremated and we will have her home weds/thurs in a sleeping cat wooden casket. She will sit next to Molly in the living room and we hope that they are sleeping together now in a better place.

Thanks for letting me share that - its soooooo sad

Up untill recently we had a beautiful little cavalier king charles spaniel called Lucy, she was absolutley gorgeous and one of the most friendliest dogs you would ever meet, she was only around 4 years old so still a pup to me with her whole life ahead of her.
I don't know if any of you guys saw the programme pedigree dogs exposed, but if you did i'm sure you would have seen the segment on SM (Syringomyelia)
She ended up going to the vets as she was showing signs of it by scratching all the time , the vets advised she had a ear infection and gave her some droplets - ear infections are quite common with these type of dogs,
Anyway after a few more days she was still scratching and this time scratching so bad she was bleeding, so we took her to the vets. My mum asked if there was a possibility that she had Syringomyelia and the vet said maybe.
In the end she was transferred to a specialist vets that confirmed she did have this, she stayed at the vets for a few weeks whilst the vet tried all sorts of medication on her - none of which worked, so last week we had to make the descision of letting the vet put her to sleep, it was horrific , I miss her so much, and it really annoys me how some people think that a pet is just a "pet"
When in fact they are not just a pet, they are part of the family, that you have raised since they were a baby!! The house is so empty without her she was such a loving little thing , if anyone has the time my mum created a website in memory of her to let other people know about the disease - I'll post the link just in case anyone is interested
Thankyou

Laura x
http://*************.com/lucymagicsky/index.htm

edit: just realised it wont let me post that the website is free webs but thats what the first bit is.

Had our sixteen year old cat put to sleep on Monday. He had so many problems (diabetes, kidney disease, liver packing up). We did the whole insulin thing for a few years and he had a great quality of life, but once the liver joined the fray he deteriorated quickly. He died purring, in my arms. Both of us cannot get used to him not being here. The other cats are restless too.

sorry to hear your sad news
theres no pain in heaven

Thank you. It's hard to explain the feeling to non-pet owners. My poor husband didn't tell anyone at work in case they ridiculed him. Whereas I was bawling to all my friends. I'm looking forward to the times when I can remember him with a smile rather than heartache.

I lost my bird Joey yesterday. He was 9 years old which is a good age for a bird.

He became sick last Monday and he had 5 long days of suffering before he finally went, it was heartbreaking as I couldn't do anything for him. It was a relief when he finally went so that he didn't suffer any more.

At least I know that his life was long and happy and made me happy for the last 9 years.

My home is so quiet now without him.

I'm so very sorry to hear of your loss ~ and that sentiment applies to all who have posted here.



That is so very true. We only rermember the good things, because there are only good things. They never play dirty tricks on us, never lie or cheat or steal. They are always just themselves.

That's why their loss impacts us so hard.