So sorry to hear about little Joey. I'm sure in time you'll find another little bird to share your home with.

The composer, Mozart, had a pet bird and was distraught when it died. They had a proper funeral for it, with music and buried it in the garden of his home in Vienna.

Thanks for your kind words Tizzy. I've just read some of the other posts, I was sorry to hear of your loss too.

I bought Joey as one of a pair 9 years ago but unfortunately his partner died 4 years ago. I do intend to buy another pair soon. I buried Joey in a quiet corner of the garden on Friday.

Hello, we buried our cat in the garden too. He was basically an indoor cat but he used to love wandering in the garden. You'll be pleased to hear that as an indoor cat he never caught a bird.

I'm a big fan of garden birds. I feed them every day. My other cats watch from the window with some frustration.

my stunning dog "strider" was put too sleep back in march 2008 . he was 17 years old and still running around like a younger dog. but tragically he developed serious fits and i thought it kinder to leave him go too sleep. god bless him .

It's worse for us when the dog is seemingly well in other ways. I heard today that a friend's 13 year old dog (in Austria) had to be put to sleep on Saturday. He was absolutely huge (not fat - just big) and all his organs were working well but his joints gave out. My friends spent a fortune trying lots of different treatments, even sending for some of those "Doggon wheels" from America but nothing worked for him. They carried him around (big as he was) until they just felt he had no more quality of life. I feel so sorry for them.

Your dog had a wonderful 17 years - many more years than most dogs have.

thanks for your kind words

Just lost our old boy george today he was a 16 year old moggie, that we'd had since a 5 week old kitten, he survived bladder chrystals at 18 months when he should have died. And lived for the last 2 and a 1/2 yrs with hyperthyroidism, but over the last three weeks he completely changed, from a happy playful cat he lost all his body weight, stopped eating and spent the day sleeping on a hot water bottle. We made the descision this morning it was kinder to let him go, ( the vets fully agreed) he was at peace and that makes it so much easier for us to deal with.

I lost Harry four years ago to lung cancer (no, he didn't smoke and nor was he a beagle, just in case some wag comes up with that quip ). I got him from Battersea Dogs Home back in 1990 when he was about ten months old, and he was such a wonderful friend to have, keeping both my wife and myself company for his fourteen years of life. The ending was quite sudden. He seemed fairly fit for his age (despite a back injury he sustained seven years previously), then one day he had a fit, had to go for tests (they thought it was something else), then he just collapsed about three weeks later and was quite lame. Brought him into the vet and after some X-rays, heard the news that he had a tumour in his lung. It was decided to have him put to sleep. Both myself and my wife were with him when they put him down; couldn't forgive myself to let him die alone amongst strangers. Not a tearful person, but that day was an exception. Still think about him and will do so till I die.

However, I now have another dog, a border collie, who I've had for a year. At the time of Harry's death, having another dog was the last thing in the world I wanted, but time has moved on and it was time to give another dog a chance. Got Harvey from a relative who found it difficult to cope with him due to a big change in circumstances, so instead of him going with strangers or being sent to a dogs home, I took up the challenge. He's a lovely dog, although a bit of a handful at times, but is getting better as time goes on.

So sorry for your loss of George. As you say he is at peace now and he knows how much you loved him. I am thinking of you <<hugs>>

This is a lovely thread (in a way) - I read it all the way through and there's definitely a comfort in knowing that people have gone through the same thing as you. I went onto the thread about weird habits our pets have afterwards to make myself laugh a little after the crying!

I had a Dalmatian who died earlier this year. She was 12, and I'd had her since she was a puppy (I'm 22). We were all absolutely devestated when she died and I remember being at Uni a couple of days after it happened, upset, and some stupid woman making a comment about how a well looked after dog would have lived longer than 12. She didn't seem to understand the difference in lifespans between breeds and obviously just health differences in general - shouldn't have let it bother me but I found it so insensitive.

Sophie was a lovely dog - if not extremely food orientated and although we managed the keep the weight off her i'm sure she cared more about food than any of us! She had the cutest face and she was the most gentle dog i'd ever known. Even when she was older she used to stand there and let kids pull at her ears and tail without even moaning about it (and a lot of kids do that when they see a dalmatian on the street)!

It was horrible starting to see her legs go, little things like her not being able to jump in the car were really hard to accept. Then she had a stroke and was like a completely different dog for about a week, recovered, but then got a tumour. She wasn't in any pain for a while and although we decided not to operate due to her age and the vets recommendation, she did eventually get worse and had to be put down. The vet came round to the house to do it and she couldn't even stand up by that point so it was the kindest thing to do. It's been 6 months and I still find her little hairs on random things in the house which sets me off!

Some years ago it was time for our 13 yo Alsation, I think he knew as well. The first time I had to carry him outside made our mind up.
The vet was brilliant, she'd known the dog for years.

A few days later we received a letter from the dog, via the vet, thanking us for being great parents etc. It still brings tears 20 years on.

We have an Alsation now 3 1/2 years old. I hope we can have another 10 years with him.

I still miss the old boy though. It's always a sad time to lose a pet but at least we give them a good life.

that is such a sweet thing for the vet to do. Just shows how much they do care as well. When my Percy was put down 7 weeks ago today my regular lovely vet who had been treating him for his cancer and kidney disease wasn't in, so one of his colleagues had to put Perc to sleep. anyway, 2 days later I got a lovely letter saying how sorry he was about Perc and that he was sorry he wasn't there at such an important time in Percy's life. Definitely made me cry as it proved to me that vets do care as much as we do. Such a lovely and sweet thing to do.

