Welcome back, everyone! How are we feeling this Wednesday?
We’ve had a bit of a shakeup in the household and I’m putting things in spoilers as it deals with pet health.
While he’s nearly eighteen, this wasn’t what we expected to hear. Linus is also the first pet I had as an adult, so impending pet loss and arrangements are new to me. We also think our pets are going to live forever.
The initial shock and frequent crying has tapered off a bit, but this is uncharted territory for me.
For those who have been in a similar situation, please share your wisdom! Because wow, it sucks.
If you want to put your comments in a spoiler tag, you’ll want to put your comments between these tags and remove the asterisks. [*spoiler]text goes here[*/spoiler] If it isn’t working, don’t worry. I can fix it on my end!
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Georgia shared this link on England’s first romance-only bookstore. If any of you make a trip to Saucy Books, please report back!
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I’m loving this trend of people showing off their partner’s hobbies on social media with aggressive support.
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This link comes from K, who shared this talented craftsman addressing comments on masculinity.
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If you didn’t hear, Steve Burns from Blue’s Clues is launching a podcast!
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Don’t forget to share what cool or interesting things you’ve seen, read, or listened to this week! And if you have anything you think we’d like to post on a future Wednesday Links, send it my way!
Legit, dealing with the shorter lifespans of pets is SO hard.
Hugs to you.
Oh, gosh, same here. We’ve said goodbye to eight pets, and only one has decided to be in control of their departure. It’s so hard that their lives are a fraction of ours.
You’re totally right, Heather: Euthanasia really is the last loving gift you can give a pet who wants nothing more than to be with you. When we said goodbye to our dog Zeb two years ago, our vet gave him chocolate, because dogs should experience chocolate once in their lives. All our pets that we’ve euthanized exited hearing and feeling how much we love them, and it’s hard every time.
Sorry to hear that! I don’t have any wisdom, but I live with an old cat.
Coming out of my lurker cave because while I don’t necessarily have any wisdom to share I do have a whole lot of empathy.
My heart goes out to you.
We should all be grateful for the vets who provide love and support at the end of our pets’ lives. When our 18 year old dog, Ruben, had an infection he couldn’t fight, it was the vet who said “It is no longer a kindness to keep this animal alive”. That gave us permission to let him ease into the next stage of his existence, with my oldest son and I nearby to tell him we loved and would miss him. But due to the vet’s words, we had no guilt about our decision.
It’s the one part of pet parenthood that never really gets easier.
Just sending love and hugs. Glad you and your pets have enjoyed much wonderful time together. I’m sorry when we are reminded of our and their mortality.
Sending good wishes for Linus, you, and your partner, Amanda.
I have no real advice, just hugs.
I’m so sorry, Amanda.
As for arrangements, I found my vet clinic just took care of everything.
Sending you lots of love.
Condolences.
I’m so sorry, Amanda. Please accept a virtual hug.
I am so sorry. We lost our 21 year old kitty last September. My heart still aches.
Oh, Amanda, so much empathy. It is so, so hard to face this kind of news for our pets. *HUGS*
Sending love to your family and extra pets for Linus
As a devoted caretaker of animals throughout my life, I sympathize with having to make hard decisions. One of the biggest changes in how I approach the end of life has been stated in other comments: home euthanasia. The vet and traveling is so stressful for animals, that, especially at the end, I think this is really important. I live in a city with numerous vets whose entire practice is at-home euthanasia, and I’ve already saved several to my address book for future reference.
hugs.
I learned recently there’s a romance-only bookstore in Centerville, Maryland (Eastern Shore). Haven’t been there since it would require a trip across the Bay or C&D Canal.
https://www.romance-landia.com/
Wrapping my arms around all of you.
Sending much love and tight HUGS. Losing fur babies/knowing it’s coming sucks.
Amanda, I’m late to this, but sending you hugs and sympathy. As vet, I know how hard the decision making process can be. Lap of Love is a hospice and home euthanasia practice that has a lot of good resources on their website for assessing quality of life and helping with the decision making process.
Also, if your vet didn’t prescribe topical steroids or decongestants (nose drops), ask about them. They can do a lot to help maintain comfort and decrease congestion. Days tolerate then surprisingly well.
@Jenn with 2 n’s: You’re spot on with your recommendations! Linus is doing well with the steroids so far and our vet suggested Laps of Love, which I think we’ll go with when the time comes for at-home euthanasia.