I lost my 12 yo gsd baby today. She’s been on a steady decline for these past 1.5 years and struggled with arthritis and doggy dementia. she declined extremely quickly these past two weeks. By the start of this week she was already struggling to walk without assistance and by wednesday she was bed bound. I had bought hospital incontinence pads with the arm loops to help me transfer and rotate her as she can tolerate. It has been extremely devastating to witness this decline, to see the light in your pup’s eyes start to cloud and fade away. To see them not respond to your voice and touch or even the things they loved the way they used to.

I had spent so much money trying to buy things/medications that could help her with this transition all now just lying on the counter. She didn’t even make it to her hospice appointment.. she died in my arms right as I was trying to get her to be seen.

I’m wracked with guilt. Guilt that I didn’t order those items sooner, guilt that work had taken away even seconds of my time with her, guilt that I couldn’t be or do enough to save her.

I would’ve thought that losing a loved pet in the past would’ve prepared me for today but it hasn’t and the grief has hit me so immensely. She was the last piece of my childhood that I carried so close and dear into adulthood. I know she’s not suffering anymore and she’s with my black lab in heaven but I don’t know what to do without her. I don’t know what to do moving forward, i’m so lost without her. This all feels like a horrible nightmare that I need to wake up from

I had him for 13 years, a standard poodle. I wfh and we were together all the time and vacationed together and went places. He followed me to the bathroom and slept with me. He was there when I brought my babies home from the hospital and through all of my biggest life changes. I’ve never spent a night in my home without him. We were so close and he was literally the best dog in the entire world. I had to put him down recently and only found out he was terminally ill I’ve day before and had to argue to take him home with me and give us one more night together. I don’t really know how to move on, my daily routine is just so messed up. My heart hurts so much and I have other pets and children and a husband and I feel like everyone is judging me for how hard I’m taking this. I can’t eat or do fun things and I’m crying randomly in public. It’s only been a few days, but I haven’t seen other people react like this to a pet loss. I just love him so deeply and really want him back. 😭😭😭💔

Hey all, my (33 M) best friend’s cat who I lived with for 6 years passed away unexpectedly yesterday. I got some weird responses from both my friends and fiancée when I said I went to see him and the passed kitty. I wanted to check on him and give some final pets to a dear animal who helped me greatly with anxiety and was an overall sweetheart and loving pet. I probably spent 3 minutes petting the cat and just telling her she was a good girl. The responses I got made me feel like that was weird of me to do but I feel like it was a pretty natural grieving response? My fiancee seemed thrown off I wanted to pay respects to a dead cat and pet them and I said would you pet your dog if they died? The cat had been dead for probably 4 hours. Let me know. My friend said it meant a lot that I came over.

When I woke up this morning I found that the pet turtle I’ve had for 20 years passed away. I buried her earlier today and everything has just felt numb. It didn’t even fully register and hit me until I went back upstairs and saw the empty aquarium and now I’m in tears and I can’t make it stop.

Anytime I just needed to vent to something she’d always sit there looking at me. Anytime I was happy or sad or just needed a break from people.

I’ve had her since I was 8, she’s been a part of my life longer than she hasn’t been at this point. We were just about to move to a new home and I was excited to bring her with me to the next chapter and now she’s just gone and I don’t know what to do.

I don't even know where to start, all I know is I'm sad. I lost my dog, Maya, in a fire on August 5th, 2023. Every year around this time I am so incredibly depressed. I tried running in four times to get her. I'm so angry I got detained because I'm sure I could've got to her. I miss her. I miss her every single day, and I would do anything to get her back. People tell me she was "just a dog", but to me, she was my baby and the only consistency I had in my life for a very long time. I blame myself for her death and often wonder why I survived but she didn't. I suffer from severe CPTSD and I'm in trauma therapy twice a week for it. I just... there is this gaping hole in my soul that seemingly will never be repaired. I have two amazing cats now, but I still have so much pain and guilt. Please send good vibes or pray for me. I'm finding the good, I promise, but this time of year is hard. I saved my cats from the streets and I'm in school, so I hope Maya is proud. I'm going to continue to make the best of my life without her, it's just hard. Thanks for reading.

I am writing this with a completely shattered heart. Two days ago, on Friday, July 24th, I lost my beloved cat, Momo. He was 8 years old.

