Marcia, I am sorry for your loses. I know how hard that is. Over the last few years I lost my cats and dogs as well. The vets told me, they can't stop the ageing process. Mine ranged in ages from 11 to 18 years old.

We have now started our second family of furballs. :) And are now considering adding a puppy....maybe next summer....we will see.

Sierra

We still have Bear's successor, Red, and hopefully he'll be around for a few more years because he's such a good dog and everyone loves him. He's dh's special buddy, and Java was mine. I think she would have lived a lot longer - she was healthy until this summer, and she ended up with cancer in her mouth, which is apparently not uncommon for cats. It was such a hard decision to let her go. :( No more cats for me, not for awhile, anyway.

I'm so sorry Marcia, I've told you this before how much I love that photo!

Hugs,
Sharon

That's one of the reasons i chose the photo, Sharon. :) It's one of my favourites too, and when i looked at it again before posting, i thought the light in the distance seemed so surreal. Kind of apt in this instance. I wonder if they'll recognize each other in heaven.

So sorry for your loss, Marcia. Java may be gone from your life, but will never be gone from your heart.

I have some fresh understanding of what you're feeling now as we also lost a pet this year. In June our Katja (yellow Lab) became ill and we had to make that difficult decision, too.

I'm so sorry to hear that Pudge, Katja was beautiful!

Brenda is going thru some heartache too.

Sounds like this has been a sad summer for some of us. I'm sorry, Pudge, Brenda and Sierra. Funny how these little critters hold such a large place in our hearts.

Sorry to hear about all the pets that had to be put down this summer.

On Aug 22 I took our 15 year old cocker spaniel, Lady, to the vet to have an absessed tooth on her left upper side removed. While she was under anesthetic the vet found that there was a large cancerous tumor between the upper teeth and her eye and recommended putting her down. That day was hard. I gave our 3 year old border collie lots of hugs that afternoon and our 17 year old cat even got one or two also.

It was for the best. Lady was deaf and had cataracts already. We were afraid that someone would drive in or leave our place and run over her since she couldn't hear and then they would feel simply awful.

The last memories I have of her was in the Rav in the front seat like she loved to be, going for a ride, looking outside at where we were going...happy and content to be going for a ride with me like she used to all the time when she was younger.

Brenda

Brenda, i'm so sorry. It must have been especially hard because you had to make that decision so quickly. Mine had been coming for about a month, and when she stopped eating and went and hid outside, i knew she was telling me something. I couldn't let her die out there on her own, so i brought her in and had one more day with her. Before bringing her to the vet, i carried her around the yard so that her last memories would be of the home she loved.

It's been over a month and i still miss her a lot.

Just a note to say that I fully understand how all of you feel about losing a member of your family. I too had to put down my dear Gidget last fall. She was my first sheltie and an incredibly beautiful soul. I don't want to stir up sad feelings, just want you all to know that the decisions we have made are for the best and will always be a struggle for the one who has to make them. It's comforting to know that we have the huge capacity to love all our furry family members, past, present and future. Let's pass forward.

Ginny Garden
Gairdens Shelties
Edmonton