I opened the box expecting to cry and sob. I had a few tears but the first thing I pull out is her nose print. Her nose was so damn small that 70% of the print is her mustache. I just laughed so hard

I’ve set up her urn with a printed picture. I expected to be sadder today. Honestly it felt good to have her back even if it just her ashes. I’m sure I’m still gonna have moments of overwhelming guilt and fucking sob. But it’s nice to remember my cat had dorky proportions

My boy Flynn has been with me since 2014 and he has been my guiding light. I've had him longer than Ive been with my wife. We bought a house with a yard in 2020 just so he had space. He's the most gentle, patient, smartest boy and this decision is killing me.

He started losing weight and having mouth sores in April and I took him into the vet. They told me that it is almost definitely some sort of cancer and I could spend a bunch of money on test and treatments, but at his age it wouldn't do much aside from stress him out and make him more miserable. They said "it could be 2 weeks, it could be 2 years, but its up to him."

Once he made it past the 2 week mark my mind settled on, "okay it must be 2 years then." He started eating more because the vet said he no longer needed to diet, his energy levels stayed about the same, he seemed happy. Then about a week or so ago he started having bloody diarrhea. As soon as that symptom started he has been slowly declining. Coughing a lot, pacing around the house, not really wanting food. I know it's only going to get worse and he is only going to suffer more. I schedule the appointment for tomorrow.

Logically I know I'm making the merciful call, letting him go while he still has his dignity and he isn't suffering at all times, but I cant help but feel like I'm just giving up on him. This dog got me through my 20's. He has been with me since I still lived at my parents house and had nothing to where I am now in my own home with my family. He has been a shoulder to cry on, a listening ear, and a source of laughter and joy. I dont want him to suffer, I know he doesn't know why he feels bad and is just confused and scared. I know that I would rather do it too early than too late. But the idea that he won't be here tomorrow night is making me want to throw up. I haven't know adult life without him. I never wanted to have this day come even though logically I knew it would. I miss him already and he's not even gone yet.

Today has been the hardest day. I had to let my sweet girl Bella go, and the reality of it is just crashing over me in waves. She was in my life for 12y.

​She had a large lump with a wound on her leg, which turned out to be a tumor. It was starting to smell and get worse, but thankfully she wasn't in constant pain yet. However, if that tumor had burst, she would have been in unbearable pain. Making the decision to end her suffering before that happened was the hardest thing I've ever done. I know deep down it was the right and most loving choice for her, but the pain I'm left with right now is just overwhelming.

​The house feels so hollow and quiet. Every corner reminds me of her, and the emptiness is unbearable. She wasn’t just a dog; she was my anchor, my constant, and my ultimate source of comfort. Now she’s just... gone, and it feels so unfair. She deserved so much more time.

​I’m sitting here feeling completely numb one minute, and completely broken the next. I don't really know how to get through the coming days or face this huge, silent space without her.

​Thank you for reading. It just helps a little bit to share this with people who actually understand what this kind of loss feels like.

I'm so sad and don't want to do it but she has had a lot of health concerns over the last year and I can tell she's just not happy or comfortable anymore.

Kimchi is 14.5 and went from perfect health at the start of the year and then had cluster seizures in March. Due to blood work showing no disease and no history of seizures the vet thinks tumor. I couldn't afford a MRI to know for sure. She was started on phenobarbital and after adjusting was happy and healthy and back to her normal self.

Over the last two months she's started dropping weight with it being rapid this last month and she's lost a ton of muscle mass. Her recent vet check up shows arthritis in her back legs and signs of early kidney disease.

She hasn't been eating the last few days including her most desired tasty treats and does nothing but sleep and drink water. She doesn't play and if she does get up she walks around like she's confused. She wobbles when she walks and yesterday she collapsed and didn't move for ten minutes before she finally got up.

I know it's better to do it too soon than too late but it sure does hurt making that decision. I am thankful I am in a position to be able to afford a vet to come to my home so I don't have to take her to a clinic. And I am thankful I can make the choice to end her pain before it becomes worse.

