Thread: Pretty tough day today.

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Don, I just got out of the hospital yesterday and just read your thread. I know actually what you went thru as I'm a cat lover myself. I lost to many dogs beigh hit my cars so I stick with cats. My wife and I had to put Mitsie down a few years ago and she was only 14. I held her in my arms as the vet put her to sleep. Ever see a man cry???, well i did and not afraid to admit it. She took the part of a family that we couldn't have. Real sorry for your loss

Chevy, I hope you are doing well from your hospital visit. I really respect your courage in being able to stay with your pet to the end............I feel I really left mine down by not being there, but I just don't handle that sort of thing well. I wish I could have been like you. A guy I work with told me he did stay and wishes now he hadn't because it really bothers him to this day. Knowing myself, I would be just like that.

When we had our Doberman put down years ago my ex-wife and my Son Dan had to go do that, and I feel horrible for them. Life can have it's rough moments, can't it?

Don

It's 3:30 a.m. and I'm awake because our dog Lady is searching for the cat Abbey all night. She is so restless pacing back and forth. This is hard to get through let alone see another animal wonder/worry what is wrong.

It was a tough day. My wife decided to go to the vet alone and take care of Abbey herself. She then took care of the food dish, kennel, and litterbox just to get it out but more importantly, for her to put finality to it.

We are down to just the one dog Lady now. Both Abbey and Friday are gone and I don't think we are replacing them. I feel so low right now.....
Jerome

I understand all too well Jerome. Wish I had some magic words that would help, but all we can do is take comfort in the fact we provided a nice, loving home for so many years. Time will help.

Take care,

Don

we live out in the sticks . people from town are always dumping animals on us. i have a female dog here now that showed up. looks to have had pups . she was weak and sick i think . she just layed in the drive but when i approached her she would move. she ended up in the culvert by the road. i put out food and water for her but she just growled. now shes in the culvert in our drive . after 3 days she is looking better. when i fed her this morning i stopped a ways from the culvert and talked to her when she came out. she actually wagged what little tail she has. don't know the outcome. could be parvo and her worthless owner just got rid of her. happens a lot. if i ever catch one of them dumping an animal i will use all 6'5 250 lbs to see how much pain i can cause them. i'll pay the fine and do the time with a smile.

Shine. I'm with you on that. I saw some kids throwing a sack into a lake and heard some crying from the sack. I ran into the lake and pulled out 5 kittens about 4 weeks old. I don't have 6'5" and 250lbs. but my 5'10" 165lbs took care of those 16 year old guys with no problem and they never pressed charges

should have followed them home and kicked their daddys butt. he probably put them up to it.

Jerome - sorry to hear about your loss. It must be hard for Lady, not knowing where her friend went. My friend recently had to put one of their dogs to sleep. His other dog(Barney) just got really depressed following them everywhere, not wanting to be left alone. They adopted a new puppy from the shelter because they were so worried Barney was having such a hard time. Almost immediately he transformed into a happy dog again. Man it never gets easier, niether time nor age seems to help.

I can't seem to stop coming back to this thread. We started out to support Don, and have wound up supporting each other, and the stories are both heart wrenching and heartwarming.

All but one of the many critters we have shared our home with have been rescues of one sort or another, and more than a couple have been "last minute" saves. But we love 'em all, and they return it as they can; some have had "issues" that have been hard to overcome, but all have done so to the best of their ability, and we cut 'em slack for the rest.

J. Robinson, those pics of your two catties could be pics of our two, they are so similar. Our "old man", Sammy, the black one, is thirteen, and OC - "Other Cat", is about four. Sam was born feral and his mama left him under a pallet in the back of the garage where we lived in the mountains; I decided to take him in so the foxes wouldn't get him. He was so tiny he fit in my coffee cup, and when he wanted a nap and I was around, he'd crawl up under my long beard and curl up and start snoring. OC was on his way to the shelter when we heard about him; his former housemate is in the Air Force and was being shipped out, and couldn't find him a home. We just sort of stumbled over him, and decided Sammy needed a companion to keep him young; it's been a year and a half, but he has finally decided that we want him here, and has finally made himself a part of the family. We also have two dogs with similar sorts of tales.

[QUOTE=Rrumbler;354279]I can't seem to stop coming back to this thread. We started out to support Don, and have wound up supporting each other, and the stories are both heart wrenching and heartwarming.

I know. It turned out that more than me were shedding or had shed some tears over their losses. Turned into quite a support group, didn't it? Nice to know there are other people who are as sensitive as I am in these matters.

As for having a "pet" for your pet, I think it is a great idea. I felt Sniffy was lonely 17 years ago, so we adopted Scooter. They became best friends and ended up their days within a few months of each other.

When we brought Lucky home we were worried what Chewy the only other Male cat would do, sometimes they can be pretty viscious. But he adopted Lucky right from the start, we actually think he believed Lucky was his Son! They would romp around together and Chewy was actually happy to have his companionship. I think he was bored before Lucky, even though we had two female cats in the house. Today you never see one cat without the other one being right beside him. They sleep together, and roam from room to room together.

Maybe the idea to get another pet for your Lady isn't such a bad one. Might be good for you and your Wife too. I am not a fan of a "replacement pet", but I have to admit it is comforting to be able to sit on the couch and have Dan's 3 cats climb up and nap with me. Will never replace Sniffy or Scooter, but it does help a little. There is also something very theraputic about having a new kitten or pup in the family, they are just a lot of fun to watch grow up. Plus, if you go to a shelter you save a little life that might be put to sleep otherwise.

Don

I've only had to put down two animals in my life and that is already two to many. I had to put down my wife's cat who was terminal about 15 years ago and 3 years ago I had to but down our little Lhasa Apso. She was only 11, but had become diabetic with kidney failure. Vet said she would never recover. It was a terrible time, my wife cried off and on for 4 months as well as did my daughter. We had no plans to get another dog, but we still ended up with another Lhasa about 5 months later. My wife fell in love with the runt of the litter, and I can tell you that was a mistake. Runts have to fight for their food and as such they are the most aggressive. The dog is now nearly 2 years old and is hell on 4 feet, constantly snipping and biting our cats.

Don and for all of you who are need of a new friend, here are some local kittens that need good homes.

Now there's one kind of "CAT" I don't want anything to do with. Were your children sprayed as even the little skunks can do you in

Just goes to show kids love all animals. My wife takes car of 17 Cats plus another stray one coming for food. We put food, and water outside under our dining room window. The other night we both looked out the window at the same time and a Raccoon was looking at us. My wife jumped scared the Raccoon but the look on his face was like what about me?

Richard

Here's a couple of feral cats that my wife and I take care off. We can pet them and they have become fairly tame. The orange tabby is a 20lb. male cat that hasn't been fixed so he travels alot. The gray tabby we took up and had her spayed. She comes in the house in the mornings.

chevy37, they look pretty content, some of our Cat's are feral it takes time for them to gain our trust. When people come over they run scared but they are ok with the Grandkids. Like shine said, we live in the sticks also, and people are dumping mostly cats, but every once and awhile we see Dogs at the side of the road where they are waiting for their owners to come back for them. When we try to approach them they duct back out of sight, it's pretty sad.

Richard