r/Petloss

can you guys please tell me about your dogs that have passed and their personality i would love to know about other people that have gone through this

i cant add an image but my mini schnauzer opal got put down 2 hours ago she was the sweetest and most beautiful dog ever, she was rescued 5 years ago from a puppy mill where they abused her and bred her over and over again, but i hope she knows that i loved her so much, i took her outside for the last time today not knowing it was the last i'm just in shock

I came to this subreddit to find other people with similar situations to me. And I find comfort and healing in the people who lost their pets in other ways as well, but I wanted to see if anyone else has had experiences with their pets being killed by other animals.

My dog was killed by another dog about 2 years ago and I'm not sure I'll ever be "over it" but I'm able to get through my day to day life without breaking down constantly. I'll have a full-on cry session about once a month and especially on the anniversary.

I just feel like the trauma of what happened is wrapped up in the grief and it's hard to handle. I think about it whenever I hear dogs barking or even see dogs on the street.

Has anyone else had pets killed by other animals? Especially dogs killed by other dogs. I wish there was a support group like AA to go to so we could all meet up regularly to talk about it.

I’m afraid to pick up BeBe’s ashes
The vet called me two days ago to tell me that BeBe’s ashes are ready to be picked up, and ever since that phone call, I’ve been hiding in my room.
I know I need to go get her. I want her home with me. But the thought of walking into the vet and leaving with a box instead of my little girl absolutely terrifies me. I don’t know why, but hearing that her ashes were ready suddenly made everything feel so final and real.
I keep thinking, I’m going to pick up my dead kitty. And I just can’t handle that thought. I want BeBe back alive. I want to bring her home, not her ashes.
I’m also taking everything out on my husband. I’ve asked him not to talk to me because every time he asks if I need anything, I snap at him viciously. I even told him that if he says one more thing to me, I’m moving out. I know he’s only trying to help, but right now I cannot tolerate questions, conversation, or even someone trying to comfort me. I just want to be left alone.
I feel like I’m avoiding something I know I eventually have to do, but I honestly don’t know how I’m going to walk into that vet’s office and pick up BeBe’s ashes without completely falling apart.
For those of you who have gone through this, how did you make yourself go pick up your baby’s ashes? Did you go alone? Did someone else pick them up for you? Did bringing them home give you any sense of comfort?
Right now, I’m scared to go get her, but at the same time, I hate knowing she’s there waiting for me.
I just want my BeBe back. 💔

My sweet boy came to us 11.5 years ago. He’s an English Mastiff and everyone keeps telling us how lucky we are that he had such a long life. That doesn’t make it feel better.

His hind legs started giving out a few months ago. Neuropathy. I took him to the vet and after already being on carprofen, all they could prescribe was gabapentin. By the beginning of last week, the next level dosage would’ve just had him sleeping non-stop. I know we made the right choice.

He needed assistance getting up 80% of the time. My husband or my son or I would swoop in and hoist him. Once he was up, depending on the day, he’d still fall down/wobble/trip himself. We put rugs in the kitchen so he wouldn’t slide out. It was no way for him to live.

Till the last moment, he wanted to play. When it was food time, he would find a way up 9/10 times. He would still whine to get up on the bed with me (even though he hasn’t been able to for 6+months) and wouldn’t get comfy until I relaxed with him on his bed for a bit. His mind was all there, till the very end.

Yesterday we pulled out all the stops. We made a menu and fed him everything you’re not supposed to feed a dog. We carefully took him to the beach and somehow his legs carried him the whole time! The whole family took off work and school and made sure we were with him for 24hrs straight. Friends came over to say their goodbyes and played with him and gave their love. We made sure he knew, up till his dying breath, that we love him and that will never stop.

And yet. This morning he didn’t have trouble getting up. And he just wanted to play. And was anxious that we were fawning all over him. When the vet came (she was amazing), he ended up fighting the sleep medication because he just wanted to slurp the new, fun, sweet person. He died with the ball next to him. He died with his ear draped over my thigh. He died feeling the best he’s felt in a while. And even though I know it was all done correctly, I can’t help but feel like I killed my best friend. My soul animal. He had to be touching me and when I got up, he didn’t look up at me to see where I went. I feel like I killed him even though I know I didn’t.

