TWO NIGHTS AGO ON FEBRUARY 15TH, MY BELOVED DOG OF TWELVE AND A HALF YEARS DIED. I CANNOT STOP CRYING. MY DOG WAS A BLACK CHOW, HER NAME WAS SUEY, BUT I CALLED HER SUE OR SUSIE, SHE WAS SO BEAUTIFUL WITH THE SHORTER SNOUT AND THE BEAUTIFUL SLANTED EYES. AND HER COAT WAS MAGNIFICENT. SHE WAS GIVEN TO ME AS A GIFT 12 1/2 YEARS AGO, BY MY BOSS WHO WAS A TOTAL ANIMAL LOVER, SHE LISTENED TO ME FOR WEEKS TELLING HER ABOUT THIS BEAUTIFUL PUPPY IN THE PET SHOP, I LOVED HER, BUT SHE WAS $700. AND TOO MUCH FOR ME TO SPEND. ON FEB 15TH 1992 SHE MADE HER DAUGHTER PHONE ME TO SAY, "GO PICK UP YOUR PUPPY, MA BOUGHT HER FOR YOU". THIS WONDERFUL LADY DIED LAST YEAR, AND I HOPE SUEY IS IN HEAVEN WITH HER. I CANNOT TALK ABOUT THIS WITHOUT CRYING, MY HEART IS BROKEN.

Don't know what to say . They do become part of the family. Nothing as loyal or as loving as a dog. My first dog died at age 14. I have another one now she is approaching 8. Be well.

I lost my beloved Wolf last May, and it was one of the hardest things I've gone thru. He was 13 which is old for a German Shepherd. I also lost my Yankee (a Maltese) 6 years ago, again broken hearted. The only thing that got me thru these terrible loses, were that I got two new pups, Junior another Shepherd who is now 9 months old and Noelle my Maltese who is 3. Grieve, you are entitled to it, you loved your dog. When you are ready, you will get another one and give it as fine a life as you gave Suey. For some of us, its a calling. I'll think of you often today.

Fatkat, I do understand how you feel. These pets become like part of the family...hell, they ARE family, some of my pets I like BETTER than family.

I put my beloved Sheena, Irish Wolfhound, to sleep almost exactly 4 yrs. ago...she was 12, so I was grateful we had her that long, wolfhounds' average life span is only 5 or 6 years!!! Then, in May of that same year, my Dad passed away.

I still miss ALL my pets and my relatives too that have passed on.

The best remedy is to get another pet as soon as you feel up to it. It really helps.

Take care,

xo,

Laura

I'M SO SORRY KATHY...JUST REMEMBER HOW LUCKY THE DOG WAS TO HAVE BEEN WITH YOU ALL THESE YEARS..
AND YES, GET ANOTHER ASAP...

Fatkat I am so sorry for your loss. Remember her well, and laugh at all the funny things she did.
Get another puppy, and love that dog as much as Suey.

I brought one of my cats to the vet yesterday. She had been peeing and crapping where she shouldn't have. She was drinking and peeing a lot and kind of slow. The vet said she had diabetes and other complications. The vet wanted to put her to sleep. We decided to wait overnight to see if the vet"s treatment could bring her around. The cat was generally unresponsive. We went back this morning to see the cat and saw that she was practically comotoseAn ultrasound showed that she had cancer and there was no hope for her. We decided that she needed to go to sleep. She was almost 15 years old. I was a bit more practical but my wife was emotional and cried all morning. Our remaining cat is the daughter of the one that was put to sleep.

sorry to hear that herb...our pets become like our children...we get so highly attached but we have to remember our reason for adopting them is to GIVE THEM ALL THE LOVE WE CAN...
and if you did that, THEN YOU SHOULD FEEL TERRIFIC...

Herb, I'm sorry for you and your wife. It's a hard thing to go through. Be assured you did the right thing, she's in no more pain. I'll be thinking of you tonight too.

fatcat and herb- so sorry. I have lost animals over the years, always heartbreaking. I'm glad they had a great life with caring owners.

My heart is breaking for you. I know how it feels to lose a beloved pet. Please get another dog and love him/her as well.

Sorry to hear that Herb.

I have always loved cats. I had 2 until 2 1/2 years ago when my precious Rusty (he was orange/white) died of tongue cancer. It took me months to get over it. But thank God for my other cat Angel (pure white). He is now my best friend and companion. Rusty was twice the size of angel and always bullied him (but still they were best friends). Angel sort of lived in his shadow. When Rusty died, angel moped for a couple of days and then became his own little man.

We have had cats for more than 25 years. We always say that we will not get anymore, but when we see a cute little kitten waiting to be adopted, we usually end-up taking it home.

Losing a pet is always a very painful experience. I've had 5 dogs over a 30 year period. The first died at 13 after his third bout with cancer. He was large, a mixed Shepherd-st. bernard. The second, a smaller dog lived until she was 19. The next two, both medium sized both survived till 15. The last dog died at 6 and I still have memories of giving him mouth-to-mouth as my wife drove to the emergency animal hospital. That was so painful that I swore off pets, but have lots of fun playing with other people's dogs and cats. You will grieve for a lost pet, and may you have perfect healing.

Herb sorry to hear of your loss too.It's so hard to say goodbye to things you love.
What's with all the cancer in animals? I never have seen or heard of so much. My daughter had a pure bread Akita, she was a few years old and developed a tumor on her jaw, she had to put her down. Now she has a mixed breed, the sweetest dog you ever wanted to have, she had breast cancer and now has developed oral cancer. What do you suppose causes it all, is it their food?

who knows what causes cancer in young animals like that...they certainly don't eat like we do..however, i have my dog on NUTRO MAX (and table food lol)...NUTRO is supposedly the best as far as ALL NATURAL food..
i see a tremendous difference in her coat and energy, and alot of people told me their older dogs with arthritis changed over to nutro and are walking much better..there's all different varieties for , seniors(glucosomine), puppies, their eyes...

Cats in the wild are meat eaters. Probably the best is to feed your cats raw meat.

Thursday, February 17, 2005, 18:00 hrs.

Dear fatkat,

That's awful. Nothing that I can say will make it any better. I have a garbage pedigree basset hound with long legs named "Norm". I traveled all the way from NYC to Bardstown, KY to pick him out when he was just a few weeks old. He was the only boy in a litter of eight and the only one to lick my nose when I picked him up. Six weeks later I went back and took him home by plane.

Norm's over eight years old now. He weighs about eighty pounds but he's about a third bigger than a basset hound should be. But he IS overweight. I switched him from Nutro Regular to Nutro Light about a year ago, but what can I do? All he thinks about is food.

He's the only dog I've ever owned, and he's really not that good a dog, but I can't even entertain the thought that he will eventually die. He "centers" my life. I don't think that I will buy another dog when he dies because I couldn't go through it again, so I don't know how to ameliorate your grief. But, belive me, I empathize with you. Hounds aren't long-lived dogs.

Cordially,
YOGI

AWWE, I THINK IT'S WORSE IF YOU'VE BEEN A FIRST-TIME DOG OWNER AS AN ADULT.THAT'S ME..MY SHEPHERD IS 2 YRS OLD, AND THIS IS MY FIRST DOG I'VE EVER OWNED..