I know many of you are devoted pet owners and have had to endure the loss of one of your best friends ever. Over the last 24 hours, I received a reminder of just how much mine mean to me and how much it hurts to lose one of the most faithful companions I have ever known.

Of course there will be some of you who exhibit lack of care and perhaps false stoicism, especially at the loss of an animal, a cat even, and perhaps you do really have the ability to compartmentalize, distance yourself emotionally, or just let go. In any event, this thread is not for you. Kindly exit and refrain from your insensitive remarks.

This morning, I lost my big orange tabby Daytona, who was one of the best, most faithful friends I have ever known, animal or human. He was 10 years old, and I had him for about 9. He loved everybody, and just about everybody loved him...even people who weren't cat people. My vet said he really enjoyed having Daytona there during his last stay for a week two months ago and said he was almost more like a dog.

laying him to rest at my family's home in Smithfield was very hard...harder than saying goodbye to human friends and family that have passed on. I miss him terribly.

10/21/2011 2:01:13 AM

I think it's harder the longer you've had them. My cat growing up was 16 when she went to sleep one morning and didn't wake back up. I cried for a week straight. I still tear up sometimes when I see a picture of her or walk by her grave.

10/21/2011 6:59:14 AM

sorry for your loss... e-hug!

And I agree with the older pet statement... but even when you spend allllll your time with a pet, that can be just as bad, ya know? I spent the most time with a german shepherd we had in middle school and it still upsets me to think of how he died (hit by a car). Or, if I lost Gambit right now, oh man.. it wouldn't be pretty.

But when they've been around for 10+ years, yeah... very, very hard

10/21/2011 7:18:38 AM

RIP Daytona and sorry for your loss.

10/21/2011 8:02:00 AM

My wife and I have 3 cats, all 4 years old and younger. Hopefully we won't have to deal with this for a long time, but I know in the back of my mind that it will eventually happen.

You've got to make sure you spend as much time with them as you can, because their time here is short.

10/21/2011 8:04:17 AM

No doubt, it sucks - a lot.
Even though Marley & Me is about a dog, don't watch it anytime soon. It's a bad idea

10/21/2011 8:28:06 AM

it sucks a lot, and not just for pets you've had for a long time. i've lost 4 pets in my lifetime. both of my childhood dogs, my childhood cat (died on my 18th birthday, just went to sleep & didn't wake up), & my cat yoshi.

yoshi died on mother's day 2010, 6 weeks short of his 2nd birthday. he was the perfect cat, everything i ever wanted in a cat. more personality & intelligence than most dogs, loved people especially new ones, & looked like a bobcat (brown tabby w/ a bobbed tail). he was AWESOME & he loved me to pieces. he greeted me at the door when i came home from work, would fetch, sit, always came when you called him. the most awesome cat ever. the day after my brother's graduation, i woke up around 815 & found him puffed up on the floor. he was huge, swollen all over. rushed him to the emergency vet, which was 30 mins away in wilson, & he was dead by 934am. he had air under every organ, all his skin, EVERYwhere. we took his body to the diagnostic lab in raleigh that day. the lab couldn't figure out what was wrong with him. no toxins, no deformities or holes in his lungs, nothing abnormal at all. they'd only seen one other case but it was a very old very big dog. they kept tissue samples from all organs & whatnot in case they ever got another case in like that.

i had him <2 years but that bond was formed the second i saw him. we had to put down one of our dogs & the other died after surgery to remove a giant mass from her liver at ncsu vet school. it hurt a lot when bailey, pepper, & callie died...but we had a head's up that they weren't going to be around much longer. i've never felt pain like when yoshi died so suddenly. never. it still hurts

i miss you big boy

10/21/2011 8:43:43 AM

so sorry for your loss

when my childhood dog had to be put down (really bad stomach cancer--she was 14) I cried for a week straight. A friend of mine and her family had to put her childhood dog down this week, and I cried for them when she told me. I think he was ~16. Pets are very meaningful, and part of the family.

10/21/2011 10:28:55 AM

I lost my first horse, a palomino Quarter Horse named Kathy, at the age of 26, and I was 27. She was a year older than me, and my biggest regret was not spending time with her in her later years. I did everything with that mare- gaming, Western pleasure, halter, hell we even kicked the crap out of the Hunter circuit in western PA in the late 90s.

She taught me how to ride, and was probably the most opinionated mare I've ever met- we had a serious battle of wills but what they say about mares is true - geldings are easier to ride, but mares are loyal to one person.

She also taught my little sister and my brother how to ride, was a good mount for my dad until she got old, and then was an occasional mount for a little girl in her retirement. She got cast in her stall from colic, but didn't give up for days until we had to put her down.

There will never be another horse like her, I cried my eyes out for about 3 days straight when I heard the news.

10/21/2011 6:11:19 PM

Quote :

"he greeted me at the door when i came home from work, would fetch, sit, always came when you called him. "

Aww, sounds like my cat now. She can be an insufferable asshole when she's bored but she's always at the door at the sound of my car pulling up and loves to cuddle under the covers with me and play fetch with me

10/21/2011 6:19:37 PM

I've lost a few cats when I was younger, but the timing of this topic is ridiculous. My family is about to have to put down my favorite cat, that I've had for 17 years. When my dad finally caved on letting me get a cat (my mom begged him for years but he thought they were sneaky lol), our neighbors had a stray litter in their horse pasture. So I went over one day and brought back Snoopy and her sister, Snuggles. I totally got to bring home the mom too a few days later.

So anyway, mom has been calling me every day for the past week about Snoopy with up and down rollercoaster updates. Snoopy won't make up her mind which is so like her. I'm going home tonight en route to our game at UVA tomorrow so this will probably be the last time I get to see her.

I'm going to lose it. Shit, I'm bawling after typing this out. I feel your pain.

10/21/2011 6:54:28 PM

5/11/2016 3:49:38 PM

chill yo

5/11/2016 4:07:49 PM

5/11/2016 5:11:40 PM

This is right in the feels yo.

I lost my pal Jack on Sunday May 1st during our before-dinner walk. He had laryngeal paralysis (among several other things) which was an indicator of overall CNS degeneration. right across the street from my house, his throat seized up and he choked to death. It was agonizing and heartbreaking to lose him.

He was my pal since Sept '05. He was taken from a home by Pitt county sheriff b/c his owners there were beating him. Then I got him. That dog did more to help me with my PTSD than any shrink ever did. Damn dog could steal food like a boss too!!

RIP Jack. March 2004 - May 2016.

5/11/2016 5:37:17 PM

I really am trying hard not to think about this, but my dog has had a really bad run of things the last few months. He suffered a back injury that has led to some partial paralysis which he may never fully recover from, and he's got several, thus far benign, fatty tumors. It seems like overall his health is starting to deteriorate and even though 10.5 years isn't old for a dog, it seems like he might only have another year or two of good quality of life.

I'm really dreading the possibility of a cancer diagnosis one day or seeing his quality of life suddenly take a turn for the worst.

Losing a pet sucks.

5/11/2016 8:44:09 PM

Oh man. Why did I click this thread?

Two months ago, my dog's oncologist estimated she had two to four months left, so...

5/11/2016 10:25:49 PM

sorry shawna... each day is a gift now <3

5/13/2016 8:59:43 AM

5/13/2016 9:15:41 AM

^^True

5/16/2016 10:09:48 PM

Some friends of ours lost their two in this fire:

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20160510/APN/305109900

5/16/2016 11:12:01 PM

Gaining a pet

5/17/2016 4:21:36 PM