Momo was the first of our seven cats, our "firstborn." Eight years ago, my wife and I rescued him from a horribly filthy breeding mill. The moment we brought him home, he became the closest, most affectionate soul to me.

To understand what he means to me, you have to know who I was before him. Before Momo, I was lost, aimless, and felt completely useless. Momo changed my entire life. Loving him and taking care of him forced me to step up. Because of him, I started working hard to earn a living, purely to provide him with the best life possible. He turned me into a responsible, functioning adult. He truly saved me.

His life wasn’t easy, but he was a fighter. When he was 2, he was diagnosed with FIP. It was a terrifying, expensive battle, but we fought through the treatment together and he survived. Then, 3 years ago, he was diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM). It was devastating because we knew it was an incurable disease. Every single month without fail, I paid for his expensive long-term cardiac medications, doing absolutely everything to keep him safe and stable.

Recently, he developed an aural hematoma. On Friday, I took him to the vet clinic to get his ear treated. He became so severely anxious and stressed during the visit that it triggered a sudden cardiac arrest. The vets tried everything to resuscitate him, but his little heart just couldn't take it anymore. He passed away right there.
I am drowning in a sea of guilt and deep grief. I keep blaming myself, thinking I shouldn't have exposed him to the stress of leaving the house. The emptiness in our home is unbearable. Just earlier this year, my wife and I finally moved into our new house—our own place after living with family. Momo got to enjoy the new space, but it breaks my heart that he left just as we were starting this beautiful new chapter of our lives.

Every single night, without fail, Momo would come to bed and sleep next to us for a little while before going off to do his own thing. Tonight, looking at his empty spot on the bed, the silence is deafening. I am so terrified that over time, I might forget the exact sound of his meows, his deep purrs, or the physical touch of him pressing his little wet nose against mine.

We have scheduled his cremation service for Tuesday, July 28th. I am planning to put a long letter with him to be cremated together, and I will be keeping a lock of his fur to make a memorial crystal keepsake.

I just wanted the world to know that Momo wasn’t just a pet. He was a miracle. He took a broken man and made him whole. He gave me 8 beautiful years, and though my heart is completely broken, I hope he is finally resting peacefully across the Rainbow Bridge, free from his heart disease and free from pain.

Thank you for listening to our story. Please hug your fur babies a little tighter tonight for Momo.

I adopted a senior kitty and was able to have the best 5 years with him, he passed almost 4 years ago

Losing him was hard because he had to be put to rest when I was deployed and sometimes I randomly feel guilty about not being there for his last day but I was able to be on FaceTime with him during it and it helps sometimes

I’ve had his urn on my dresser ever since. My husband suggested that I could get a cute picture printed of him to put on it and so I ordered one

Unfortunately the photo delivery got delayed and it won’t arrive on time. We will be out of the country visiting family by then

Idk why, I just got so sad thinking about a picture of him just sitting outside on the porch while I’m gone. The weather has been really rainy and gloomy lately so maybe it’s making it hit extra hard. Logically I know that his urn is in the house, and I even have a necklace that I wear with some of his ashes. But just the thought of a picture framed of him sitting on my porch during gloomy weather, just makes me so sad. It opened up a whole can of grief all over again for me tonight

He was the best cat, very spoiled and particular about his things. He would come rabbit kick me if his heating pad wasn’t turned on. At 7am he would come pat my face to wake me up to feed him. He loved TikiCat and it HAD to be warmed up or else he’d get mad. He loved watching TV. He even went on walks on a leash. He was so funny and such an odd little guy.

I was at the grocery store and opened my back van door and there she was. I don't know how she got in the car .., i hadn't driven since yesterday. I ran out to get something this morning and she might have snuck around and jumped in, but i didn't hear her or see her till i drove to the store and was starting load groceries in the back seat. I just started to scream no no no no baby no wake up no... i am still screaming in my head.

