On losing a pet….
A close friend emailed me this morning, and it kind of broke my heart.
A bit of sad news to report to the group…
Yesterday Figo got out of the house, was hit by a car and died.
We had a really tough day yesterday. I think we’re both a bit numb today…it’s going to take a while to get over this one!
This is actually the second time in less than a week this has happened to someone close to me.
This week I was in Dallas for a wedding, and Jamie, Caro and I were talking about the worst day of our life, and it couldn’t include the death of a family member. I’m not sure if the day I lost my dog counts or not, but damn that was a tough one. I knew Forrest was dying, she was after all a 17 year old Golden Retriever. I begged God to give me one last weekend with her. It was Thanksgiving weekend, and I just wanted to spend every minute with her. But Thanksgiving morning broke, and I knew we couldn’t make it. She was in pain, and it killed me.
I remember the drive to the vet. Freshly back from Afghanistan, I’m driving a jeep with no roof, and tears streaming down my face. People driving by seemed really scared to see me. But I didn’t care at that point, I was done. I took her in. The vet administered the shot, and she kissed my nose before drifting off. I’ll never have a Thanksgiving Day again without thinking of her. I was so grateful for how peacefully it ended, but…. I didn’t get out of bed for 4 days.
As my buddy Mike said “…so tough. We get so attached to these little fuckers!”
I never know what to say to people, or how to act, even under the best of circumstances. Things like this pretty much paralyze me. What is the appropriate thing to say? Just “Sorry for your loss” doesn’t cover it.
Anyway, I just feel so sad for my buddy right now.
Category: Politics
There isn’t really anything appropriate to say, TSO. We do indeed get damned attached to our pets. Losing one hurts.
Just tell the guy you’re there if he needs/wants someone to talk to or have a beer with.
It takes time. We do get attached to the furry little guys.
God Bless Figo……
The picture of Figo at the top is my absolute favorite dog picture of all time. I just love the look on his face.
“Anonymous” is Sunlis….
He does have the don’t mess with me look on his face in the second picture.
Sad news. TSO, your story broke my heart as well. My dad endured the same situation a year ago. He was able to get one more weekend to take his dog on one last hike in the mountains and I do not think he has had many tougher days than the drive to the vetted following Monday. People who do not own pets don’t understand the attachment but it is very real and losing a pet is a very painful thing indeed.
I like most dogs and dislike most people.
God Bless Figo and the Unites States of America … I am sure Figo was an American Canine Patriot.
How did they teach that dog to fly .. I just don’t get it!
I can empathize. I’ve lost family, friends, and shipmates, but I don’t think I ever hurt as much as saying goodbye to a pet at the vet. Done it several times and it doesn’t get any easier.
Damn allergies just now.
I’ve stopped keeping pets. No matter how much fun and how many memories you have with them, the day always comes when you have to watch them get the needle. My cat Sassy was the last one–she died in my arms. No more pets for me.
Pets dying always breaks my heart. It’s like losing a furry kid, and that is absolutely devastating!
Gilbert died last December. I couldn’t even be there with him, and the friend who was taking care of him for me didn’t even tell me he had him put down until days later. I was absolutely torn up and devastated! Horrified. Angry.
Now I have Tucker – the most awesome Saint Bernard – and yet, there’s a hole in my heart where Gilbert used to be. 🙁
http://thelibertyzone.wordpress.com/2012/01/13/rip-gilbert/
Gilbert was one good looking dude. What a sweet looking dog.
I know this isnt on the same level, but I had a Kitten named Baby who was the last of a litter having given the rest away a few days earlier at a flea market, and my daughter who lived in FL with my ex came to see me for a couple of weeks…well, it came to pass that of course my daughter fell in love with Baby, and wanted to take her home to Florida, so I very very reluctantaly agreed, but was saved by the fact my exwife and ex mother in law didnt want a new pet…but, the day before I was planning to take my daughter home, they called and changed their minds, so the next day I drove to Florida with my daughter and Baby, trying to hide how miserable I felt about the whole situation, while at the same time feeling pretty stupid bc after all this was my only child and why should I begrudge her a kitten??…So, I leave the kitten with my daughter in Florida, and spend a couple of miserable weeks moping around about my lost kitten, which even now I recognize was quite a childish thing for a grown man to do. But it felt like I had lost a member of my family, lol. Of course, I still get to see Baby whenever I go to Florida now, and as a bonus, I have discovered the cat pretty much hates everyone down there, except for my daughter, and has bitten everyone in the house at least five times. She still doesnt bite me tho:}. I think my ex mother in law believes I planned the whole thing, and she swears she would never take another cat from me:}
@13, ha!
