Comments on: Heart trouble

By: Keith Krieger

Keith Krieger — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 03:29:59 +0000

Dear Jeffrey,

I remember your post when you found Emile, tied up outside, and smelling “like a pretzel factory,” if I remember your words correctly.

I don’t recall who said it, but the thought was that we make an unconscious pact with the animals we bring into our lives. We know, at some level, that we will likely outlive them. And we bring them into our lives in spite of that.

I’ve walked with them down that path. While it hurts to have seen them through that passage, we have that peculiar bond between human and animal to remember. It is difficult to say whether their lives were enriched by the time spent together. I know my life has been enlivened by their presence.

By: Kelly Adams

Kelly Adams — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:41:47 +0000

Animals fill a hole in life that nothing else can. I lost my 9 year old Collie 2 months ago to cancer, it was the most heartbreaking loss. I completely understand about making the decision, Jackson made it for us, but it did not make it any easier. I feel your pain and hope that when it’s time you know that Emile crosses over the rainbow bridge, my Jackson will be waiting there to play. :)

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 02:57:34 +0000

They break our hearts
I remember when I used to think that
someday your gonna break my heart
I remember when you ran away finally
came back on another day
I remember you when my day is done and
I can barely get thru another one
I remember when I picked you up cause
you were hurt and needed me
I remeber when I was hurt you picked
me up cause I needed you
I remember the day you left me here
and sure enough it broke my heart
I remember you and can only smile when
I think how you used to lick my face…….

By: Типография

Типография — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:03:38 +0000

This is really sad. Your dog looks almost like mine. This story brought a tear to my eye. Hope that he pulls through.

By: MikeTek

MikeTek — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:31:00 +0000

It’s rough acknowledging that nature has stacked cards against one you care for. Here’s to Emile – may he go out with stinging defiance.

By: RayMcK

RayMcK — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:53:24 +0000

I know what you’re going through first hand. Emile, you and Ava have all our best wishes.

By: Dan Smith

Dan Smith — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 19:06:48 +0000

My best friend Gus the cat died over a year ago, and I still talk to him every day. He was the opposite kind of a lot of these stories, he was very very sick, hypothyroid when born, and through a few miracles of fate, like us going to the vet hospital at Penn in Philly where there happened to be an intern who happened to work in the hypothroid cat colony they happened to have there, he got better and actually grew.
Luckily for me I was unemployed at the time, the only real reason I noticed or gathered his sickness enough for us to know to help him, and we bonded like anything.
When he finally got to go outside, say about 4 or six months or so, he ran and ran like a horse. He couldn’t believe it.
He was my best friend.

By: Chris Long

Chris Long — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 15:41:45 +0000

without reading this entire thread, may i first offer sincere condolences–we’ve been through the same. i’d like to suggest that you don’t get your hopes too high (impossible, i know) and that you let emile go with grace and dignity. we waited too long–if i could do it over again i’d have put our beautiful girl down a bit sooner. it’s horrible and difficult beyond comprehension, but don’t wait too long. our thoughts are with you during this painful transition. we feel YOUR pain.

By: ropes

ropes — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:06:57 +0000

I pray to God for him. I hope he will be recovered soon.

By: John Morrison

John Morrison — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:04:58 +0000

That is rough. Before moving to Chicago I had been a dog owner all my life and when I left, my parents were taking care of our 15 year old Westie. He made it until this year at the age of 18. By this point he was mostly blind and deaf, he managed to get around the house simply by feel and memory alone. When his conditions finally got the best of him it was incredibly hard for my father to accept, he called out of week for a work. It was like he had lost a child. I almost flew home. A pet is every bit as much a family member as a person. I feel for you my friend.

By: Don Ulrich

Don Ulrich — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 03:00:23 +0000

I had a friend. His name was Bill, a Shepard Akita mix. Not just a friend really but my son (he liked that distinction) he was proud of that. My nick name for him was “Doggie Doggie”. We were inseparable for 15 years Jeffrey. At night I would say “hands” he would hop up in the love seat at the foot of the bed and I would stick my hands in his thick fur and rub him until he fell a sleep. He was funny, sensitive, and intuitive. Sometimes I was busy,
preoccupied or did not have the time. It did not matter he waited for me.

The day he passed it was 7:00pm time to go for our walk I told him he did not have to go, that I would understand he closed his eyes and died. He always waited for me. I will always remember him, always.

‘Enjoy every sandwich’ -Warren Zevon

By: jeffgtr

jeffgtr — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:25:42 +0000

So sad to read this news. We lost our dog Winston last summer (Boston Terrier 8 years old). We had no warning. We took him to the groomer and something went horribly wrong. The groomer called and he was gone, just like that. That day we buried him in the woods by my sisters, we used the basketball he loved to play with as a tombstone. A client of mine insisted that we get a new dog right away, she’d been through it. At the time it seemed like a trite and unthinkable thing to do, but the next day we saw a Boston advertised in the paper and went to check him out. Ollie came home with us. My client was right. The way I look at is Winston died, but Ollie now has a good home. As someone said in a previous post, consider a new dog even though it sounds like the last thing on earth you would want to do (and I’m sure it does). That’s the problem with dogs. Shorter lifespan. I feel for you.

My sons flickr memorial for Winston http://www.flickr.com/photos/dylanmurphy/sets/72157606262472894/ And the little guy who helped us heal http://www.flickr.com/photos/dylanmurphy/sets/72157606262567950/

By: Shelley

Shelley — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:13:20 +0000

Sorry, he, not she.

By: Shelley

Shelley — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:51:17 +0000

I’m sorry about your pup, Jeffrey. She has a sweet face, and I imagine has been a delight.

I can also empathize, both about decisions:

http://shelleypowers.burningbird.net/reflections/black-holes/decisions-decisions

And the loss:

http://shelleypowers.burningbird.net/reflections/black-holes/just-cat

By: Don Rogers - Creatively Done

Don Rogers - Creatively Done — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 16:36:53 +0000

This is rough thing to go through. I haven’t had a dog since both of my big dogs passed after having them 12 & 16 years back in 1990 & 1991. Raven the Doberman died after being sick with cancer, then having stroke. We did everything possible, but she wasn’t getting better. I had to talk my Girlfriend into putting her to sleep, because after the stroke she was not the same dog, who loved to run & jump all the time. This was very hard for both of us, but had to be done. The other dog Cu (Great Dane, St. Bernard, German Shepherd & the best dog ever) was 16 when he just died of old age (maybe a heart attack), but since then the idea of having a dog hurts. Now my daughter Cyan (almost 6) has been bringing it up more & more, but we’re trying to hold off a couple more years, so got her a cat (which I like & her Mom loves). The thing I found out about dogs, they really do become your best friend & you have to let them go eventually. I feel your pain man.