For all who have lost a beloved pet.....

[MoonRiver]

[redstatebluegirl]

1. Thank you so much for this!

My beloved 14 year old dog is in the final stages of cancer. Our vet said a few more days, if she doesn't go naturally the most humane thing would be to put her down....


I forgot about the rainbow bridge, thank you again.....

[Liberal_in_LA]

8. sorry

[Kablooie]

14. My 14 year old dog is in the final stages of kidney failure.

She is getting very thin, slow and spaces out a lot but still has moments of seeming happy and interested in things for short periods.
It's very difficult to decide if putting her to sleep would be the right thing.
We've kind of decided that that as long as she is interested in taking slow walks every few days it's a reason to let her continue but if she gets to the point where she has no interest in anything, it will be time to let her go.

[MANative]

2. Our vet shared this with us when our beloved kitty, Janeway, died last winter...

at the ripe old age of eighteen. It was a lovely comfort then, and a welcome reminder now, that she's waiting for us over the bridge.

[Curmudgeoness]

3. No matter how many times I read that,

I cannot avoid crying. It is so touching. Even if I don't believe in a hereafter.

[RebelOne]

4. I visited the Rainbow Bridge website

when I had to send my beloved 13-year-old Rottweiler there in 2010. I just wish there was such a place. But I have comfort in knowing that I gave her a good life. She was definitely a spoiled rotten Rottie.

[hopemountain]

5. looking forward to the reuniting with

my beloved pets. i've been blessed to have had several - they are now my personal angels

[MoonRiver]

6. I've lost several darlings. My current baby won't be here much longer.

I thought I would share this because I need to remember that love never dies.

[MrMickeysMom]

12. I wondered if that was one reason behind this, MoonRiver...

I've loved all my pets and remember each one who's had me, each in their own way, each one breaking a little portion of me off as they left me behind...

I wrote a poem once over my cat Layla, but I could say this for each pet I've loved... as their little paws massaged my neck, they were really re-arranging my heart.

Love never dies, it just gets "re-arranged", I think.

Thank you for the lovely post...

[MoonRiver]

23. You're welcome MrMickeysMom

I didn't want to affect the beauty of the poem by putting a personal story in the OP, but, yeah, my little doggie's time is near. We don't know how near, but probably not more than a few months.

May sweet Layla, and all your other pets, RIP. I believe you will be together again. Just love your phrase "love never dies, it just gets re-arranged."

[closeupready]

7. Aww, that actually made me cry.

I miss my kittie.

[MoonRiver]

24. I'm so sorry.

[VPStoltz]

9. I expect my 15 yr. old mixed breed to making that journey soon...

My mother, who passed two years ago, never met him but had seen videos, etc. and heard all the stories. She had a picture of him on her wall at the nursing home. I am expecting her to be waiting for him with open arms.

[William769]

10. Such a great poem.

[lavenderdiva]

11. Thank you for sharing this -- there is also the Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement

Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement website: http://www.aplb.org/

they have a lot of helpful articles and also have chatrooms for anyone needing to share or needing someone to listen....

[MoonRiver]

27. Thank you. I have bookmarked that site.

Think I will be visiting there today.

[Hayabusa]

13. My mom and I got this

when our dog, Atlas, died of cancer about three years ago. We've shared it with everyone we know when they lost pets.

[Stonepounder]

15. I am at best an agnostic.

I have no idea if there is an afterlife or not. However, this I know to the very core of my being. If there is an afterlife, it won't be exclusively for humans. Our pets give us so much more than the ask of us that I cannot conceive of a creator who would create an afterlife for humans and would not provide the same for those creatures who give us so much love and comfort.

[Dash87]

17. +1. If anything, humans are less deserving of an afterlife.

[Stonepounder]

18. You won't get any argument from me on that. N/T

[99Forever]

16. Thank you for reminding me.

This poem brings tears to my eyes every time I read it.

The unconditional love they give us, is the sweetest gift of life.

[dsc]

19. my dog is getting up there

Since I found him I don't know his exact age but he has to be pushing 14 years old. His sight is fading and he requires medication to get around well. Otherwise he is OK but I know he won't last forever.

[niyad]

20. thank you for sharing this--so many of us have lost, and are losing, our beloved companions. this

is helpful, even though it never fails to bring tears.

[dmr]

21. My baby died last week.

My heart is still broken.

We found Eddie & her siblings beneath our rose bush. So tiny I could hold all three in the cup of my hand. She grew up to be a big girl.

Eddie had a heart murmur, so she was extra nurtured and extra spoiled.

She looked and acted like a baby kitty her whole life. Snow white fluffy fur with black spots - one shaped like a heart. Her face was a pure sweet baby face with an adorable pink nose.

She was 10 years old, she went very quickly, in my arms.

This is the first I've been able to talk about her.

[MoonRiver]

25. Dmr, I'm so sorry. I know words cannot express the loss.

Eddie sounds like a wonderful kitty. She was soooo lucky to have you in her life.

[flygal]

30. I'm so sorry

It hurts. We may have to put our 3 year old to sleep this week. She's going down hill and they don't know what's wrong. I can not believe how much a part of our lives she is - it just hurts.

[JI7]

22. i really think we would have more misery without dogs

can you imagine a world without dogs ?

[MoonRiver]

26. No, they have been my rock since I was a child.

I just wish humans appreciated dogs and cats more. They love and trust us so much. But we are fickle when it comes to returning that love.

[chillfactor]

28. such a beautiful poem....

thank you so much for the post....it made me cry..I think of all the beautiful dogs that I have loved that I have buried....my little Fajita is 8 years old now.....she is a 5# chihuahua....I honestly think she may outlive me...I hope she jumps into my arms when the good Lord brings her to me

[xchrom]

29. my Sport boy -- i can't wait to see him again.

me, my dad, sport, peewee, heidi and fritzi.

and mom -- when she gets there as well -- all of us on an eternal, pleasurable, glorious walk about.

[AmBlue]

31. 3 days ago a large possum slaughtered my babies.

It busted through the chicken wire of our coop and killed Moosie and Luna, my two favorite chickens. Moosie had health issues and I have saved her from dying probably no less than 10 times in the past several years. She was the healthiest she's been in two years. My 15yo son woke me up at 1:15am screaming hysterically. It was just devastating to see them there-- one of my babies still alive but just barely-- and the monster still there in the pen with them. It was the worst nightmare imaginable, except it wasn't a nightmare. My heart just aches for them and the sheer horror of their last moments. And my heart aches for me because I so miss them and their sweet, quirky silliness. They were just adorable, even following me into my back door whenever they could manage it. Oh, how I miss them.

Intellectually I know it was just a possum being a possum, but we will trap and kill it lest he come back (and they do!).

Our one remaining hen is stunned and very lonely. She desperately runs to us whenever we go outside now. And, yes, we've taken extra steps so that she is entirely locked down at night with no chance of anything getting at her. I had no idea a possum could get through chicken wire!

[Whisp]

32. I am an atheist but believe this can still happen

in some way we don't understand.

You made me cry too.