Gilbert looked just like my Denali. I call my Denali the worst lab ever because he will fetch but won’t bring the ball back to you because he likes to play keep away. I love that big guy.
The day after Christmas 2004. It took us over 7 years before we found a worthy replacement.
TSO – he was wonderful. I couldn’t remember if you had a chance to meet him. He was SUCH a sweet boy!
Damn… now I’m all teary again. FUCK!!!
Two years ago I had to have my cat of 13 years put down due to feline urinary blockage. I have this awesome picture of him after he draped himself across my shoulders while I was at my desk. How he managed to curl himself around my neck and across my shoulders while I was upright, I still don’t know.
Still hurts a little when I see pictures of him.
While I was in Afghanistan, my wife gave my cat to her parents and replaced him with a dog who hated/feared men and strangers. (The dog did not stay very long.)
I still got to enjoy my cat at the in-laws’, so it was not an altogether horrible thing. A few years later, however, I took a day of leave to come with my father-in-law to the vet to put him down (the cat, not my f-i-l). I was bawling like a little girl.
Found two kittens half starved in an alley when I was a sophomore in college. At the time I said I couldn’t keep the (no time to spend with them, no money to care for them, etc). Well, I did end up keeping the little buggers and they would run to the door to greet me when I came home, curl up on the bed when I went to sleep, and hover near the computer when I was doing homework.
Years later while my wife and I were in grad school we found out one of them had diabetes. I gave her shots and did everything we could but eventually it caught up to her and at 0200 while I was working on an animation project for class the next day she came over to me an curled up in my arms and passed away.
I had planned on taking her to the vet the next day because I finally had the money saved up, but it was too late. To this day I still hurt when I think about it.
Great post, TSO. However, you cheated since pets are family members. 🙂
Now I miss Zeke all over again….dangit…
http://s232.beta.photobucket.com/user/abrobb/media/September2005013.jpg.html?sort=3&o=7
@15 – I think all labs are possessive that way. Gilbert would retrieve, and then just hold onto the toy after 2-3 times and not give it up. He was the sweetest dummy you could find! I’ll never forget when he got into the Easter candy! Jelly bean dog puke!
I did foster care for a no kill shelter. There are a lot of pets that need real homes and caring owners. It was hard to place them, every one was a piece of my heart. But, it was best for them. Some had really horrid lives before they were taken in. For those of you with pets, thanks. You have a bond others don’t know. When its their time to go, its their time to go. Find a good vet and do what has to be done. Its not easy, but when its my time to go, I know who will be waiting for me…
In 2006 my wife rescued a little dog while I was in Iraq. I told her the man rule, that no man can own a dog smaller than a football. When I got home I actually measured him being a smart ass. I fell in love with the little guy. Last year my daughter accidently kicked him out of bed in her slip. He had twisted his back and was paralyzed from the waist down. We waited a month because the vet said that he might just have a swollen spinal cord that might heal. After a month he didn’t get better so we had to put him down. I think I cried more than my 10 year old daughter did.
Nicki, they do have some funny quirks. I’ve tried taking mine on runs with me but after a mile of peeing on every single mail box I gave up and went back home. He literaly stopped at every single mail box for a mile. I have absolutly no idea where it all came from. His bladder must have reached muscle failure.
All the pets we have had save one were rescue pets from the shelter of live births of our own pets. Just tell your friend that you gave your pet many, many wonderful, spoiled and loved years they may not have had otherwise.
Guy at work just lost one of this two labs this weekend to health issues and it’s sad to see them go but you gave them a lot during their time here.