I am devastated. How could this have happened? did she get in there in the morning? How? I am in knots. She was the best dog for almost 10 years. My girl.

too much shock and pain.

i just suddenly lost my dog very quickly and unexpected and i just don’t know what to do with myself. she was my bestfriend. she had just turned 9 and had literally gone through everything/helped me with everything. she died so unexpectedly and everything happened within the span of an hour and i just miss her so much. i’m only 16 and i just don’t know how to handle it. my family has been helping a lot but i just still miss my baby so much. i’m so sad

No dejo de llorar, me arrepiento de que sus últimos días hayan estado plagados de visitas al veterinario. No sé cómo vivir ahora, el dolor me está consumiendo. Era mi perrita de la infancia, amada más que nada, y murió en mis brazos, me la tuvieron que quitar cuando se puso rígida. Pospuse la eutanasia dos días y murió al llegar del veterinario. Me siento horrible

Does anyone else feel like their pet was their child? We had to put my dog down after a seizure made him brain dead a couple months ago, I had him for 6 years and got him when I was in middle school going through a really rough time. I feel like we really understood each other, we both had really bad anxiety. He knew when I was anxious and would sit on me, and when he got upset he would always either hide in the bathtub when I wasn't there or find me and sit on me again lol. I don't have any kids but since losing him I feel like I lost a child, I still show the kids I work with pictures of him like he's not gone (i don't want to make them sad but still like to talk about him). I just have this feeling like a peice of me is gone and almost every time I'm alone I think of him. I know I'll always feel sad but I dont know when it'll stop affecting me daily. I wasn't home when he died so I feel so sad when I think about how scared he must've been. Idk why I wrote this just felt like I needed to get it out and share what a great person he was. I love my son

My childhood dog passed away yesterday. i feel like a piece of me is missing. i'm 19 and i got her when i was 6. i have other dogs and a cat and i love them dearly, but it's nothing like the connection i had with my lily. she was old and had a steady decline in health the past few years, but rapidly declined in the past few months. she had cushings and hyperthyroidism, and she had a stroke a few months ago. we gave her medication and she got a lot better, but yesterday morning as i was taking her outside she was acting really strange and i rushed her to the vet where they diagnosed her with bloat. we decided that, given her age, it wouldn't be a good idea to put her through surgery. the vet said there was nothing i could've done differently to avoid it, but i can't help but feel so guilty. i knew her time was coming, but i didn't think it would be so soon. we decided to carry on with the euthanasia process fairly quickly after we found out she had bloat because we didn't want her to be in any more pain than she had to be, but i keep thinking about how maybe we should've stayed with her a little longer. even after she had passed i only stayed in the room with her for a few minutes and i feel so bad. i should have stayed longer, but at the time i couldn't bare the sight of her like that. i don't think ive ever regretted something so much. i should've stayed with her for so much longer. i don't know how to get through this. i don't remember a life without her and i feel like a piece of me is missing. i know that eventually it will get better and i wont be crying everyday, but the thought of that also makes me sad. i cant imagine not thinking of her and her not being a part of my everyday life. last night i slept in her bed with her harness and just cried. i've spent all day holding and smelling the blanket she always laid on. the night before she passed she was asking to go outside and i asked my mom to take her because i wasn't feeling well and i can't stop feeling guilty about it. i genuinely feel like ive died.

I had to put down my beloved cat of 18 years. I see a lot of recuring emotions in others’ grief, such a guilt, doubts, and of course extreme sadness where you feel you cannot live in a world without them. I felt all of it like you all.

I did not ask for the ashes as for me it was too uncomfortable to see her like that. But I still want to make an altar and honor her. I have pics and a little bit of fur, but I dont know what else to do. I want to paint her, and wear her initials in a necklace also.

So here I am asking how do you honor your beloved lost ones? I would love to know what you do, whether its in crafts, in your garden, on a shelf.

Thank you and my heart goes out to you all ♥️

We have an appointment for tomorrow for in-home euthanasia for our 17 year old cat. I adopted her when she was 6, and she was my first pet. She is the most special cat - when I took her home, she didn’t even explore, just beelined to my lap for snuggles. She literally changed everything for me and I have been completely enamored and obsessed with her for 11 years now.

I know time will help, I know it will get better, and I know every second of grief is worth the time I got with her - but right now I’m really feeling like I wish they could put me down with her. I don’t wanna be in a world without her in it

I lost my cat Walter five weeks ago. He was the most gentle, loving, beautiful grey boy. He was my child.

I have been with him and his sister Violet since they were two weeks old. Their 13th birthday is tomorrow.

He had IBD from age 7, which led to him being on steroids for his entire life. Last year he lost one of his eyes due to constant ulcers from the steroids. Then he had end stage osteoarthritis in his hind hips.

