Have you ever had a really sad experience having a pet pass away?

Question

I once lived on a farm so I was pretty callous when animals normally passed away, but when I had to put down one of my dogs I cried and cried, and even now, almost a year later, thinking about it too much really makes me sad.

I realize they are just animals, but have you experienced real grief for one of your pets at any time?

Answer 1

I am to a farm raised girl and relate to what you are saying, but yes I have a sad pet story.
Susie my dog died of cancer at the age of six. She stayed at the farm after I had moved out and my mom called me one week to tell me she was ailing and was at the vet clinic. I didn't believe my mom as I had gone on a walk on the farm with her the week before. I decided to go to the vet's to see for myself and when I went I could see yes she was very ill. She didn't look at me or even wag her tail right away I realized that it was pretty grim. When in walks the vet with a needle and says "are you ready?" I started to BAWL, and the vet was all shocked and explained that my mom had agreed to "put her to sleep"while I had been driving out to the vet. And so it happened, she was the first dog we had to "put to sleep" still bothers me today when I really think about it as we don't snuff out people to be "humane"

Answer 2

Oh, gosh. I'll give you advice...get another dog. I don't mean to erradicate your memory of your beloved...but it WILL heal you. I promise.
Yes, I've been there. I had to put down my dog of 14 years about two years back...he'd just gotten to the point where he was not going to enjoy another moment. He had diabetes for a few years and finally we couldn't control his glucose/insulin and he was just seizing...that was sad. Not hard, because I loved him so much, I'd do anything for him, and finally, that was the best I could do for him. Oddly...for quite a while before that, we knew it was gonna come at some point, I was trying to remember him when he was younger and stronger...and I really just wasn't succeeding much. It just seemed he'd been old forever. Well when he was euthenaized (I stayed with him, of course), just as soon as he went....I saw him...in my head..like, clearly, vibrantly, alive! Those memories came back...and then some...really, and then some. My tears instantly changed from sadness to...gratefulness. :)
The worst, for me, was when a dog I had for only a couple of years, who was my 'baby' ran out and didn't return...I called the pound the next day to find out he'd been hit on a large road by us....ran over by a mack truck. Gods I lost it. I can't imgaine feeling pain any more terrible. My whole being ACHED for wanting him...my ARMS felt horribly EMPTY...I can't properly describe it. I had these horrible dreams of him...that he'd stil be alive...and I'd wake up...and he wouldn't be there...and it was just...endless. All I can say is..if I were to actually give birth to a child and it died a few years later...it couldn't feel worse, or else...or else there'd be no coming back. Anyway...that pain was ever present with me...so fresh. To the point, that six months later, those who loved me demanded I get myself a new puppy. I did...and the pain went away. So, that's my advice. Get a new friend. It will help you to remember your old one properly...with love instead of sadness.

Answer 3

Honestly, getting my wisdom teeth removed was the most painful thing I've felt in my life. It was unbearably painful for about a week. The procedure didn't hurt because I was put to sleep but the next day Oh my God did that ever hurt! I got dry sockets which is a complication that not everybody gets.Its like where the blood clot comes out and the nerves are left raw in your gums. Even though I was taking vicodin for the pain I couldn't eat for about 2 days and all I could do was lay in bed. It hurt so bad. The taste was nasty because blood and stuff gets caught in the dry sockets and I had to go back to the surgeon, get it irrigated (they mix water and mouth wash and squirt it in your dry socket) and had to do that at home about 3X a day. Finally I couldn't take it and I was throwing up from all the pain and they had to stuff it with this paper that tastes like ginger.I would never want to experience that kind of pain again ever.

Answer 4

I had a sun conure, named byrd. We had an instant bond, completely inseparable. I only had him for 3 weeks before something happened and he passed. I have had many pets in my life and with that lost quite a few, but never have I felt the pain I did when I lost Byrd.

I would just cry on and off for days. Every time I thought about him. I think my family thought I was losing it. I still miss him, I have his picture on the wall and I keep and old toy of him tied to my car mirror. I have never bonded that close with any other animal I had. It makes me sad even writing this, I really do miss him.

You could get another dog, sometimes it helps. However I got another sun conure and it wasn't the same, we never bonded like Byrd and I had. I think that may have been because Rocky looks like Byrd(all sun conures look a like), and I got him too soon after.

Answer 5

Yeah. More than a year ago my dad decided to put our Golden Retriever to sleep due to old age. She just layed in the same area for hours, wasn't eating or drinking anything, didn't even have the energy to releave herself. It was sad, but the best thing to do. She was an awesome dog. I always think of her when I see any GR passing by with its owner, which is pretty much every day.