It just doesn't make my own pain if the decision easier. I lost my dog three years ago and I still feel raw from that.

I'm gonna really miss my bean. She's been through so much with me. I was lucky to have her on my life.

She would have been turning 15.

My sweet cat, Penny, passed in August. It's been almost 10 weeks. I can't believe it's already been that long without her, but at the same time it feels like an open wound.

I rescued her when she was just a tiny 6 week old kitten. Losing her after nearly 15 years has devastated me beyond what I could have ever even expected.

Anyway. I obviously miss her every day, all the time. But, there is something about these "special" days that hurt just a little bit extra. It is the first October 21 in 14 years that she has not been with me to shower with extra love and treats and birthday kisses to celebrate her life. It really, really sucks.

I am trying to celebrate her anyway, today. I love her so much and she deserves to be celebrated, even if she isn't physically here anymore. I wrote her a letter. I donated to my local ASPCA in her memory. I made a candle for her with a custom scent (coffee-chocolate-old books, my other favorite things besides Penny, haha) that I'm going to light later. I'm taking an online workshop tonight about Pet Loss + making memorials to honor them.

I'm doing my best to get through the day and to still find ways to make the day about her in positive ways, even when it hurts this bad. I'm just so sad. I miss my girl.

This isn’t an easy post to write and I’ve been going back and forth. The amount of guilt and grief I feel right now is something I can’t explain. Please no nasty or sour comments, I promise you I’m going through it enough. As the title reads 2/3 of our dogs murdered our beloved cat. This is something I never could have seen coming. We’ve owned all of our pets for years and never had any issues, in fact they all use to sleep together at night. A few days ago we got home from dropping off our kiddo at school when we walked in to the horrible site. We rushed our cat to the local emergency clinic but unfortunately it was too late. Since her death it’s been hard, I’m having such a hard time processing what happened and what comes next.

I have gone back and forth if I should ethically rehome these two for the safety of my children (I have a newborn and 3 year old) and other small pets, or keep them. When I see these two I get a brush of anger and want them no where near me yet at the same time I love them and can’t imagine being without them.

I reached out to their perspective shelters were I adopted from and our vet seeking guidance. The shelters were very empathetic and supportive of whatever choice I decided to make. Our vet recommended a behavioral test on one of the dogs (The main one who killed her). We did schedule the appointment for the behavioral test but even then I still don’t know how I want to move forward.

Has anyone had a similar experience and wish to share how you handled the situation? Thank you.

I just lost my cat today he was my oldest cat i’ve had him since i was in middle school,he was all of our babies.My moms taking it the hardest. I’ve only experienced pet loss with a cat one other time and it was with my first ever cat. Any advice on how to move forward?

My dog unexpectedly passed away yesterday. It was so sudden. This last week he just suddenly got sick. We went to urgent care but they couldn't do much other than give him fluids. The regular vet was closed so we had to wait a day. At the vet appointment, they said to keep him at the hospital overnight and send him to surgery the next morning.

He didn't make it through the night.

He was running around so full of energy just last week. It's so hard to believe. Bringing him to the vet, a part of me was scared it was the end, but I really thought this was just a rough patch and we'd get through it.

Because of this, I closed the door right in his face as he got led away to the hospital.

He has a bit of separation anxiety, and tried to lay down with us once he got off the examination table. I walked with him to encourage him to go with the vet and when they went through the doorway, I stopped. He did too. He looked back with such sad eyes. I closed the door to try and ease him into continuing with the vet.

His last moments with me was abandoning him. I didn't even say goodbye. All I could think about was him getting better. All he wanted was to stay with us. He died alone.

I miss him so much. He was my best friend since I was 13. He was only 10. I just can't believe he's gone so soon.

My wife and I lost our new dachshund puppy, Buttercup, or “Butters” as we called her, yesterday in a horrible accident, and I’m having an incredibly hard time processing it. I feel like I failed her.