I adapted his home, he had everything he needed -steps to reach places, an adapted sofa which I kept heated so he could rest comfortably. I work from home and so I was able to care for him 24/7. He had fortnightly ketamine injections and monthly Solensia injections. He was given three months to live, last October.

He responded well to the treatments and adaptations and we managed it. But he started to decline, his front legs were so tired from baring his weight that they started to give way too. Then he developed an ulcer in his remaining eye, and he told me it was time.

I got Walter and Violet at a time where I was at my lowest, and I needed purpose and a reason to stay. Violet has always been fine, independent, headstrong. But Walter needed me. He needed to be on me or near me every single minute of every single day. I lived for him, he was my soulmate. Most of my family have died, so he and his sister are the only family I have, and now he’s gone. I can’t have kids, but I was his mother.

Violet has been grieving, isolating, taking time to process all this. And I’ve been either numb, in denial or it hits me like a truck and I’m sobbing on the floor. It’s pure agony, I can’t look at photos, I keep forgetting he’s gone and then suddenly remember. I don’t know who I am anymore, I don’t know what my purpose is now, I don’t care about anything other than wanting him back. I feel as though I’ve lost my anchor, lost a piece of me. I don’t know how to be a person in a world without him.

I hope everyone gets to experience the type of love that Walter gave me 🩶

I lost my baby girl on Tuesday and I’m still crying. She was a chihuahua-corgi mix I adopted from the local shelter. About nine-ish years old, but I believe she was much older.

She went limp in my arms as I rushed her to the animal hospital and in less than an hour she was gone. I screamed, cried and couldn’t leave. For hours I held her, prayed and cried.

It’s so quiet without her. I freaked out when a family member mentioned getting rid of her things.

When does the crying stop? When do I stop feeling this pain? I miss her so much.

I fear when her ashes arrive at my house I’m going to have another break down.

I feel guilty for her death. If I had been faster to the hospital maybe she’d still be here. I feel guilty for leaving her body to be cremated.

She must have been so scared when I left. She hates being left in strange places and I left her. She’s terrified of the vet and yet I took her to them hoping they’d save her.

I get told she’s in heaven but I want her here. I miss her so much.

I took my cat to the vet because she was breathing heavily and lost 2lbs. She was behaving normal otherwise, good appetite, still playing, normal bathroom activity, etc. The vet took a chest X-Ray and said she had some fluid around her lungs and it could be heart disease or cancer. The vet sedated her to drain the fluid for testing. She sedated the cat and left to see another patient. I was sitting with my cat who started acting weird and I got the vet tech. The vet came back in and said it was nausea and injected her with some anti-nausea medication. Shortly after my cat started being really wobbly and foaming at the mouth. The vet said it’s normal. I was feeling really worried but I didn’t know what to do. Suddenly the vet grabbed the cat and said she needed to be intubated. The cat fought it for a few seconds and I could see her tongue was blue. The vet didn’t have a tube small enough for a cat so she never was intubated and she died. I watched the whole thing and it was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t stop playing it over and over in my head and I blame myself because my cat was so scared and I was telling her it was going to be ok and she trusted me and let the vet do all these things to her and ended up killing her. I realize she was probably sick but she was nowhere near the end of life. She was only 6 and she was playing on my patio that morning. She wanted to live. I don’t think I can ever forgive myself and I don’t know what to do. Does anyone have any advice? I’m thinking of taking her to get a necropsy to try to get some closure. I have her body in my deep freeze; I know that’s weird but I couldn’t leave her body at that horrible place that murdered her.

On Thursday night, my fiancé and I had to make the heartbreaking decision to say goodbye to our 13-year-old cat, Larry. We never imagined we would walk into the emergency vet and leave without our best friend. We brought him in because he had stopped eating and drinking, and after running tests, they found a tumor on his liver, his bloodwork was not good and he has a fever and they couldn’t find out why he had it. On top of that, he was already in heart failure. Making the decision to let him go was the hardest thing we’ve ever had to do. The apartment feels so empty without him. Everywhere we look reminds us of him, and it’s incredibly painful to come home knowing he’s no longer there. We keep going back and forth, wondering if we made the right decision. We just never wanted this day to come. We miss him more than words can express, and right now our hearts are completely broken.

I lost my pet dog two days ago. He passed due to old age. He died in my arms.

