Too Young To Leave Her Sweet Life, when a young beloved pet dies Options

[joyo]

Many years ago, when our sons were still at home, I saw a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I had never seen such a beautiful face and tghe owner told me about the sweet dispositions and charms that come with the breed. I knew we would have one someday.

That day was less than 4 years ago, when Anna literally flew into our hearts, arriving by airplane. She was so excited to see us and get out of the crate she flew on. We were overjoyed to welcome her. Arriving from So. Dakota in the winter, she had never experienced the grass we had in PA. It was funny watching her jump in the air over the strange sensation on her little paws.

Anna came into the lives of my husband and myself when both sons had graduated from college and left home. She even attended our younger son's graduation. Because of "empty-nest" syndrome and her sweet, gentle personality (with a few crazy quirks) she quickly became our baby, even more than some previous well loved dogs.

We took her everywhere and found hotels that accept pets when we traveled. She loved the car and would grab a toy to carry in her mouth and bring with her on car rides.

She loved to eat and barked and twirled on the kitchen floor when we said, "do you want to eat?"

She was a great registered therapy dog on an adolescent behavioral unit and we could see kids calm down just petting her and she sat in their laps and "kissed" them.

But 3 weeks ago, at age 4, she vomited, stopped eating and became too quiet. We took her to our local vet who told us she had fluid around her lungs and in her abdominal cavity. We then took her the U of PA vet Hospital. There she was first diagnosed with Inflammatory Bowel Disease and put on steroids and hypo-allergenic diet. At first she did well and was almost her old self, except for not really being excited about the flavorless food. But a few days ago she started the original symptoms all over again and this time, after multitudes of tests, she was diagnosed with untreatable bowel cancer.

We were and still are devastated. The staff were wonderful and we held Anna on our laps and she licked our faces one more time before her peaceful end of life drugs were given.

We're experiencing waves of grief that wash over us painfully. I can;t believe she is no longer part of our lives. Her tracks in the snow in our back yard are still there. the last toy she brought to my car is still there. Towels i used to dry her after her bath are still by the tub, along with her shampoo.

But there's no wag of a gorgeous plume of a tail in the glass door when we drive up the driveway. there's no click clack of nails on the wood floor. Her beautiful beautiful face resides only in our hearts and memories and pictures. There's no Anna to take on trips and visit our sons. There's no Anna to walk in the park and greet other dogs and owners.

Our hearts are truly broken and will take long to heal.

She was much too young and our time with her was way too short. I know she knew we loved her and she sure loved us. I just want her back.

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[joyo]

Thanks so much, Moon Beam. My husband and I are a little further along on the grief journey. Anna's ashes and plaster of her paw print arrived yesterday and we find it comforting to have her physical remains close to us. We both have bouts of crying (I saw my boots by the door out of the corner of my eye and automatically thought it was Anna) and burst into tears. but we also kind of accept that we are going to feel sad and heavy-hearted for a time, but we're able to go about our normal routines.

We had a terrible ice storm here in Philly and have not had power in 2 days, so we'll be at a hotel tonight. I actually found my self thinking if Anna were still here we would have had a hard time finding one that allows pets, because all the hotels are quite full. I felt a little guilty for thinking, " well at least we don't have to stay in a 50 degree house with no lights tonight." But I know it's okay to have some feelings of relief, not only for the hotel, but because Anna is no longer suffering and we don't have to worry about her now.

Anna's vets have emailed and called saying they think of her and us a lot. She had that kind of affect on any dog lover she met. She melted our hearts.

thanks for all you do on this site and I imagine in your personal life also. Joy