Last week, Connie, my oldest sister, sent me a text message to tell me that had lost Moose. Moose was her part Labrador who was about 14 years old. Moose had cancer, and it got so bad he could not even stand up. So they had to end his misery.
The shock was that they also lost Mojo, a part Pomeranian also about the same age, ON THE SAME DAY! Mojo also had cancer, which they did not even know about, and he went downhill in a hurry. They had to end his misery mere hours after Moose! That is totally unfair!
Perhaps Mojo sensed he was losing his best friend, and just willed himself to die. Folks think that happens when pets lose someone they love. On the news last week, there was a story of a woman who was walking her dog, and was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The dog would not leave the scene for days. I have herd other tales like this before.
Why do We Suffer this?
The reason is simple. Pets enrich our own lives, and we give them a life they would not have otherwise.
Cheryl and I lost Victor a couple of years ago, also to cancer. (Cancer really sucks, in case you did not know that!)
Victor was a stray part Siamese kitten, who was rescued from Victoria, Texas, and brought to the Austin Humane Society, while Cheryl was Executive Director there. He quickly decided he liked Cheryl, and visited her offie a lot. When we found out he had FIV (Kitty Aids) we adopted him so he could join our other FIV kitty, Snowball. Victor lived with us for eight years. Had we not adopted him, he would not have lived much longer after reaching Austin, since they could not adopt him out with FIV.
So for eight years, we had a blast watching Victor, aka "Thug" try to be top boss in our home.
That is why we have pets. They are a break from the mess of our own lives. They tend to love us regardless of how busy we are, and bring us comfort when we are down. In return, we protect them (most of the time), love them, and cannot think of living with out them
Then We Lose Them
Except for Parrots, and Tortoises, we outlive most pets, so we need to understand that we will lose them. It is painful. Connie is a mess right now, as is Eddie as well. Both of these two have retired now, and losing two in the same day is unbelievable. Their home will not be the same now.
I have loved and lost a bunch of pets in my days:
- Chuck - my first Cocker Spaniel dog (we had to give him away when the family moved into an apartment when I was about 5)
- Whitie - my first cat, who was, oddly enough, white. He fell into a bucket of motor oil and did not survive that!
- Ginger A Beagle-Dachshund mix I rescued from a dog pound in Virginia, who lived with me for 16 years!
- Gaizi - my first Arabian horse, who was with me for 20 years
- Raji - my second Arabian horse, who was also about 20 when he died.
I have had others, but they were not with me when they passed on.
To help others get through the loss of their pets, I try to make them remember the life those pets had because of us, and the life we had because of them. We cannot dwell on their loss, but must celebrate their life.
I have tied to give my pets all the attention I could, and make sure they were kept healthy and safe. Currently Snowball has decided he really needs my attention, mostly when he is insecure or hungry (which it most of the time!) I put up with him walking across my laptop, and up onto my shoulder where he sits waiting to be scratched. His spelling is atrocious, but he uses all four paws to type, so I can understand how hard that can be!
Do Pets go to Heaven?
I sure hope so, I will need to have a bag of carrots for Gaizi and Raji when I see them again. For the others, I guess trets will be needed as well.
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