I‘m asking for help with this feeling. I have all the facts that we did the right thing. The vet thanked us for not waiting until he was agonizing. My kids trusted our decisions the entire time. I consciously know it was right. But it feels so wrong. Can anyone understand? Can anyone suggest how to stop feeling like I not only lost my best friend but that I killed him?

I love you Dog Travis. You’re the best good boy.

When mine has come to a total stand still. Of course the whole world doesn't care about my dog like I do. But it just feels weird that everyone else is just going on like normal.

I just left my house for the first time and coming home to her not being here has broken me. I don't want to do life without her in it. It's just so god damn unfair.

It only happened yesterday but I can't bring myself to remove the clothes that I was wearing when she left. That I hugged her as she departed and was in my arms for the last time. I keep trying to find her smell on things and it feels like it's disappearing from my home already. I don't want to accept that she's really truly gone forever.

I keep talking to her and I hope her energy is with me but I want her here to touch and love.

I try not to replay her final days. Her final moments. She trusted me to look after her and I feel like I failed in every way or she'd still be here, healthy and happy. She thought a new friend was coming over to see her and instead she was put to sleep. I know it was the right thing, that she couldn't continue to suffer, but it hurts and it was probably my fault for not picking up earlier that she wasn't well and had something serious brewing.

This sucks. I'm sorry to all of you also struggling. Feel free to tell me your stories and about your loved one.

We have a land. Small farm. I buried my cat a month ago after a night in the vet hospital that ended up in euthanasia. I made the hole directly after coming back, exhausted to the bone at 4am.

Today it is raining. I am crying because he is outside, getting wet. He would have run inside. He disliked the rain. He would have lie down with me, listening to the rain from inside.

I know he is dead. I know it doesn’t make sense. But I am sobbing anyway.

I post here a lot since I lost my girl on the 10th of July this year. I feel like this community is the only place I can really be seen and heard and I want to thank every single one of you here . For the comments under my posts ,for the advice, for your own posts that make me feel that I'm not alone .

I feel that my life is ruined and that I got depression after she passed. I've been dealing with a very serious health issue my mom has, during the last 6 years. I became a mother 4 years ago. I moved to another country nearly 3 years ago and started over. I've been dealing with many ups and downs but when she was there,I managed to keep a little bit of my sanity. Only because she existed. Now that shes gone ,I feel like I lost everything. My spark ,my motivation, my will to live. I dont want to socialize, I feel trapped in my life ,I'm just exhausted and sad. I feel that everything is falling apart. My marriage, my mental health,my body. I don't know if you've experienced this feeling after losing your babies and if it's an expected circumstance following such an enormous amount of grief but it terrifies me. I've been losing myself slowly over the last years as I'm trying to care for so many people but after her passing ,it seems like I lost myself for good .

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to get these feelings out .

My cat Molly of nearly 20 years was scheduled to be put to sleep today after she had been struggling to breathe for quite a while from some unknown issue that none of the vet's medications seemed to fix. She hated car rides so she puked and pooped and yowled on the way there. When we got to the vet she was scared the entire time, hiding in the corner where I sat with her right up until the moment she passed out. My heart is breaking over and over thinking about it, it hurts so much. I feel like I failed her. I got to pet her while she was dying but I feel like I made a mistake. I spent all of yesterday and today with her because her favorite thing was just to be next to me and get pets, and the last hour before we left we spent in the sunshine lounging. I'll never get her back and all she probably wanted was to keep staying with me.

It hurts so much. I don't know how to process this pain. My baby is gone forever and my house is so empty without her I don't even want to sleep here

I got news yesterday that my girl has bone cancer. It happened so fast. Not that long ago she was running around and playing like normal, until she wasn't. The docs thought it was just a sprain at first. She's 12, not a spring chicken, but has always been a model of health.

We're still waiting on test results to confirm the exact type, but the damage is bad. Any treatment will require amputation of a limb and chemo to maybe buy a year at most. I feel like she's been handed a death sentence, and that my time with her is limited no matter if we try to treat it or not. To say I'm gutted is putting it lightly. It's so horrible because she did nothing to deserve this. All we can do is wait on the results and keep her comfortable. The test results will help determine what to do next but it feels like every option is a dead end.

