I loathe August 26, 2008. The day I put down my pet.

[BadMoon]

Man I feel for you. I love my animals and don't ever want to see that day come.

 

[bunnah]

Eli, I am so sorry about your cat. He sounds absolutely wonderful, and keep that always in your heart.

The hardest part of losing our pet dog was that she died by herself.

I agree with Wetanut. My first dog, Taylor, was very, very sick toward the end. The vet gave my parents two choices: put her down or give her emergency surgery. They did not have the heart to put her down, and opted for the surgery. The vet took Taylor overnight to perform the surgery the next day. She died that night, alone. I often think of her, and just wish that I could have held her in her final moments. Go. Moses needs you to be there, just like you need to be there for him. Hold him, pet him, let him know that he will be okay. And cry, scream, whatever you need to do. There is no shame in that.

Bagels' mom keeps ashes of her pets in beautiful boxes; my family buries our pets. We have small "ceremonies" where we say a few words. It helps just to have people around to talk and cry and remember. Pets are special family members.

This sounds cliche, but you will always have Moses in your heart. It reminds me of part of a poem by e.e. cummings. You may already know this one:

"...here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)"

I'm sending warm thoughts to you and Moses.

 

[Darth Loki]

Truly sorry Eli. I'll unfortunately never forget the day we had to put my first pet (got him when I was 5) down. Easily the saddest day of my life so far.

We're here for you dude (in a very heterosexual way of course)

 

[Grange Wallis]

Sorry to here mate, a good, cool cat are not a dime a dozen. They are rare. I wish you the best.

 

[Shropt]

Yeah, its always a hard choice. I don't know what else to say. Good luck and sorry.

 

[ProgMatinee]

Sounds like you had some fun times and had a great companion pet and you're going to remember him. So its all good. Try not to let the sadness be bigger than the good memories. 18 years is a long time to develope good memories and affection, but its also 18 years where hopefully you maximized the companionship that pets can offer. Best wishes, I think the best thing to do for yourself is to go and be a part of it.

 

[El Roranous]

I am so sorry Eli. I dread the day of death for my dog. I never want to put any animal to sleep, I don't think I could. My dog is family and he has been with us for a long time. Sadly, their life spans are not as long as ours.

If it's possible to reconsider putting your cat to sleep then I would say make that choice fast. However, if Moses is too sick and he is in pain then I guess you have to make that call yourself. Sorry man, truly.

 

[OSCORP]

On the way to put my dog down after 10 years.(old and sick) I stopped at Subway and got my dog a 6inch, He always loved subs, and he ate the sucker right up. Dropped him off to his death and that was it....sucked! But death is a part of life.

 

[King Darkness]

That ^^^^in sux ass Eli!!!!!!!!

I know all I do is give you ^^^^, which I love to do, but no ^^^^ giving today.

So sorry man, losing a pet is pretty horrible, and 18 years That really really sux.

Sorry bud.

 

[TOE]

Sorry to hear Eli. Your connection will last forever.

 

[bagelsncheesey]

Eli, Guinness bro, i'm really sorry to hear that. Losing a pet is terrible, i've been through it, and dread going through it with my dog and cat someday down the road. 18 years old, he is definitely a trooper to begin with.

My thoughts to you and Moses.

 

[UTtoyfan]

My heart goes out to you Eli. Like some of the others, I've never had a pet but I LOVE animals! And reading your initial post brought me to tears. My heart goes out to you my friend. Stay strong!

 

[Agent0028]

Sorry to hear about your tough decision Eli. It is a very hard decision my family and I had to make once and we decided not to put the cat down. But honestly I think we made the wrong choice. Enjoy your time with Moses today and take care of yourself afterwards.

 

[Vader AL]

Well you have to put your pet's suffering above your desire to keep him on this earth. I'm close to making the same decision for my greyhound...he has a bad hip and is 13 years old. I haven't done it yet, I keep putting it off but I need to do it. It's a tough thing to do, no easy way to handle it. I feel for you bro'.

Now I must leave this thread and ignore it because it makes me too sad to think about having to let a pet go.