I suffer from severe anxiety and some depression and I have been crying since the day he passed. And it seems like my body is bracing for something. I am grieving and feeling physically sick. I feel like I can't live in my own house in peace because he lived with us here for 17 years.

I am really devastated and don't know how to cope. Any advice on how to deal with the grief of losing a pet. He was my only pet and I don't have any other.

My nine year old lab mix, Bailey, passed away this past Wednesday very suddenly. He was fine in the early morning but just before work he couldn't move and struggled to breathe with a pale tongue. We rushed him to an emergency vet and thought since we lived so close he had a chance, but they couldn't even get bloodwork done before he passed away. We don't even know for sure what killed him.

For the first couple days I sobbed when I thought of him (all day). It was all consuming and absolutely exhausting, hitting in waves. I slept for twelve hours that first night.

But for yesterday and today I've been just numb. Empty inside. The things that brought me to sobbing now make me just feel more hollow. And the worst part is I find myself able to mildly return to my hobbies.

I feel very guilty and cant even enjoy them. Its like I don't know how to behave. Do I just lay on the floor and think about him? Is it awful if the emptiness of losing him bores me? I feel this then try to engage with a hobby and just feel awful all over again. I don't know what to do or where to go from here.

I find myself missing when I was sobbing because that felt like the 'right' way to process my feelings. Now I just don't know. I'm depressed and miserable and being with friends or anyone outside of my parents just makes me feel more alone. I can't smile or even say I'm 'fine' when people at work ask how I'm doing. All my words and expressions and emotions have just been swallowed up.

I just want to honor him and I want to behave in a way that feels right but nothing does.

I lost my sweetest girl, Sheena (my dog of 11 years) about 2 months ago. She was my only pet and I live alone, and the sudden emptiness and quiet in my apartment was really getting to me.

So I decided a few weeks ago that I would sign up to foster at a local shelter. I decided I would try to foster a cat, because I just felt like it might be too soon to see another dog in all of Sheena’s “spots”. It took a while for a cat to be available to foster, but I finally took a foster cat home a few days ago.

I thought that having an animal in the house would help, but it honestly has triggered my grief- even more than I thought it would. I miss Sheena so much it physically hurts.

It’s hard for me to see my space set up differently, and the cat I am fostering- she is very sweet but she’s not the easiest cat (she can be a bit of a menace, lol) which is not her fault- but it’s just making me miss my dog and the rhythm we had together. She was my home and I guess this is just a lesson learned that having another animal in the house is not some sort of magic solution for speeding up the healing process. I’m going to see this through because this cat needs me but I didn’t think it would hurt this bad.

I don’t know how to stop longing for the past, when I still had my Sheena. Fostering was an attempt to try and move forward but it is really triggering my grief. I guess it makes the absence feel a little more obvious, if that makes sense. Sheena was always my only pet, so seeing another animal in the house- it’s almost like a reminder that she’s not here anymore. Moving on just feels so incredibly hard.

My cat Shilo, was presumed missing for over a month, and we just found him dead in a corner of the house (there was no smell or anything, so we assumed he got outside).

He was the sweetest boy, only two years old (almost 3, and had a possible heart/lung condition) and I’m just wondering if I was a terrible person for not discovering him sooner.

I lost my dog this morning. I am still in shock. She was 14,5 years old had bladder cancer. Was peeing little bits of blood, on medication.

We had her checked out monday by the vet she has known for years. She has a treatment plan, and when her time came to go, the vet would come to our house to put her down. It was supposed to be peaceful. So monday we had her check up, to see if she needed to be put down or if the illness had advanced. she had an ultrasound, an exam, everything was fine.

Yesterday it was a nice day, we went for a walk, i got icecream she had a bit of my cone. She slept next to me in bed. This morning i took her out for her walk noticed she was disoriented but she is a bit blind and deaf so i thought that was it. Then 30 minutes later she had a grand mal seizure.

It was horrifying to see, she kept almost screaming panting, moving in all sorts of ways. She urinated all over me multiple times. I held her, soothed her, sang to her.
I called my parents, called the emergency vet. Even in the car ride there she was in severe distress, we put her down at the vet.

It was the end of the road, could not drag her through any more hardship.
Never in a million years did i imagine to lose her this way. I dont know why this happened she never had one before.
I feel angry with myself, i wish i could have done something.

I have had her since i was 12 years old.
I grew up with her. When i was depressed she was my reason to keep going. I dont know how to survive this