We just lost our sweet baby Louie, an English Bulldog. He spent nearly 11 years being the most loving dog anyone could ever have.

I’m struggling thinking about how we didn’t see any signs. We thought he was getting older and reflecting that of an older dog, but his passing was so sudden that it makes me think that he’s had ongoing health issues that we just couldn’t see. I hate thinking about the little things in hindsight and realizing he was declining. I hates knowing the vet was just at our home yesterday because we tried every possible outcome to make sure he felt better.

I met him as a puppy and was there when he took his last breath in our backyard. My dad is in shambles. The dog he didn’t want became the dog that chose him. Louie chose my dad; his Facebook account has more pictures of Louie than of my sister and I.

I can’t get the image of his body out of my head. I was there through every stage: he fought to walk, to stand, to try, and to stay. He was so weak and debilitated. I was prepared for euthanasia - to tell my parents that it was better to end his suffering. But he died as I was scratching his head telling him that it was okay. I knew he was letting go.

I choose to believe that he was a little chunky because he was full of love. I would tell everyone that Louie loves people. He loved barking at strangers from the comfort of the floor instead of chasing them. He was my childhood dog and my greatest love. He slept in my room; his snoring was my white noise. I don’t know how I will sleep without him loudly at my side. I loved his cheeks, his ears were the softest part of his face, the way he leaned into your hand when you’d scratch behind his ear. I gave him his last ear scratches as I kissed him goodbye.

To the kind man who came to pick Louie up: thank you. He made the process a little easier for my family. To my bestest friends who are always by my side and grew up with Louie too: he loves us all.

I don’t know how I’m going to move on, but I know that life does go on. I have a concert tomorrow that I’ve been looking forward to that I will be attending with my 2 best friends. I have an upcoming trip to Spain I can begin preparing for. I’m going to live life the way Louie lived his.

Thank you to the stranger reading this post.

Those were the words of the emergency vet as my little prince died curled up against my thigh. We brought him in to an emergency vet last night because we thought he was suffering from a urinary block. Testing revealed that tumors that had appeared last year had grown rapidly and were now compressing his intestines and making it difficult to pass stool. Because the largest was on his liver the vet stated the prognosis was not good even if he did operate or start Hans on chemotherapy. Hans's health had been declining steadily for the past two years, he was 18 when he died. It was a terribly hard decision to make, but he was only going to continue to suffer even if his tumors were removed.

I am writing this mainly to process some of the grief I am facing. He was with me for 14 years of my life and at 29 that meant he spent almost half my waking life with me. He came to me as a stray when I was a teenager. It was winter and we fed him and he didn't want to leave. My mother took pity on him and brought him in once the snow began to fall. He stayed in my room and I wonder if he imprinted on me or something because he never wanted to be separated from me. He didn't often leave my room. He went with me to college, to grad school, moved 300 miles with me to a new state, and saw me through some of the best and worst moments of my life.

He was a large, gentle orange cat. For most of his life he was about 14 pounds, he died at 10 pounds. He loved to be picked up and carried around on my shoulders. When I worked from home during COVID he'd occupy my lap or my work laptop all the time. He was so happy when I moved in with my fiance and his three cats, he wasn't alone and had cats that were so nice to him. I knew nothing but love from him. I hope that he felt the same when he went. I held him as long as I could stand it while he was on pain meds and sat him between myself and my fiance when he was euthanized. He went so peacefully and for that I am glad.

I didn't sleep terribly well last night and its hard to eat anything at the moment. I have been crying in spurts since we left the vet. I'll get a call later to receive his ashes in a beautiful cedar box, the color of his fur. Writing this out has certainly helped a lot though. I'll carry his memory with me forever and I have faith that we'll get to see one another in the life beyond this. It'll just be a hard wait.

Hi, all. I had to put my best friend, of 10 years, down today and am crushed. Just wanted some advice on easing the hurt even just a bit. Thanks a lot.

Sorry for the long post ahead, I’m having a full breakdown about her loss for the first time since her passing.

I’m 31. I lost my childhood dog Mika 10 years ago. She was a beautiful Parson Russell Terrier. I’m an only child who moved around a lot, so she was my sister, my best friend, my soulmate.