 

[El Roranous]

It's sad to me that a decision like this can even be made by us but ultimately we are the reason this decision has to be made. We alone domesticated these animals and made their lives our responsibility. Now they live longer because they are out of the wild and cared for. Subsequently, they are usually in a boat load of pain later in life. However, should we still make the final call on their lives? Should it really be up to us to set an appointment for their demise? This is a question that I have always said no to but then again, am I just being selfish?

It's a hard call.

 

[Eli26]

It's sad to me that a decision like this can even be made by us but ultimately we are the reason this decision has to be made. We alone domesticated these animals and made their lives our responsibility. Now they live longer because they are out of the wild and cared for. Subsequently, they are usually in a boat load of pain later in life. However, should we still make the final call on their lives? Should it really be up to us to set an appointment for their demise? This is a question that I have always said no to but then again, am I just being selfish?

It's a hard call.

My mother made the appointment, and trust me when I say I feel the same way. What right do we have to make that call? My aunt died of cancer in December of 2006. She was suffering greatly, and the cancer put her spine out of wack, and deteriorated a once physically beautiful and very healthy woman, but always a beautiful woman through-out. She looked night and day from her best days to her final ones, which saw an enormous decline. We didn't put her down.

People say it's because we're humans. I say, animals are pretty much like humans. They think, communicate, respond, and have a heart, brain, muscles, bones, organs, and limbs like us.

I do know, if it has to be done, I have to be there for Moses all the way through. He's my cat. He shouldn't be alone, and I want him to be comfortable as much as possible and not frightened. I love Moses and trust me I have grieved so much. I can see myself trying to avoid the inevitable, but he also puked again.... and that was with feeding him well. He's not enjoying life. He's just living it. That much I do know.

 

[turtlepower73]

eli,
i know how you feel when you have to make one of the hard decisions a person has to make. i am a cat person and my cat is like my best or if you want to call it sibling. i also know what it's like to lose.
so you got a friend here who understands.

 

[Avfin]

Eli,
Be strong and know you are doing right---
I is ok to be sad and cry today and for many days after--
After we put our Shepard down I sat alone by the pool and cried--
Sorry for your loss.

 

[pixletwin]

One of ther saddest days of my life was putting down my good buddy Zeus. Sorry to hear about your cat James.

 

[Dusty]

Eli.

I had to do this to my cat when I was in college. It wasn't easy, but it was definitely the best choice for her. I know it sounds silly, but I think she realized it as well. She was very calm and even purred as the injection took effect (she usually flipped out when we took her to the vet). We buried her in the backyard (even though I think that's illegal - the vet let us take the body even though he wasn't supposed to). We also did a photo memorial of her from kittenhood through her final days. I still look through it every time I go home to visit.

Now I have 4 cats and a dog of my own. I can't even imagine how I'm gonna deal with it when any of them pass, but I figure it's all part of the circle. I know a lot of people who refuse to get pets because they don't want to see them die, or they don't want their kids to have to go through that. BIG mistake. It's very healthy, and a good learning experience at any age.

As for humans that are in the same plight, you may think me insensitive, but sometimes I think allowing them to 'put themselves to sleep' is actually more humanitarian than keeping someone alive whose stomach (or other vital organ) no longer functions, who has brain cancer, etc. Especially if they are in horrible, horrible pain and are 100% dying, but still in their right mind. If you have never known the sounds that a woman dying of brain cancer can make, you have no idea how hard it is, especially when they are begging for an overdose of morphine. But instead, family members choose to prolong that pain. To me, it seems pretty selfish to keep them alive and extend that suffering just for our own sense of security and to 'be with them' for a few more weeks at most - especially when they have said their goodbyes and are more than willing to let go. It just doesn't seem 'natural' to force food through a tube, keep them on a constant morphine drip so that they can't recognize anyone anyway, etc. I'd much rather be there to hold their hand as they pass comfortably, rather than writhing in pain (yes, I've been there, done that with a grandmother - the writhing in pain part, not the comfortably).