Grieving My Beautiful Little Girl Options

[Juturna]

For the past 2 days I have emersed my grief in reading postings finding them comforting in dealing with the guilt and heartache. My precious little Victoria was euthanized on 1/23 while I held her head and told her that I love her. Victoria was a buff and white ##er spaniel close to 14 years of age who had a strong will and tremendous spirit. She presented as much younger than her age, despite her health issues with cushings disease which we controlled with a lot of medication.

Last Thurs. Victoria stopped eating treats, had difficulty on the stairs, stayed in bed alot, and stopped wagging her tail. I took her to the vet on Fri. and he said that it may be lyme disease, prescibed an antibiotic, and told me to call on Mon. if she was worse. The next day she drank her water, and ate a tiny bit of food. She even jumped off my lap to watch children sledding out the window. I went to the city that evening for shopping and dinner not knowing that would be the last night that I could be with her. I still remember Victoria's sad eyes looking at me as I was leaving. Her appitite was worse when I returned home. The next morning she could barely walk, was totally disorriented, and was incontinent. We took her to an emergency vet center as my regular vet was not in the office. By Sunday at lunch time she had to be carried into the emergency center and was critically ill. The vet suspected that she had cancer which had spread to a major organ. I made the decision to euthanize which I am OK with. She went peacefully surrounded by the people that loved her the most.

My difficulty is with the guilt I feel in not being with my girl for close to 5 hours on her last night, and with the extreme sense of loss and pain. Since Victoria had health issues with the cushings disease and was deaf, so much of my time was spent caring for her, especially these last 2 years. Now there is an enormous emptiness in my heart. I just want to cry all the time and I'm having trouble sleeping. I've been talking to friends and have a very supportive significant other, but the pain of grief is so sudden and intense.

[janika]

Dear Juturna

I send my condolences for the loss of your beloved Victoria. Please know that I am thinking of you and sending a big HUG to comfort you at this very sad time. Victoria is free from all the suffering now and she knows how much she is loved and cared for. We all feel 'guilt' over some aspect of their leaving us. I spent 2 weeks visiting my parents in Spain during August 2009, and my Noushka was gone by early September. I felt so bad about it. My husband was here with her, and she wasn't 'ill' then, but she was 13 years old, and I felt so guilty to have missed that precious time with her. Our fur babies don't see things that way though, and the last thing they would want is for us to feel so 'bad'. The important thing is that you were with Victoria during a peaceful passing, loving her and comforting her.
Please come back when you can and let us know how you are. Maybe if you feel able you could post more about Victoria and also maybe a photo.

Jan and my Angels and Pixie x