Loosing a pet is always tough. For me, the loss of a dog was always particularly difficult because they love unconditionally and are always happy to see you, and know when you’re feeling bad. I had an old 12 year old mutt (“Pepper”) that died in my lap (old age/natural causes) when I was home on leave (years ago). My sister and I found her as a stray, and she turned out to be one of the best dogs I ever had. I truly believed she held on long enough for me to come home so she could pass on. The other was my black German Shepherd, “Drew”, who succumbed to severe hip dysplasia, age, and other complications. The vet cried as much as I did when we put him down to ease his suffering. As I’ve heard it said, “If there is a heaven, it’s certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them.”
@21
My girlfriend says my cats are my children.
After my cat died, a co-worker had a stray show up on his property. He lives out in the hinterlands with things like coyotes and hawks and didn’t think she’d last long.
So, after brief discussion, I brought in my cat carrier to work. Next day, he’d transferred the cat to my cat carrier, so I only got a bit of a view of her. I worked for a couple of hours and took her home.
First thing I said to her when she walked out of the carrier was “I hope you’re just fat”.
She wasn’t. She had 4 kittens and I kept two of them. When one of them die, it’s going to be a tough, tough day.
And with that, I’m out of this thread before I embarrass myself at work.
Twist, Gilbert would do that too. Every mail box. Every bush. Every twig sticking out of the ground. Even if it was nothing but a drop, he had to stop and squeeze everything he could out of his bladder! I’d come into the munchkin’s room in the morning, and the big furball would be sleeping in his bed with him – so content – just a small redheaded boy and his dog.
*sniff*
Nicki, Twist
I had a FEMALE beagle that would lift her leg and pee on everything when we went for a walk too! I called her my butch beagle, even got her a plaid flannel collar….
I can only imagine how it must feel; I’ve lost pets before, but they were dogs I never really got attached to due to youth. I got my daughter a black lab a couple of years ago. He turns three in January. Last weekend I had to drop him off at a friend’s since I am heading out of state for training. It damn near broke my heart just saying by for a few weeks. My friend told me that the lab laid by the door for for the next few hours waiting for me to come back.
I can only imagine how I’ll feel when it comes time to deploy. I’ve gotten used to telling the kids “bye” but the dog adds a whole new dimension to guilty conscience.
Nicki, Twist, OT: Jenny lifted her leg too, and got into “pissing matches” with one of her boyfriends every time they went on a walk together. It wasn’t just marking everything in sight, it was marking over each other too. She liked them big and dumb,and if not dumb, to make them that way. She was a bossy little thing, and despaired of ever getting me trained. It was a hard day when I had to say goodbye to her, and I swear there are times I still see her out of the corner of my eye.
I have an 11 y/o Pit that I’ve had since she was 8 weeks old. She’s grown up with my daughter (6 months apart in age). She’s showing signs of aging and, although we’re not there yet because she still has a good quality of life, I’m absolutely dreading that trip that we’ll have to take to the vet in the future. She’s my other baby.
Nicki, Gilbert was a great looking dog.
Fuck, my phone is getting blurry
And TSO…that top pic of Figo is awesome
Losing a pet is devastating. I’m so sorry to the owners of Figo. 🙁
We just had to put asleep our Jack Russell, Liberty yesterday. We had him 15 wonderful years. I have a huge hole in my heart and it hurts so bad. I keep looking for him everywhere. I am disabled with Multiple Sclerosis and he has always been there with me through some of the worst times in my life. He would snuggle with me when I was so sick in bed. I will miss him forever. Thanks for the post Mark, it’s perfect timing to be able to let some things decompress a little through writing a post.
Christmas morning 2009 our old cat Chester (Gunsmoke reference, he had a gimp leg when we got him from the shelter) passed not so peacefully in my arms. Chester had been sick with a feline upper respiratory disease since we had gotten him from the shelter. We were warned that it would eventually be something that would likely kill him but that there was no real concern for our other pets or timeline for when his time would come. When the time finally came, we took him to our closest veterinarian and were told that unless we were willing to try the new treatment for his disease (something that would cost a minimum of 1500 dollars) the vet would not put Chester down. This was about a week before Christmas and having just been medboarded out of the Army I couldnt afford to throw 1500 dollars down a hole for the small chance that an elderly cat would have a couple of more years at best, so we took him home and tried to make him comfortable.
