Spoiled Him Rotten

[snowmodan17]

A few years ago I read a post from a JohnDee'r who was going to have to put his dog down. There were a lot of nice comments and one in particular stuck out to me: "Spoil her rotten." I also read a post about a guy feeding a tasty big mac to his dog before euthanasia!

Yesterday, I had to do the inevitable as we put down our cat Cointreau after his battle with cancer. This was a special cat and he acted more like a dog than a stereotypical cat. He'd ride in the car looking out the window like a dog. He'd follow my wife and I all over the house and claw to get outdoors when we were outside. And there would always be a "greet" at the front door when we got home. I never thought I could become so attached to a cat, but he became family.

The Big Mac story stuck in my head as I knew one day I'd have to put my best furry bud to rest. Since cats don't really like burgers I went to Whole Foods and got him a fresh Atlantic Salmon filet and gave him a slice of our pizza last night. He lapped it up and enjoyed it thoroughly before the vet got to our house. It is a painful thing to put a pet to rest, but he went down peacefully and happy. I guess this is my way of saying thanks to the people who posted about their experiences and I was able to spoil Cointreau as he made his journey up above.

Hug your family, pets, and loved ones often.

-Dan

 

[sweeperguy]

Very special pet owner. I applaud you and your kindness and respect for your pet. Congratulations on being one of the "TOP OF THE HEAP"

 

[gary_in_neenah]

Thanks for posting Dan. Sometimes we need to be reminded of how little time our furry friends are with us. My wife was a wreck for months after losing our Labrador. Our current dog is a Rescue and I would recommend it for anyone considering a new cat or dog.

 

[mrbb]

its amazing how attached one can get to a pet, if you treat them like a family member, its a lot harder to see them go
and something I think, non like minded people will never understand!
its a hard pill to swallow to see one go down, but its many times the right thing to do

sorry to hear of your loss, and glad you made it as best you could for it!
least one can do for a friend! IMO

 

[snowmodan17]

Thanks for the kind words guys.

Gary- he was a stray that we took in and he made an unbelievable pet. Agreed that Rescue pets are the way to go.

 

[Deleted member 10829]

Well done snowmodan17! No doubt the cat felt the same way about you and your family. Remember all of the good times.

 

[racerx]

Very sorry to hear about your loss. Your situation sounds like mine as I was never a cat person but my wife's cat had grown to be a best buddy. We had to put him down a couple months right after we returned from what we thought was an awesome time up north as he seemed sick when we got home, took him to the vet and couple hours later we were told it was pretty terminal. We felt so bad as we were having a great weekend and we came home to him dying in the basement alone, even to this day just that thought makes me feel pretty bad. Making "THAT" decision to me still is tough as I am making a decision for a being that can't speak for himself and I feel it is unfair, but I know it is a reality that the cat would never speak . We are now getting to the point of getting a new pet although we have said we will not be leaving it at home since now we have our own place to bring him whether it is a cat or dog (unfortunately the last cat did not like the car, but we never tried to break him of that especially since we did not have the new place, although we were planning to right before he was put down)

Sorry for going on, the only thing I would like to add is to always remember all the good times and be thankful for those times, it is way to easy to be sad and that is not fun.

 

[jd]

Nice!

-John

 

[slimcake]

It will be a very tough day for me when my big boy Duece has to go. Not looking forward to that. Thanks for posting this though. Show of courage for sure!

 

[kip]

Thanks for sharing.

 

[skiroule]

What a fitting way to say goodbye to your furry buddy. Lots of pet people on here and I'm sure all of us admire the way you said farewell.

 

[old abe]

Love is special!!!

 

[mezz]

Sorry for your loss, and as stated above, you did the right thing & did it with dignity, class & respect. Kudos to you & thank you for sharing this with us.-Mezz

 

[snowmodan17]

Thanks again all; your comments have helped a lot.

We used a euthanasia service where the vet came to our house. Pets get stressed out at the vet office so we thought the at-home service would be a better option. I think it's easier on the humans too. I'd recommend it if you have to do the deed.

 

[phazerpilot]

Thanks again all; your comments have helped a lot.

We used a euthanasia service where the vet came to our house. Pets get stressed out at the vet office so we thought the at-home service would be a better option. I think it's easier on the humans too. I'd recommend it if you have to do the deed.

did you use lap of love ? had to put my dog down in may and did not want to put him thru the stress of the vet so we used them.

 

[scott_l]

I am also sorry for your loss, it is crazy how quick pets do become one of the family members.

My intention is not to stir up your feelings or question what you or any one else has or will do but I am curios so I am asking. After you say your finial good byes and the vet preforms the euthanasia service at home what do you do with the animal?

 

[snowmodan17]

Scott- my wife and I had that same discussion. We had the vet take the body and they do a cremation or appropriate removal. You could keep it and bury in the yard or have it cremated and keep the ashes.

My thought is that once the heart stops and soul is gone that it's just a carcass. I wouldn't have wanted to deal with that. Others opinions could vary and I've heard it done different ways. I guess it's whatever you're comfortable doing.

 

[snowmodan17]

did you use lap of love ? had to put my dog down in may and did not want to put him thru the stress of the vet so we used them.

We used a service called Peaceful Endings. She seemed half asleep herself. We chuckled that she must've been shooting up some of the pet meds!

Sorry about your dog, but good call on keeping him stress-free.