We already have four dogs, including two dachshunds who are 2 and 4 years old. While we were away on our anniversary trip, we came across a dachshund puppy online with heterochromia (two different colored eyes). She was from the same breeder as our other two dachshunds. We’d always said that if we ever found one with two different colored eyes, we’d have to get her. We weren’t necessarily planning on getting another dog, but when we saw her, it just felt meant to be.

We named her Buttercup, but quickly started calling her Butters.

She was just starting to settle into our family. She had gotten comfortable sleeping in bed with us through the night, without any potty accidents. She would hold it as long as she could because all she wanted to do was cuddle up and sleep. She was such a sweet, sleepy little thing.
Our other two dachshunds were also finally starting to open up to her. They were beginning to play and roughhouse together, and it was so exciting watching her become part of their little pack.

I work from home, so even though we’d only had her for a short time, we’d already spent so much time together. She was getting really attached to me and wanted to be wherever I was.

For some background, I own a small mushroom farm. Along with growing mushrooms indoors, we cultivate shiitake mushrooms outdoors on hardwood logs. We soak these logs in water and then stack them to encourage the mushrooms to fruit.

I’ve always let our dogs follow me around while I’m working outside. They love exploring the property and keeping me company, and it’s something we’ve done countless times over the years without an issue. I was so excited for Butters to grow up doing the same thing, becoming my little work companion. She was already doing so well following me around.

Yesterday was just another normal day on the farm.
I had originally left her upstairs with the other dogs, but she was whining because she wanted to be with me. We’d spent so much time together since bringing her home, and I didn’t want her to feel left out or upset. So I let her come outside and follow me around while I worked, just like our other dogs have always done.

I was taking shiitake logs out of their soaking tank and stacking them nearby. Toward the end, one of the logs fell from the stack. It startled Butters, and she ran around to the other side of my truck.

I didn’t want her to be frightened, so I went back and restacked the logs, making sure they were more secure, or so I thought. I’ve worked with these logs for years and have never had a stack collapse like this before.
She was about ten feet away from the stack when I finished. I turned around to continue emptying the soaking tank, and seconds later I heard the logs fall again.
I knew almost instantly something was wrong.
I turned around expecting to see her running away scared again, but instead I saw her on the ground having what looked like a neurological reaction. I immediately picked her up. Blood was coming from her nose, one of her eyes was protruding, and I could feel that her skull had been fractured.

In a matter of seconds, I went from thinking I needed to rush her to the emergency vet to realizing there was nothing I could do.

I completely lost it.

My wife and I spent the rest of the evening crying. We buried our little Butters that night.

I cannot stop replaying those few minutes in my head.
Why didn’t I just leave her upstairs with the other dogs? She was safe up there. She was finally getting comfortable with them, and they were starting to play together. She would have been perfectly fine if I’d just let her whine for a little while.

Why did I let her follow me around while I was moving logs? Why didn’t I take the first falling log as a warning? Why didn’t I move her farther away?

There are so many little decisions I could have made differently, and any one of them might have meant she’d still be here.

The worst part is that I was trying to make her feel safe. When the first log fell and scared her, I wanted to show her everything was okay. I genuinely thought I’d secured the stack. I never imagined something like this could happen.
I’ve spent years doing this work with my other dogs wandering around me. It was such a normal part of our lives that I never really considered something like this happening.

And now I keep thinking about all the little things we were just beginning to experience with her. How she’d started sleeping through the night with us, how attached she was becoming, how our other dachshunds were finally accepting her. She was just starting to understand that this was her home and we were her family.

She was supposed to have years of sleeping in our bed, playing with her siblings, and following me around the farm.
Instead, we barely got to know her.

I know it was an accident. I know I would never intentionally put her in danger. But I was responsible for keeping her safe, and I can’t shake the feeling that I failed her.
She trusted me. She wanted to be near me so badly that she cried when I left her upstairs, and I keep coming back to the fact that if I’d just let her stay there, she’d probably still be curled up in bed with us right now.

