Posted on 01/24/2010 12:29:06 PM PST by Slings and Arrows
1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful.
2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.
3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.
4. Don’t be angry with me for long and don’t lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainments. But I have only you.
5. Talk to me. Even if I don’t understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.
6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.
7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I have teeth that could easily crush the bones in your hand, and yet I choose not to bite you.
8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I’m not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long or my heart might be getting old or weak.
9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too will grow old.
10. On the difficult journey, on the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can’t bear to watch. Don’t make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there. Because I love you so.
Take a moment today to thank God for your pets. Enjoy and take good care of them.
Life would be a much duller, less joyful thing without God’s critters. Please pass this on to other pet owners.
(Excerpt) Read more at websleuths.com ...
Yesterday we helped our oldest Basset make the final journey. He was diagnosed with lymphoma in December and made it 7 weeks before his respiratory system started giving out this past week. My heart goes with you.
Thanks for offering your perspective. The cat I put down was the main reason I became a cat lover to begin with. I can’t see living at all without at least having one cat. Looking back I just made it worse by not wanting to be there. Saddest moment of my life. I have two “sweeties” now so I will probably go through that again. But neither of them will go through it alone if I have anything to do with it. I learned a very painful lesson.
Oh, you mean it's the cat speaking...
When I worked for a vet’s MOST people didn’t stay. Of course, the vets and techs are very caring and kind to them, but I do think they are less afraid if they have someone they know there. The good thing tho, is they do not know they are going to die. I think that’s a blessing.
We truly feel for you in your difficult time. Thank you for letting us know about your unpleasant duty, if only to strenghthen our bond with each other.
It's the promise we make our little friends when we take them on: That when life becomes a burden for them, we will ease that burden as much as we can, and when that cannot be eased, we will release them from their suffering.
Toby will be waiting on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge for you, just like Zooters, Muttley, Buttercup, Scraps, Snoopy, Mephistopheles, Kajira, and Sparky wait for me. Perhaps they'll be playing together!
I try to avoid talking to my dogs, though I forget a LOT, and to not use a bunch of extra words they don't understand. I want them to know that when they hear a word from me it means something, and they should know what that something is. I would think that having someone talking to you all the time but only understanding a tiny bit of what was said and not even knowing if you were supposed to understand would be quite stressful.
OMG......that was hysterical and the best laugh I’ve had in ages. Thank you...I had not seen that one.
I didn’t keep my baby gray as they really are very destructive in nature and their instinct (apparently didn’t resonate with ‘William’ in the story though)is to be ‘out there’ but he was a joy to raise to the age and he came back to me for months. Then I like to think that he went forth and multiplied! lol
Thx again.
Never trust a person who does not love dogs.
I hope this means your cats AREN’T going to have you put to sleep.
You’re very welcome.
I don’t know who said it but it is true, If you want a friend in life get a dog.
I wonder if the little marking spritz is chemically different from the early morning bladder evacuation? Be neat if they were communicating something more then “I was here”. Sure seems like it. Sometimes my guy will study one for 3 solid minutes. Others he just ignores.
My precious Pekingese, Muffin, had to be put down when she was 12. The Vet told me what time he would do it, so I specifically took off of work and went to the Vet hospital to be by her side. My sister was in school and my mother had the stomach flu, so it would be just the two of us; but it was enough for me that she was not alone.
When I got there, I was informed that it had already happened earlier in the day and they had already disposed of her body. No goodbyes, no loving embraces, no last kisses.
It's getting difficult to swallow, twenty years later, just thinking about it.
I never used that vet again.
“I can’t explain it to you but it is endlessly fascinating to me.”
PEE-Mail
I didn't stay, because I knew for a certainty that Dad had returned for her.
I agree. And even moreso, I never trust anyone my dog doesn’t like.
I would not ever talk someone into staying if they didn’t want to. People have different levels of what they can do. It would make me feel worse tho, not to have been there.
I know, I was angry at myself for a while for that; however, I got the distinct impression the vet’s staff would have preferred me not staying. I may be wrong, but that was the feeling I got (I must admit I wasn’t thinking very clearly that morning).
We talk to the dogs constantly. But they know intonation. If I am telling them no, they recognize the tone I am speaking in and react... and all but a new adoption by my daughter are basset hounds... hounds are notorious for selective hearing.
Me, too.
But I suspect a plot's afoot...!
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