Expired pets....I don't get it!

[Deleted User] wrote: »

I miss my doggy He's buried down the back of the garden.

We lost our dog of 16 years 3 weeks ago. It’s not easy no longer having him there, and even the cat realises he’s gone.

It’s difficult not to form an attachment to them.

Pablo Petite Gymnasium wrote: »

We had 2 hamsters. I got one of them euthanised last night.
The saddest part was handing over €55 for its death and disposal.

The alternative was stick it in a box outside at night....but I'm not that heartless.

But I just don't get the attachment people have to their pets and the apparent loss they feel at their departure.

Over the years we've had cats and dogs. Some have died naturally, others were brought to the vet in their old age but I just considered them animals and not siblings etc as some do.

What am I missing here? Why the utter despair at the loss of an animal?

I just don't get it!

If you don't get it, you never will. It's something that can't easily be put into words.

I had my great dane put to sleep 4 years ago and I am still devastated. I got him as a 12 week old puppy when I lived alone and he was only 4 when I had him put to sleep. He was literally my best friend. Anything I did was organised around him and with him in mind.
He was the best behaved dog you could ever meet, walked right beside me with no lead, was never bold, never chewed up furniture, was toilet trained at 12 weeks old. I will be here all day if I list all of the great things about him.

When I found out he was sick, it was a horrible time in my life. We only had 2 months together between finding out he was sick and having him put to sleep. It was horrific. Some people may think that's a strong word to use but that's how it felt.
For 2 weeks I slept on the floor of my bedroom with him because he was too heavy to lift onto my bed (he was 80kg).
The day I had him put to sleep I lost a part of myself. Again, some people may think that's too much but that's how I felt and that's how I still feel.

Lots (if not all) dog owners will tell you that there's only ever one dog who you have that true connection with. You will have other dogs and love and adore them but there's only ever that one dog that just clicks with you and you feel this deep connection that cannot be explained.
My great dane was that one dog for me. I have 3 dogs now and when I had my great dane I had 2 other dogs and I absolutely adore them all and they know they are loved and adored but my great dane was and is a part of my soul.

Literally bawling at this thread.

My little dog is 15 now and slowly dying. We have decided not to euthanize her as she's not in any pain and she's very content. It just kills me to see her day by day wasting away.

She's the closest thing in my life really, we share a bond that I just don't have with many other people. She acted as a therapy dog in times in my life when I was in serious distress.

It's days like Christmas day and her birthday that upset me because I know it'll be the last with her. I spent most of Christmas day crying over it.

This sounds so so dramatic but I don't think some people understand the relationship between certain people and their pets

np8tefxlzai62j wrote: »

True. Animals have a soul, not like ours, and they have a place in heaven.

No they don't

I'll never forget coming home from work one day and my husband and his 2 friends were at the house when I got there. They said "Henry isn't himself, he's acting a bit strange". I knew by the way he was walking that he had something stuck in his paw. He wouldn't let anyone else near him. I picked up his front left paw and pulled out a thorn and as soon as I did he leaned his big head into my chest like he was saying thank you.

Patww79 wrote:

This post has been deleted.

You get to know them. I know my dog really well. When he wants something, I can tell exactly what it is he wants. It's just subtle changes, like if he wants out to relieve himself then he stares at me with one ear slightly higher than the other. He's also 11 and knows most key English words so if I'm unsure, I list them out and whatever one he starts tenses at, I know that's what he's looking for. I leave food until last though because he's a lab and he immediately wants food when he hears it, regardless of what he actually wants.

His sense of smell is awful though so I doubt he'd smell cancer etc but I would know if there was something off about him, or he was trying to alert me to something odd.