I’ve lost pets before, but I’ve never experienced anything like this. The suddenness, witnessing it happen, and knowing that a different decision on my part could have prevented it is absolutely eating me alive.

I don’t really know what I’m looking for by posting this. Maybe I just need to get it off my chest and talk to people who understand how deeply losing an animal can hurt, especially when you’re struggling with guilt.
I just wish I could go back to yesterday, leave her upstairs with her siblings, and come home from working to find her waiting for me.

I would give anything to have our little Butters back.

Hey everyone, has anyone felt the spirit of their animal who has passed recently? What was it like? I have to say goodbye to my beautiful dog tomorrow and knowing that she could visit me is the only thing holding me together.

I lost my baby boy yesterday. He had a brief battle with illness and took a turn for the worst, and I made the choice to have him put to sleep. He was only 7.

He was my first pet. I got him right after I turned 17 when I was feeling lost. He has been there for me through so much in his short life, and always kept me going.

But now he's gone.

I don't know what to do with myself. I have barely gone to work since he got sick. I'm in bed just crying and cuddling a framed photo of him. I keep posting him everywhere just to feel like he's still around, but the overwhelming sense of emptiness is just consuming me. It seems to only be getting worse not better. I try to distract myself but he's all I can think about. I don't care about anything else, which hurts.

What can I do? What did you do? I want to be there for my partner and my other 2 cats that are struggling but its all my effort to even just be awake.

We lost our sweet boy almost a year ago. And atleast once a week since I absolutely bawl my eyes out missing him.

He was our first family dog, got me through a lot and simply got old a passed quite quickly.

We were all in the room with him when they put him to sleep. We cuddled him and I was the one looking into his eyes, giving him a little head scratch as they injected him.

It absolutely broke me. His eyes looked back at me, shook a little and dilated.

I don’t know what I expected, but I’ve never been able to stop thinking about that. His last moment. And while it’s comforting that we were all with him and he knew how loved he was, I just feel like a part of me went with him.

Today is my sweet Lulu’s Gotcha Day…I officially adopted her 3 years ago today (though I became her foster mommy on 7/8/23).

I’m at my “neighborhood bar” avoiding going home to an empty house.

I really miss her 💔😭🌈🐾

Three years ago, we lost our girl Ginger to seizures we couldn't control.

Barely more than a year ago, we lost our girl Briggy to cancer. One day she started limping, 2 weeks later we knew it was cancer, and two weeks after that, she was gone.

Today, we found out our boy Fred - my soul dog, who has always held a special place in my heart - has cancer.

He's been totally fine. He had a checkup last month, including bloodwork, and everything was good.

Over the last weekend we noticed he was a bit slow to get up, but it coincided with it getting colder outside, so we said we would keep an eye on it.

He was otherwise still behaving normally - eating, playing, and sassing us.

Yesterday he did this weird coughing thing, where it was like he was trying to clear his throat or puke or something, and I thought, that was odd. Then he did it again, and after the third time, I messaged my husband and said something seemed off. He didn't want to eat lunch, and only ate dinner when bribed with copious amounts of cheese. We resolved to call the vet first thing.

The appointment got scheduled for Friday, but during the day I got increasingly concerned because Fred started breathing harder, and it seemed like he was breathing more from his belly. Eventually I said he needed to go in ASAP, so my husband took him to the emergency vet.

We're doing more tests to see how bad it is, but my husband says, it's bad.

How am I supposed to this again?

