Loss of a best friend (pet)

Gentle Ben

Senior Member
Jan 5, 2002
7,218
0
36
Toady I had to put down my best friend .
I know some of you won't relate to this post but many others will. We each deal with life differently .
I had my cat for 17 yrs this December, he just had his birthday in October & was in his 18th year. He was my best friend. He would sleep with me without fail, every night he would chirp and squawk at me if I was on the computer too long cause he wanted his midnight cat treats. he knew if I wasn't feeling well and would comfort me just by being near & looking into my eyes with a consoling look. he was very communicative and had different little chirps that meant more to him than to me. When I had a crt monitor he would lay on top of that to be warm & near me. when I got the lcd he would lay beside it on the desk to be near. He had many more traits that & could go on & on, but there's enough to get the picture
This past summer he was diagnosed with a tumor in his pelvic & abdomen area but he hung on for several months without showing any signs of illness other than he was losing weight.
Last weekend he changed in that he wasn't the same old cat he once was. thru ought the week he had good days & not so good days, but he still had a good appetite most days. yesterday he went out and brought me home a mouse to show me what a good job he did. I could tell he was struggling and to bring that mouse home was no small feat for him Im sure.
I could tell his time was up and I was only prolonging the inevitable. I had to do the dead but it wasn't easy let me tell you. I even wanted to give him a second chance & had the vet do a check over on him just to be sure. She said that the growth in his abdomen was nasty, and that he was likely in pain or minimum discomfort,and he is a very ill cat I think I already knew that. I had to make a tough decision, it was very hard for me to do. I stayed with him during the procedure & for about 15 minutes after he passed away . I am very sad but at least I am at ease knowing he isn't suffering any more. He has several friends up there that he can have a good time with now

RIP best friend , we'll catch up later
 

papasmerf

New member
Oct 22, 2002
26,531
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42.55.65N 78.43.73W
sorry to hear that.
 

simon482

internets icon
Feb 8, 2009
9,966
175
63
sorry for the loss of your friend. it really hurts to have to pull the plug on a pet because you can get so attached to them. again i am sorry for your loss and hope you get a chance to get another soon.
 

Mr Bret

Well-known member
Aug 13, 2012
5,458
936
113
A pet's unconditional love is something to be treasured.
Along with that love comes the understanding that you will do what's best for them when the time comes.
You gave him a long and good life. Be at peace with that thought.
 

Ridgeman08

50 Shades of AJ
Nov 28, 2008
4,495
2
38
My cat did the same thing, on the old CRT monitor and then in my lap after I switched to an LCD...

**sigh**

Sorry for your loss GB. **hug**

(no homo)
 

GPIDEAL

Prolific User
Jun 27, 2010
23,359
12
38
My mom didn't want pets in the house when I was a kid, but my dad had two dogs at his shop, and it was fun playing with them. Years later, he took a stray cat and kept it at his shop. When I used to go there to study during university, I would always check up on that cat. It had kittens that were adorable. Although I'm not a cat fanatic or pet owner, I do know how attached one can get to them.

My cousin is as right wing as you can get, but he's a cat lover, and donates to a fund that prosecutes those who are cruel to cats (he loves cats more than liberals, lol).

Just shows how cats can get you attached to them, no matter if you're Attila the Hun or even a big gentle bear like the OP.
 

Petzel

New member
Jul 4, 2011
6,626
3
0
Vaughan
Toady I had to put down my best friend .
I know some of you won't relate to this post but many others will. We each deal with life differently .
I had my cat for 17 yrs this December, he just had his birthday in October & was in his 18th year. He was my best friend. He would sleep with me without fail, every night he would chirp and squawk at me if I was on the computer too long cause he wanted his midnight cat treats. he knew if I wasn't feeling well and would comfort me just by being near & looking into my eyes with a consoling look. he was very communicative and had different little chirps that meant more to him than to me. When I had a crt monitor he would lay on top of that to be warm & near me. when I got the lcd he would lay beside it on the desk to be near. He had many more traits that & could go on & on, but there's enough to get the picture
This past summer he was diagnosed with a tumor in his pelvic & abdomen area but he hung on for several months without showing any signs of illness other than he was losing weight.
Last weekend he changed in that he wasn't the same old cat he once was. thru ought the week he had good days & not so good days, but he still had a good appetite most days. yesterday he went out and brought me home a mouse to show me what a good job he did. I could tell he was struggling and to bring that mouse home was no small feat for him Im sure.
I could tell his time was up and I was only prolonging the inevitable. I had to do the dead but it wasn't easy let me tell you. I even wanted to give him a second chance & had the vet do a check over on him just to be sure. She said that the growth in his abdomen was nasty, and that he was likely in pain or minimum discomfort,and he is a very ill cat I think I already knew that. I had to make a tough decision, it was very hard for me to do. I stayed with him during the procedure & for about 15 minutes after he passed away . I am very sad but at least I am at ease knowing he isn't suffering any more. He has several friends up there that he can have a good time with now

RIP best friend , we'll catch up later
I've had to put down 3 cats in my lifetime. Each time was awful and honestly, it doesn't get any easier.
 

