Off subject...UPDATE

So sorry for you. To many people their pets are family. They bring unconditional love and lifelong memories. They may have been suffering more than you knew. I will keep you all in my thoughts.

I have a Bichon who is 19 years old.  She can hardly see or hear and has to be lifted upon my bed and furniture.  The vet said Katy is healthy internally.  I know that day is in the near horizon.  We had to have other other Bichon put down when she was 14.  They are the best friends we could have.  I have said many times I do not think I would have grieved anymore had one of my immediate family members passed when we put our first Bichon (Bijou) down.  This breed of dog has a great personality and is very loyal and affectionate.  My thoughts and prayers are with you during this time of loss.

Mike

I am so sorry for the loss of your dogs.  I can't imagine how heartbreaking it is to lose both of them at once.  I am so very sorry.

So sorry for your loss...

Ann

So sorry for your loss, times two at once sounds heart wrenching.  They are never with us long enough.  Most definitely leave a huge hole in our hearts.  

I am so sorry for your loss,  I would like to share a quote from a card my vet gave me when I lost one of my beloved pets.

Grieve not, nor speak of me with tears, but laugh and talk of me as if I were beside you, I loved you so...  Twas Heaven here with you.

Jsla Paschal Richardson.

Lorikat,

As you can probably tell from my name here I am a great dog lover.  This is my nickname within my family and I always keep an extra lease, dog food/treats and water in my trunk in case I find a dog that is obviously lost.  I am 55 now and I think I have had dogs for at least 50 of those years.  I don't have children, so they really are my babies.

While I had mixed breeds as a child (and they were all wonderful), I am a cocker spaniel girl now (all but the first one rescues) and I am on my 4th one now.  (I only do one dog at a time however.)  I've been privledged enough to hold three of my dogs while they were put down.  I say privledged because since they had given me so much love I wanted my loving arms around them.  It is a hard experience for us, but it is very peaceful for them and know that they are not suffering anymore.  While I am always heartbroken and grieve the loss of my dear friend, I know also that I now have room to love another dog once I am ready.  I think that it was Will Rogers who said "If there are no dogs in heaven, when I die I want to go where they go."  I can't imagine heaven without all of our loving pets.  I know the heartache you are experiencing and my heart goes out to you.  But I also know that in the not too distant future you will be able to think of them and smile and laugh at the joy they both brought you over the years.

Lorikat said:

I held and loved my babies

I held and loved my babies until they were set free.  The trust and love in their eyes broke my heart, but I could not let them go alone.  I'm not sure I will ever have another pet.....Ginny was my first pet..  I had her 14 years...

"Trust and Love" in their eyes...

That about says it all. 

Sundance had cancer too...it was ironic, because on 2 different occasions, he accurately "predicted" that I had cancer...rectal and when it went to liver...

He would lay his head on those areas when I obviously had it, but didn't know it...he was so smart...and way out ahead of his time.  When it went to my liver, I had joked, "Sundance, does papa have cancer again?"

Bingo...

He could barely walk on his last day...the vet was coming to the house, because we physically could not take him there...I don't know that I could have done that anyway...

So, we sat with him too...they gave him the drug to put him to sleep...I saw his eyes glaze over...it was pitiful and hurtful...the next drug stopped his heart...his chest stopped heaving...and I hugged him and just begged him to come back.

Somehow, even sick and hurting, I still wanted him there with me...I think it's much like that with cancer patients and their spouses...even though the spouse knows it's over...they want to hang on and cling to every moment.

Because, that way we won't have to deal with the inevitable...we just want to prolong pain as much as possible with those that we care for.

I remember hugging him...touching my forehead to his and shaking that big paw...they suggested we go to the other room while they removed him...probably a good idea.

But for 13-years he was by our side...all the way...he physically lived through and survived an F-3 tornado with me and my wife, inside our tiny laundry room that evening....he stayed with me through 2 1/2 of my cancers...smiling all the way to the end...just trying to make us happy.

We went 18 months and then got another Golden...first 2 years of his life I was sick with the last cancer...so now, we're trying to figure the other one out.   His name is Harley...but he's a Marley...and he's not Sundance...there can only be one of those.

I chose his name for this site, because of how he helped me with my cancer...I honor his name by trying to help folks out here from time to time.

I already dread the day when I'll have to put Harley down...said I would never do it again after Sundance...but my wife really needed one and so we went around one more time.

But, I won't do it again...

See, you're right...it's in the eyes...and the eyes never lie...there's a look there...and it still haunts me....like a trust that was broken.

Condolences on the loss of your pet...you got a lifetime with her...I hope that whatever way you go in the future, will be the right direction for you. 

-Craig

I rejoice that they made it through your treatment and recovery process before this happened. What friends our dogs are - like no other. I would rather spend an evening with our dogs than with people any day.

When I was really sick before diagnosis and in a lot of physical pain, our beloved dog, Albert was dying. I could look in his eyes and knew he was ready to go so emotionally I let him go a few weeks before we took him for the last time to the vet. In the meantime my husband carried him everywhere since we have a lot of stairs in our house, something I could not have done.

I did not last long without a dog. I pushed my husband who thought he couldn't go through that kind of loss again. But now we have two dogs, an English Cocker and the other one a havanese which is a member of the bichon family. I think of all the dogs i have had in my life often and still love them greatly. But I know they don't mind we have new dogs. As a matter of fact, I feel spookily like our dog, Luke was waiting for us and there was some sort of universal knowledge he and Albert shared and then we got Lucy when my mother was in hospice just before she died and there is a wonderful connection there. When I close my eyes I think of Albert and how much he and Luke share when we hug each other. When I laugh I always think of my mother's laugh and how much delight she would have had in Lucy and it increases my joy in her.

You have been through a lot my dear friend. Take care of yourself. I know it's a big commitment but I vote for a couple of new dogs or other pet. Some people make the leap to birds with great success. I have come to appreciate how much communication and love there can be between humans and birds too. We also have a cat so there is enough chaos in our house.

Love,

Sandy