Saying goodbye to pets...yeah, it's my turn.

[BangShift McT]

When I adopted this giant cat in October '08, he took to me and we've been buddies since. When "Miss Remy" was on her way out of the house, he sided with me and refused to deal with her. He loved Tonia and Jess as roommates, and every one of my friends who has dealt with him over the years has loved the big furball. Haley fell for him, as he is a charmer to the female sex. Even Randal liked him, though he wasn't in the most social mood, being shoved in a Penske truck in winter, his owner force-feeding him Valium.

Diesel has been one of the most solid things in my life in the last few years. Unfortunately, he's old. I didn't know precisely how old he was when we adopted him, but within the last couple of weeks he's shown to be well over ten years, possibly as old as fourteen. For a cat this big (he's been as heavy as 38 lbs, and physically he's a giant), he's got healthy bloodwork and his bones are solid. However, over the last few months, his digestive tract has been slowly failing him. Two weeks ago I had to take him to the emergency vet, where we discovered that his entire intestinal tract from stomach to anus was completely filled and not moving. $661 later, he was flushed out and at first seemed to be recovering.

That was short-lived. Diesel has megacolon, meaning he's lost the physical ability to move his bowels for any reason. He is in pain when he is trying to use the box...enough that his cries have woken me up from a dead sleep. There is no treatment that will improve his condition of living.

As much as I don't want to do this, I have to face that soon, Diesel is going to have to be put to sleep. It's killing me. I haven't felt like this since my father was in Hospice. I'm not certain when yet, but I'm resigning myself so that I can face that day.


[/vent]

[TheSilverBuick]

My condolences, I know how much he means to you. Never an easy decision.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm sorry man, that's really tough

[dulcich]

Remy, there's not much you can do at this point. It is hard to lose a pet. I had adopted a stray puppy last year - he just showed up at the shop one day. Skin and bone, and a touch of mainge. At first I tried to run him off, but he just yelped, squated and pee-d, then ran off and hid and cowered. When he was still there the next day, I got my dog and thought he would defend his territory and run off that mutt, but no. The pup just yelped pee-d ran off and hid and cowered again. After a while I felt sorry for that little guy and went out and got a huge bag of Gravy Train. He just loved Gravy Train and thought it was the best stuff in the world. That did the trick, and nursed him back to heath - fur and all.

He eventually took residence in the crawl space under the house, and I loved that dog. Named him Scrappy, and he'd always crawl out from under the house to greet me at the door every morning when I got up. Thing was, he always wanted to go wherever I went, and would chase my car whenever I'd drive off; but it always seemed he knew how to keep just enough distance. Well, last January I ran him over in my Durango. Couldn't see down where he was, and after a 'thump' of the tires, that was that. He crawled off the road to the edge of the field, and died, broken and bleeding. I picked him up with a pitchfork and put him in the back of my '67 D300, drove a few miles and tossed him by the side of an irrigation ditch. Sad, but what are you going to do? Poor Scrappy.
-dulcich

[1988montecarloss 2]

i know how it is, the dog ive owned since i was 7 years old just got put down yesterday

[TC]

Not to many things get a tear out of me, but having to put a pet down is one of them......I've had to do it twice and both times I couldn't hold back the tears......They truly are like family.......I feel for ya Bryan.........

[428FE]

I feel for you. Its a tough day.

[oldsman71]

had to put my old cat digger down last year, its a hard deal for sure, sorry for your loss

[Scott Liggett]

Seems like a lot of my friends are losing their furry friends lately. Yannick lost Natasha, his 16 y/o timber wolf on Monday. I saw Yogi, his other wolf on Tuesday. He was all sad and wanting attention from everybody.

[Mater]

loosing pets is hard

[RAIV70Judge]

Lost my buddy Hemi,last summer. Its tough for sure, sorry to hear man....

[tedly]

The fuzzy little bastards sure can worm their way into your heart, can't they? Once in awhile one of them fills a void in your life you never really knew was there. I'm sorry you have to go through this man. Scratch the behemoths ears for me and let him know how much he means to you. If he could he would be doing the same.


What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone man would die from a great loneliness of the spirit...

Chief Seattle

[nesabo]

sorry to hear Bryan.

[Brian Lohnes]

Sorry man. Your stories about the cat over the last few years have been great. It is clear how close you are to that big fluffy bastard!

[Bamfster]

The only thing worse is having to pull the plug on a family member. It's still tough with a pet, but when they are uncomfortable and no cure is in sight, it's the right thing to do. remember all the friendship and fun you had with him, and make the most of the time you still have.