I lost my beautiful 5-year-old girl to tick fever, and I feel completely shattered. She was initially misdiagnosed, and by the time her symptoms became clearer, things had gotten very serious. I took her to every vet I could, seeking advice and help, desperately hoping someone could save her. She developed pre-hepatic jaundice and very low haemoglobin, and eventually went into cardiac arrest. I can’t stop crying or replaying everything in my head. What if I had taken her to a different vet sooner? What if I had realised how sick she was? For a while, I genuinely thought she was recovering, and now I keep blaming myself for not knowing.
She was an extension of me. My parents were deeply attached to her too, and our home feels unbearably empty without her. She was such a beautiful, happy girl, and I miss her more than I can put into words.
I keep hoping she knew how much we loved her. I hope she forgives me, even though I was trying so hard to save her.
For anyone who has lost their pet, especially after a sudden illness, how did you cope with the guilt? Does it become easier to remember the happy moments without replaying the end? I could really use some kindness and advice right now.

My relationship of 10 years suddenly ended a week ago. He abandoned me while at work and my dog watched him leave. My emotional physical and financial structure has been shattered. He has refused to come see her and she is 9 years old. Her old age was showing already but it is now getting to a point where the vet wants to start end of life care. I am so scared. I have no family or support. It was just us 3. That’s my fault for pouring so much into this relationship. I’ve reached out to old friends but I fear I’ve just burdened them with a lot and I don’t think they are willing to babysit me as I seem to need. I am not their best friend I am not their first choice. My ex has already moved on to someone else and has blocked me on everything. I just don’t know what to do. She is suffering but I am so alone and I am afraid for my mental health and I am afraid of the costs and I am afraid of coming back home to the loss of her and him within less than two weeks. I don’t know how to cope

I was the first on scene to a dog that was hit by a car... she had a tracking collar on, and the poor owner was only a few minutes behind her... I transported her body to the hospital in my trailer and will have the image in my head for a while. She was still warm when we got there, and the vet techs asked if we checked for a pulse, but it was such a severe head injury... I don't think it was surviveable...

I was only on that road at that time because a pipe burst on my street, so I had to go all the way around... I knew the pipe burst but tried to go that way anyways and was forced to detour....if I had gone directly to the other road I might have been too early OR the car involved in the accident.

I lost a dog I love to a similar accident in February, so it really felt that the universe put me there to help the owner because I know how hard it is... 💔

Hello. A little over two weeks ago, I had to say goodbye to my soul cat of 15 years. I first met her when I was a child, and I’m now an adult in graduate school. Her death was sudden and unexpected. She was 17, which is old for a cat, but she was so spry for her age, so vocal, so full of love. I had blood tests done back in late August, and they came back fine. I made a big move with her, and still, she was fine. She adapted well. She walked the new space with all the confidence in the world, making claim to every room.

Then came Thursday, October 1st. I came home from class to find her in the same spot she was in before I left. Her food was untouched, which was abnormal for a cat with such a greedy appetite. When I woke her, I saw that one of her eyes was abnormal, so I rushed her to the nearest vet clinic. There, I was given some meds, and I took her back home thinking she would be okay.

But Friday came, and she got worse. In just one day, she started tilting her head to the side, and she was unable to walk straight, much less walk at all. I watched her struggle to use the litter, and I cried while I tried to give her food through a syringe. Food that she threw up anyways. I ended up taking her to the vet ER where I stayed for 6 hours. When they were ready to talk to me, they told me to prepare myself for the worst. My options then were to try the new meds and see how she responds or pay thousands for a neurologist to examine her. Their guess was cancer. By that point, I didn’t think it would be worth finding a neurologist. I didn’t want to subject my cat to more poking and prodding when she already endured so much.

I took her home with me and slept on the floor with her, trying my best to provide her with comfort while gradually losing hope because she couldn’t eat. I told myself I’d see how she felt Saturday. Well, Saturday came, and she wasn’t any better. She still tried her best to walk around, and she cried for me when I was gone for too long, but I couldn’t stand to see her that way, especially knowing that my poor baby was starving.