We had to put her down 10 years ago due to very aggressive cancer. She was struggling to breathe on her own and we all knew it was the best for her, but my mom couldn’t bring herself to say the words out loud. So I was the one that said to the vet “we want to put her down” and the guilt that I chose to kill her haunts me to this day.

This month I finally made the decision to get my own dog, a Jack Russell rescue. It’ll be a few months until I can actually bring one home, but I’ve been talking with the center and preparing the house little by little.
I’m still not sure how this connected in my brain, but since I fixed a date and time to visit the center I’ve been having a full on breakdown over the loss of Mika. I can’t stop crying as if I lost her just this morning.

Yes, I never really got over her death and yes I miss her and still cry occasionally when something reminds me of her. But the grief has been a quiet one for the past few years. My parents recently got their own dog, and we often talk and laugh about the days with Mika and whats similar/different with their new pup.

I tend to suppress my emotions and have delayed emotional processing on a daily basis, but this sudden wave of grief totally took me by surprise. Who would’ve thought a delayed emotional response would sneak up on me a decade later lol

I’m trying to think its my brain finally processing the actual grief of Mika’s loss, that its ok to move on now. I must’ve unconsciously bottled up all this sadness and grief over the years (even though I was outwardly a wreck for the first two years).

I was just wondering if anyone had similar experiences and if bringing in a new dog into your life had any unexpected changes.
Thanks for reading until the end. Writing this made me feel a bit better.

I let my 14 year old Whippet cross the bridge a week ago, and I'm still struggling.

He had chronic kidney disease and arthritis with Librela.

He had some spinal trauma that caused IVDD like symptoms. The vets weren't sure if it was IVDD spinal or neurological from age. He was wobbly when waking and knuckling his rear paws.

He also had end stage kidney failure and a UTI. I had him in the hospital for 5 days, and he wasn't eating or really responding to treatment. One of the ER vets said he could maybe get better with 3-4 weeks rest, but that wouldn't be feasible, and i don't know if that would've worked if he wasn't eating his kidney food.

Gotta regular vet, ER vets, and 2 more who I sought independent counsel from recommended euthanasia.

I took him home for a couple days and gave him his favourite foods, which would be bad for his kidneys. He ate a little kidney food if i hand fed and force fed, but he rejected most of it and seemed in distress.

He was wobbly and could not get up on his own, and knuckling with supported walking. I had to carry him and he'd soil himself, so if move him every 3 hours. This happened at night too, so i was just physically and mentally exhausted.

The day it was scheduled he actually got up, and seemed the slightest bit better, but still could not reliably walk. He got up on his own to poop (diarrhea) and walked 5 steps then dropped onto his bed covered in poop.

He was the slightest bit better in walking, but he was still knuckling like before. Could this be a late stage rebound, or him knowing it was the end and using his last strength?

I'm just wondering now if I soil waited to see if he'd walk better. Maybe get him that 3-4 weeks rest.

But I don't know if I could do it. I spent all my money on the hospital, and I can't work from home for a month, since he required 24/7 care. He was also in end stage kidney failure and not responding to antibiotics.

I didn't want my little buddy to suffer given all his conditions, so I thought it's what would be best, but I'm still replaying things in my mind.

Anybody else go through this?

Pet loss feels like the scene from twilight when Bella sits in front of the window as the seasons go by. Like the world is just moving and happening and we are just stuck sitting there depressed and unable to move or do anything. It’s excruciating and painful. I wouldn’t wish pet loss on my worst enemy. I’m so sorry for all of your/our losses. If there was a way I could bring everyone’s fur babies back I would in a heartbeat. ❤️

Does anyone else go through this? I feel like I don’t deserve to eat because she lost her appetite and loved food so much. I don’t know why I’m brain does this. She passed away 2 days ago and have barely ate one meal a day.

Edit: thank you for all your beautiful comments and also I’m sorry for your loss aswell 🩷

She was pregnant. Yesterday night she just drank water I gave and went to sleep. When I woke up today morning I found my dog died. It's heartbreaking 💔

I’ve started to feel like nothing really matters anymore. I keep thinking about how to leave without being in pain.
I miss him so much. I don’t know what the point of continuing to work is anymore. It feels like life is just endless suffering.
I feel like I could leave at any time, and there’s no reason for me to keep enduring this job. It feels like I could just quit and then collapse.