Had to put my sweet dog Norm down a couple weeks ago due to a fast arriving and malignant cancer. It was such a comfort to us to be able to have the vet come to our house for the procedure.
I do get why that might be too hard for some and sometimes the circumstances don’t allow that luxury anyway, but the vet was lovely and empathetic and it just felt better for us to have him on his bed where he was most comfortable.
Miss that dog everyday. He was a very good boy.
I’m so sorry to hear you lost your Norm.
Sorry to hear that, but you obviously made those last moments as comfortable as they could be. That really means something.
I remember when we had to put down my first dog due to a fast growing cancer on his leg. I was 13, and my parents got him as a puppy shortly before I wasn’t born.
We put him down at the vet, because 20 years ago I don’t think home visits were a thing. It sucks, because you feel they still had so much life. Sorry to hear it, and it sounds like you didn’t well to bring as much comfort as possible.
So slightly on topic here, my vet is a mobile vet. She doesn’t have an office and does everything out of her vehicle. She has partnerships with surrounding vets to use their space for surgeries. The only reason she did not come and help me put my pet down is she couldn’t get here in time. She was… on her way.
So for anyone out there with mobility issues, either your pet or you, check around. you might have a mobile vet near you.
Very sorry to hear that, path12. I’ve had a number of people comment to me after hearing about Buddy passing. I didn’t realize cancer was a fairly high cause for pet deaths.
I think it is in older dogs. I’ve honestly never heard of a cat dying of cancer. It seems to be kidney and heart problems that get most of them.
Very sorry for your loss, Path. I don’t think it ever gets easier. In fact I hope it doesn’t.
Some epitaphs from ancient roman/greek dogs. Time stamped to the relevant part.
Wow that was an emotional ride. I left a tribute to my dog on Facebook of all things. I just needed to get it out in some way. I now have a small shelf in my house with his paw print and a wooden box holding his ashes. If I have more of a private yard perhaps I would have buried him there. I can understand completely, all of these epitaphs left by the Romans.
I didn’t realize it either but as we were learning about it found this particular cancer (splenic hemangiosarcoma) was one of the leading causes of death for labs, goldens and large mixes (Norm was an Aussie/Lab mix).
The problem is that it doesn’t tend to become noticeable until the dog becomes lethargic – the tumor on the spleen is prone to rupture. His did not do that thankfully but it was leaking blood which led to anemia which then we finally noticed with lack of energy and excessive thirst.
Thanks all for the well wishes.
I literally made it four seconds in. What the heck, I can’t do that, man!
My mom’s cat died from it. She was only like 2. It definitely happens.
Has anyone ever lost a pet in a break up/divorce?
Its the worst…not as bad as death of pet, but like “Pet, Interrupted”.
When I got divorced, because I went to an apartment and my ex kept the house, the dogs stayed with her. I got the Cockatoo, the Quaker, and two of the cats.
I missed them for a while but eventually got over it. It wasn’t as tough on me as deaths have been.
That’s heartening to hear. I lost Bijou for a similar reason. I really miss that dog.
I lost two cats to cancer growing up. We always make sure new cats that live with us get a feline leukemia vaccine.
One of our dogs has a splenic tumor - not sure if it is malignant or not. She is 17 years old, so she has probably already made it to the 99th percentile for longevity in ~50 lb dogs.
The upside (yes, there really is an upside here) is that we’ve taken her off any sort of geriatric dog food and such. She gets to eat anything and everything she wants now - table scraps, canned food, bananas, bread, whatever. The canned food especially has her perked up and really quite happy with life overall. We know she won’t last much longer, but at 17 we knew that anyway. We’re really pleased to be able to spoil her and keep her happy at the end.
When a former significant other and I split up, she kept my cat for some period of time because she had a house and I was moving into an apartment, but eventually I got the cat back from her (maybe 3 years later?). Shakti was my first real “MY” pet (as opposed to the family cat when I was a kid) and it really hurt to leave her, especially since I was the only person she was really bonded with, but we just had no choice at the time. I really did miss her terribly and was so happy when I got her back with me again.
I think she wants to drive.