Answer 6

When i was 11 my dog got to the point that she couldn't walk or do anything. She couldn't get up to eat sometimes. I grew up with her. She was part of the family before i was even born. But i remember that day my dad picked me up from school and he was trying not to cry because he knew how much i loved that dog. I still cry sometimes that she's gone. But if your dog had to be put down it was for the best so the dog didn't suffer. I'm really sorry to hear about it.

Answer 7

When I lived with my parents, my mother was convinced that she was developing an allergic reaction to my cat. (It turned out to have something to do with her thyroid hormones). So she took my beloved cat that I had for 7 years, drove it far from my house and dropped it off. I went out looking for her day after day. Then after two weeks, I found her on one of the main streets just 1/2 mile from my house and she had been hit by a car. It's been many years since then and I still miss her. It was so sad. As a kitten I had found her alone on the side of a road and that's how she died :(

Answer 8

Sigh. Yes, I know how that feels. I am sorry you had to go through it, too.

I had a ferret named Merlin, he was only 13 weeks old. I'd had him for four. I got incredibly attached to him in an amazingly short amount of time. He'd sleep in my bed every night, cuddle up and watch movies, and he was just a complete sweetheart. He was completely not the stereotypical hyper/spazzy ferret.

I noticed he was losing weight rapidly, and he was grinding his teeth a lot. I took him to the vet, where I found out that his kidneys were failing because of a genetic defect, and he had maybe a fifteen percent chance of survival. I was devastated. The vet gave me some medication, and some high-calorie food to help him gain weight, and so I was diligent about trying to save him. I barely slept at all, trying to keep up with his medication and feeding schedules.

For about five days, he seemed to be doing better, and I was really hopeful. Then one day I was getting him out to play with my other ferret, and he was acting really disoriented. When it would normally take him no more then 10 seconds to cross the room, he was barely moving.

I sat on the floor, he was two feet away. He turned his head as much as he could and started trying to get over to me; it took him more than a minute to make it less then 24 inches. I was crying the entire time, watching him. I was too much in shock to pick him up and help him. He was just trying get close to me. He made it to me, and burrowed under my leg. I picked him up and started sobbing, realizing that I couldn't save him.

He was shaking, and he couldn't focus on anything. He was very pale, and his eyes were sunken in. I put him in his bed so I could call the vet for an emergency appointment (it was early on a Sunday morning) and when I got into the kitchen, my knees buckled and I fell to the floor, I was crying so hard. I realized it would be unfair to him for me to be selfish enough to keep him alive when he was suffering so much.

I made it to the vet, where I sat Merlin on the examining table. The vet gave Merlin one look and saw how he was acting, and realized he was in toxic shock from the problems with his kidneys and liver, and his organs were failing. I held him in my arms while he was euthanized, the entire time trying rather unsuccessfully not to cry, and murmuring little "shh"s, and "you'll be okay. I'm sorry, baby; I'm so sorry"s. He stopped breathing, and I completely broke down.

It was weeks before I got out of my funk; and people telling me "well, you can't save them all" "it is just a ferret, who cares?" "Don't worry, it was supposed to happen" did NOT help. It just made me want to smack them. After a while, I eventually moved on as much as one can move on, despite that I am crying while writing this, although it is well over a year later. Closer to two. You never quite get over it, but you do… move past it, I guess. The pain fades from something sharp and intolerable to a dull ache, and the memories seem further and further away, though you never truly forget.

And please keep in mind, no animal is 'just an animal.'

Answer 9

when i lived on a farm in NZ we had a german shepard, she must have got hit by one of the cows and i was the first to notice her:( i ran to tell dad nearlly crying, and told him she is hurt, we left it untill the morning and if she was still like that we would take her to the vet. I said goodbye to her as i left for school and when i got home she was still not back, hoping she was alright i went to do my assignment.
DAd got home and came and told me that they had to put her down, all her bones in her leg was shattered so their was nothing that they could do. i couldnt pat her when i saw her wrapped up in the blanket because i was too scared. She likeed going to the pig pens with dad when he went to feed them so my family and i went gown to the pig pen and burried her just out side it.
I was sad for a long time, the thing that made it worse was that this all happened 1 week form my Birthday:(

Answer 10

My Cat was ran over by a Taxi, the taxi driver didn't stop (bastard) She managed to crawl over to the road side. I ran to pick her up, as i did she let out a cry of pain.

I sped down to the vets in my car, where the vet x-rayed her. her intestines where all over her insides and her liver was failing. The vet said we can save her but it'll cost £1,000.
I don't have that kind of money.

I had to have her put to sleep.
I went in 5min before they did it, to say i'm really sorry and i bursted into tears as i stroked her; as i said i was sorry she looked up at me and rested her head on my hand. thats when i knew she had understand. i waited with her when she passed way, she rests under the Cherry tree in my garden.
Her name was Tabbetha.