After Chester passed, my husband and I cried like babies. Chester was a member of our family and in all honesty we liked him a whole hell of a lot more than a lot of our human family members. I still hold a grudge against that vet clinic, I know its not their fault that my cat died, but had they decided to do the right thing Chester might not have had to suffer through another week of being sick.
Most recently we discovered one of the cats having trouble breathing. Took him in and found iut he had a surprisingly common heart virus which caused his heart to triple in size and fluid to fill his lungs. When GF and I went back to say goodbye he looked up at us and gave us this sad sorrowful meow as if to beg me not to leave him. All I could do not to start bawling right there, although I did shed a few tears that day.
Not looking forward to the day when our other critters have to cross the Rainbiw Bridge.
I don’t look forward to the day we lose one of our girls. They mean so much to us…
I’ve 13 cats (5 of whom I raised by hand from the ages of 3 days for one to 2 weeks for the others, the rest are adopted strays), an abandoned lab (SweetNessie), a Lithuweenian (Mac), Savannah (a stray who looks like Master Splinter), and Duncan (my Roosevelt terrier). I lost my Newfie 3 years ago, laying on the floor with him and telling him to just go, I’d understand. And he did. It was a Sunday, he’d taken a turn for the worse very quickly, and I prayed he wouldn’t have to suffer all night. So I laid there with him, crying and rubbing his head until he did very shortly after I told him to. I lost Payton, my mastiff, at the age of 3 one year later to a heart defect.
I still refuse to watch Marley & Me as that was my Newfoundland’s name, and I still bawl like a bitch when I think about him, but I keep his (and Payton’s)picture by my bed, right next to the picture of my soulmate, a 1600-lb black Quarter Horse named Iceman.
I miss them, I still love them, I’ll never forget them, but I won’t stop having pets because they’re gone. They’d want me to make sure as many are loved as possible, and they will be. I’ve dedicated my life to them, and they’re much better than people anyway.
Awww this post hits me where it hurts. I have a Boston and a goldie and they are both getting up there in age. I shudder to think when this day happens, not only for my children but for me.
And my condolences to your friend, CV. Though it may not bring him peace of mind, at least his furbaby knew he was loved while he was here.
#39 – That would be the last time I would take ANYTHING to that witch doctor. Another vet would have put him down, most of the time for free.
My uncle, a decorated fighter pilot in VN and quite the stoic type, had a shitzu he took everywhere. He had a flight school after he retired, and would take the dog to the airport every day. Dog looked like the Doc in Cannon Ball Run; had those weird, buggy eyes that were not normal for a shitzu.
When the dog was about 10 it got scared during a thunderstorm and ran out of the house, and thru the yard. Uncle ran out looking for him in the rain and lightning. By the time he found him, he had ran down the street, got run over/hit, and was in really sad shape. Died there in his hands in the rain, in the street.
Never saw someone suffer a death for so long and so hard.
I was a pall bearer for the burial of a friend’s schnauzer. Said friend is now an E9, fmr SF, SOTIC grad, scare me badged to hell and lots of sand on his boots. We both wept, and toasted our fallen comrade with good scotch.
My mom had a little mutt dog when I was growing up that hated me. Tootie would snarl and growl at me whenever I tried to pet her and she would do it so hard she would choke herself (hours of entertainment). When I was about 17 she was about 14, and was not doing well. She began to follow me everywhere, my shadow… unless I tried to pet her, and then the growling started back up. I drove her to the Vet with my Mom and was stunned at the emotion that tore at me when she was put to sleep. My mother and I cried all the way back to the house, and that damn dog HATED me.
We have just adopted a new little dog (part dachshund and part sneaky neighbor dog? I don’t know, when people ask me what kind of dog she is, I say, “Brown”.) Dixie is a sweetheart that loves the kids and is (mostly) pretty good at listening. Last night I had a rough time at work, and when I held her in my lap, she just snuggled in and slept there all day. She allowed me to relax enough to lean back in the recliner and get some sleep. We’ve only had her about 2 months, and, already, I can’t imagine the house without her.
My sincere sympathies go out to Figo’s family. You’re right, there are no words.
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Bandit. Best dog ever. Did dog jokes. Loved ice cream and chicken nuggets. Looked like Rin Tin Tin, acted like Lucy Chewbone. 1975 to 1988. I miss you, banana nose.