re: When you know the end is coming for a pet...it sucks

Wow, 19. That's pretty amazing. We just put our 17 yr old cat down.

I feel for your pain. Very difficult.

We still see ours around the house 3 months after putting him down.

My oldest Rat Terrier passed away Thursday at 18 years old. She was the perfect dog. My heart is still heavy from losing her but I take comfort that she lived a fantastic life.

My younger RT is 15 and I dread seeing him decline. They’re so intelligent. At least they don’t understand death as we do.

A friend of mine adopted a cat about 6 months ago. The cat started having problems and he took it to the vet to find out what's going on. Turns out, the cat is over double the age that the adoption agency told him she was.

He made a bunch of vet appointments to try and help her, but the poor thing didn't even make it to the second one. Sucks to lose something you've grown attached to so quickly.

Hope you bounce back. Be thankful you got the company for 19 years.

Had to put to rest our 2.5 year old cat about a month ago. She had been battling chronic kidney disease due to being born with one bad kidney. It was a really tough decision because she was so young and sweet, but she outlived her life expectancy by 6 months. My wife and I agreed that when she could no longer eat, it was time to say goodbye.

We were able to find a service that does in-home euthanasia called Laps of Love. I’m thankful for that service and grateful to them and the technician. Her final moments were in peace and quiet, stress free, while I held her in a blanket on my lap. After she passed, our two other cats sat by their sister for about an hour.

Losing a pet is sometimes tougher than losing a relative. You spend almost every day with them and they are with you through all of good and bad times. Just remember that the life you’ve given them is more than they could have ever dreamed about. They have no concept of life expectancy, they’re just happy to spend their short amount of time with their human and pet companions.

Reading a lot of these replies has me about crying. It's so sad to even think of. Our dog is 11 and we've already started dreading the day it happens..

shite. You got me.

For the locked up back leg for the cat, this worked for one of mine (who lasted to 19 years)

Pick up cat, place cat on its back on your lap. Gently put one arm under/on the cat's front legs to steady it, and with your other hands, support the cat's hind legs and bring them towards you and the cat's spine. That worked for four years to keep our cat active. Something just went slightly out of whack, and that slowed her down.

Also check their claws, Sometimes the claws grow into the pads on their feet. Use the big nail clippers and clip NOT across the claw, but at an angle.

Cats claws grow )).))) and you want to clip into where that period is so the older part of the claw is removed.

I thought I was losing my girl earlier today, she was breathing really erratically. Been holding off trying to force feed her, hoping she would just get an appetite after chemo and eat.
But 3 days later and not interested. Finally about an hour ago, decided to give her some liquid baby food, and she took it by syringe. I'm waiting to see if she can keep it down. Been spending time cleaning her nose out so she can breathe, she gets her nose stopped up really quickly during this process. Had to do it once last night, planning on at least twice tonight if she seems to be having trouble breathing.

If she is still doing poorly overall, going to call the vet and make an appointment to take here in. I'm unsure if she will come home with us, and that makes me very sad.

Hug your kids and if you are like me and don't have kids, hug your fur babies. This one is gonna hurt if I lose her. Best dog I have ever owned.

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if you are like me and don't have kids, hug your fur babies.

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Same here, our dogs are our kids. Best wishes to your girl.

My first pet was a cat. A little a-hole tuxedo named Socks. He hung around my apartment and my girlfriend finally wore me down on bringing him in. He died without warning 3 months after we brought him in. I'll never forget the look on her face when I came into the clinic where she brought him.

I got a kitten about a month after we brought Socks in. The only thing worse than seeing my girlfriend holding Socks was seeing that kitten when we came home without Socks.

I know dogs are awesome. I have a dog now, but if I'm being honest, I prefer the cats company.