That's so touching. Some vets are human and understand the pain owners go through.

I think loving a pet is important. They rely on you for everything.

I hope you get a new "Percy" soon.

My darling Thomas, it has been three years ago since you left this life, not a day goes by when I don't think of you. You were and still are my best friend, I think of the happy times which we had together and the times you made me laugh. This date will always be hard you are my love and precious Cat. I love you deeply and you will always be in my heart. Love you Thomas

thank you duffystev. I do agree that finding a really nice and understanding vet is really lovely.

I don't have another percy, but I now have a "Lily". She is a RSPCA rescue cat, about 2 years old, already been a mum to 4 kittens and a real sweetie. Settled in really well. loves my other cat, but he is not so sure lots of charging around the house, with him ending up pinning her on the floor, bless. Still miss Percy very much. 14 years with me was such a long time. Shed a tear this evening actually.

I had to have my old cat Sam put down last Tuesday. She had been diagnosed with cancer and was going downhill rapidly and was very uncomfortable in the last few days and had pretty much stopped eating and drinking so the vet and I decided it was the best thing to do, but it was heartbreaking at the time. I got her and her sister 14 years ago from the Cat Rescue and it was estimated they were about 4 years old, so she was about 18 years old when she went which is quite a good age for a cat. Her sister died last year - also of cancer. My house is so quiet and empty now, especially as I work from home and was used to having her supervise what I was doing.

The love of my life was a little brown Burmese cat (Penny) who I had had from a tiny kitten and who died in 1991 and like Waitelover, never a day goes by when I don't think about her, but Sam was also very special and I am quite upset to have lost her. I will get a couple more from the Cat Rescue soon as there are so many cats needing homes but I'll never forget Sam or her sister Emm or my lovely Penny.

This is Sam supervising!

http://s225.photobucket.com/albums/d...laneous128.jpg

I lost my dog rebel 2 yrs ago today .im just sitting about the house thinking of all the good times we had .even after all this time i still get a tear in my eye thinking of him . counting down the clock till 17.30pm thats the last time i saw him .

We had to have Georgie put to sleep this morning

I'm glad I found this thread, makes you realise just how much people love their pets. We only had Georgie a year, she was my late mother in laws cat. Georgie was 14 years old and became poorly a couple of months ago with a growth in her ear. The vet didn't want to operate and we trusted her advice. We're having a tree planted in a community wood for both Georgie and my mother in law. Georgies ashes will be buried under the tree. She was such an affectionate cat and loved to play just like a kitten. She'll be missed by the whole family

wow, what a gorgeous cat Georgie was. I am so sorry for your loss today and sending you my best. xx

Thanks Zigesa , yes she was a pretty cat. Full of fun too.

you are more than welcome gwydion. I also had one of my cats put to sleep 7 weeks ago, so I really know what you are feeling, as do everyone else on this lovely thread. I know it is a sad thread but I have loved reading everyones accounts of how much they loved their pets, as I did Perc.

Take care xx

I lost my baby girl Lady two years ago, she was 17. I like to think of her as a Heinz 57 (she had some collie in her but lots more too) I had just moved out of home and had set up my own place and trying to find my way in the world. Anyway i was late for work one morning and had decided to cut through the fields which ran beside my housing estate, naturally i was in a foul mood at being late for work, i booted a black bag, which split open spilling out puppies. My little one was the only one alive. She couldnt of been any older than four days. Well work was forgotten, i took her home, called work said i was sick, and then frantically went around to the vets. He saw her, gave me a hyperdermic, without the needle and some formula.. anyway... she grew and thrived. She had the same vet for 10 years! She was an incredibly loyal girl... she wasnt jealous exactly, but if she didnt like you... tough! She was a dog that thought she was human, she didnt interact with any other dog... she refused! When i met my partner, she at first accepted him, but wouldnt allow him upstairs, if he tried she would bark and growl at him... if he got past her, she would grab the bottom of his jeans and refused to let go! Anyway once she figured that she wasnt going to be ignored by me when he was around she accepted him. She loved to go in the car, and go over the fields by our house, and lay in front of the fire and block all the heat! You couldnt take a photo graph without her being in it! Get the camera out and there she would be! Christmas was fun with her, she even had her own presents! Anyway the night before she died, she started being sick.. she looked at me and wagged her tail as if to say ''dont worry im fine'' i sat up with her anyway... she lay in my arms... and slept, and died. December of that year was my first christmas without her. My partner went out and bought another puppy, a 12 week old bundle of fur who is a pure bred border collie and highly sprung! which i immediatly rejected. I wanted MY girl. Until this little bundle of fur jumped into my lap... and kissed me. I fell in love with her there and then, She will never replace my Lady but she also now has a very special place in my heart..

Ni Ni's Lade (how we said goodnight to her)

My parent's lovely dog Olive - a lovely black and white staffie died last monday - while strictly not mine I was responsible for dog sitting duties when they went on holiday. The last time being end of September when we had 2 fun filled weeks together.

Mr Fizz and I miss her so much as she had such a big personality and have sat down and had a good cry together most days this week! I bought my parents an olive tree for the garden as a little memorial - my dad was in tears when it was delivered. I'm sorting out some really nice photographs of her for framing so that we can look at her and remember the fun times!