Petzel

New member
Jul 4, 2011
6,626
3
0
Vaughan
The thing with pets is that their love for us is unconditional. They don't care what we look like and they make no judgements.
 

LKD

Active member
Aug 6, 2006
5,063
7
38
sorry to hear that... he's definitely in a better place. We're all here temporary and will meet up with all those we've loved and missed someday :)
 

poorboy

Well-known member
Aug 18, 2001
1,264
101
63
I feel for you. I have an older cat and dread the day she will have to face eternal sleep. She used to jump up on a stool and then onto my bed, but she can't do that anymore. Nowadays, she'll chirp at me when she wants up. I make sure I pick her up every single time because I know there will be a day when I won't be able to to that anymore.
 

Closer68

Banned
Dec 26, 2005
1,533
0
0
USA
www.economist.com
Sorry for your loss.

I don't understand the concept of human beings keeping animals as pets. I would never keep an animal in my home.
 

babyfinsta

Well-known member
Jul 2, 2005
2,372
31
48
On top of yo mama!
sorry for your loss. I understand completely how u feel about your cat. I dread the day i will have to do the same to my dog. No matter how bad my day has been, i always have a smile on my face when i get home and he's clawing at the door for me. I dont know why but i just feel a little better just by staring at him. maybe its the shear simplicity of it all.
 

danmand

Well-known member
Nov 28, 2003
46,500
4,906
113
My sympathies.
 

Ian

vieux soldat
Sep 25, 2003
192
0
0
Inside Outside Upside Down
Very sorry to hear of your loss I had to put my cat Sargon down and it was one of the worst moments of my life.
 

danmand

Well-known member
Nov 28, 2003
46,500
4,906
113
There was a thoughtful article in the Economist:


Time to go, or perhaps not?

Sep 29th 2012 | from the print edition
The Last Walk: Reflections On Our Pets at the End of Their Lives. By Jessica Pierce. University of Chicago Press; 263 pages; $26 and £17. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

JESSICA PIERCE, a bio-ethicist with a particular interest in animal welfare, poses complex questions about our moral responsibilities towards our pets as they reach the end of their lives. What constitutes a “good death”? A bad death is relatively easy to define—a death in pain, fear or distress—but a good one is harder to pin down. For most pet owners a good death means painless euthanasia in either a veterinary surgery or at home. The author of “The Last Walk” is edgy about this.

“Why is it”, she writes, “that we have such a revulsion against euthanasia for human beings, yet when it comes to animals this good death comes to feel almost obligatory?” She goes on to ask whether for some animals a natural death is preferable to euthanasia and wonders at what point life for our pets becomes burdensome. More to the point she questions where that burden falls: on the pet itself or on ourselves, the pet owners who are challenged, frustrated, and often annoyed by the decline of a once vigorous animal.

Ms Pierce’s musings on the ethics and morals of how we, as humans, judge the quality of life of our animals is interspersed with the “Ody Journal”, which she began keeping in the autumn of 2009. The diary, about the physical and mental decline of Ody, her 13-year-old Vizsla who joined Ms Pierce’s family in 1996 as a “ten-week-old wriggling sack of loose red skin” pulls no punches. She writes honestly and movingly about how his ageing and health problems increasingly take centre stage. As with most pet owners, she is comfortable talking about uncomfortable facts: the shit and the bad breath, the weakened back legs and falls, the night-time barking, the vomiting and general confusion.

Underlining this is her own distress at Ody’s ageing: “changes are so gradual I almost don’t see them happening” but which add to her growing concern about what will happen to him when his time comes. “How do I judge the quality of his daily life, as he experiences it?” she asks. It is an uneasy question that millions of pet owners around the world will have to ask of their pet one day.
 
"... what we have enjoyed, we can never lose ... all that we love deeply becomes a part of us."
~Helen Keller


I am very sorry for your loss, though I cannot know how you are feeling right now like many others on here I too have lost an animal companion and it has always been a genuinely heartbreaking experience. I try to focus on how wonderful it was to have them in my life, to remember that as I mourn my tears are for that which has brought me so much joy in my life. I hope that you will soon be able to remember the good times without sadness, you made the very unselfish decision to end your feline companions suffering, it is not an easy decision but the right one and the most compassionate gift you could give any companion when faced with a terminal illness.
My condolences.
 
Ashley Madison
Toronto Escorts