I said goodbye to her at 10:48 pm on Saturday. I wanted to do an in-home euthanasia, but it was costly. I regret that. I should have shelled out the money. Instead, she died in a noisy vet clinic, and all I could do was hold her while I whispered words of comfort and gave her the last pets and kisses she would ever have. I made sure she was purring when I called them in, but I feel like I failed her. She went days without food, and I let her die in a foreign environment because I decided that the cost of in-home euthanasia was too much. I feel like I should’ve said goodbye sooner. I feel like I should’ve paid the extra hundreds. I have no way of knowing if she was actually comforted in her final moments. I feel like a monster who selfishly chose saving money over doing what was best for my baby. I miss her so so much. I thought we had more time together. I thought she’d be with me while I got my masters. Now I have to go through it alone, and it’s hard. I just want my baby back.

I’m sorry if this is long and all over the place. If you got to the end, thank you for reading. Today just feels especially hollow, and it’s hard having to move through life like everything is okay when all I want to do is give up. She was always there to comfort me when I felt this way. 💔

this past monday marked one week since i lost my cat, but it feels like it’s been a lifetime. i can’t believe that earlier this month i could still hold her in my arms, still give her kisses, still have little conversations with her.

in some ways i‘m feeling better, but in most ways i feel much, much worse. my brain is foggy and it’s hard to focus on things. i want to stay in my room all day, but my room was also her preferred hangout, so the whole space is one big reminder that she’s gone.

it’s the middle of the semester and i have things i need to do, but all my responsibilities are very quiet and worthless compared to this giant hole that continues to get wider inside me. i have a therapist to support me and i see her every week, but those sessions are the only time in my week where i feel clear headed.

i just miss her so much.

I had to put my boy to sleep today. Jett a Cocker Spaniel / Staffordshire Bull Terrier. He was 13 years and 2 months old. Just a beautiful lovely dog. Was honestly the hardest thing I have had to do. Was anticipatory grief then the actual loss today which has been more intense than I ever imagined. He was my comfort, companion and just a beautiful dog friend in general. So I just want to say he was the most beautiful dog and I have always been so proud of him even when he drove me crazy which was often 😅. I will miss you my boy more than anything. Literally anything. I will miss you by me in bed tonight for the first time in many many years my boy. You were always there every night snuggled up! I will miss you more than words could ever say or be typed here.

My girl Reggie (we was told she was a boy when we got her but she turned out to be a girl) she climbed into the tumble dryer that had damp but still warm clothes from being dried and buried herself in the clothes. This is something she had NEVER done before.

My poor mum has then shut the door and turned the dryer on and went to bed without realising. We found her in there this morning. I am complete and utterly heartbroken, I've never experienced pain like this before. She didn't deserve to die like that or suffer the way she did, she was such a kind and loving baby girl. My mum is an absolute wreck and I don't know how to console her.

She loved boxes, dreamies and snuggling up into a dressing gown like a kangaroo, I called her kangareggie..I've put her in a box wrapped in my dressing gown and I'm going to bury her under a bush because she liked bushes. How am I ever going to move on from this? I'm completely and utterly devastated that she diedin such a tragic and preventable way. My heart is aching so much.

Please please help me make sense of why someone can walk into your life and then suddenly they are gone?

I loved my life before him and nothing in my life has changed. Except that he came and went so suddenly, so unexpectedly.

Now I cannot find joy or excitement in anything. Even the stuff that I loved before.

Why did he come? Why did he become my world and what am I supposed to do now?

My poor baby, I loved him so dam much. I remember every little detail and the more I remember, the more it hurts.

It hurts so dam bad. I just want him back.

I got her for my 8th birthday and she was the most sweet, loving cat I’ve ever had. She brought so much love and comfort into my life when I was a mentally ill kid and young teenager.

Unfortunately, my mom and myself didn’t know much about raising cats and the dangers of them being outdoors. We lived by a busy street. After only 6 years with her, my mom told me one early morning she had been hit by a car and passed away, her body still warm. I am 17 now and I don’t feel better about it. I feel so guilty, it hurts to know how easily I could’ve prevented it.