My sweet cat Curley put up a valiant fight, but Friday at 1:25 pm EST, he was put to sleep because of advanced lung cancer. Curley was not only brave, he was the sweetest and most gentle cat I have ever had the pleasure of being around. I loved him so much.

To my sweet little wookie of a cat, I say go in peace. You will be missed.

I really don't know how I am going to celebrate during the holiday this year. All I can do is cry. I miss him more than he will ever know. Curley was the best friend a girl could have. When does the pain get easier?

~Denise~



Curley's Rainbow Residency

I just lost my cat Elvis a bout 1hr ago i dont even know why im posting this

I know how you feel. It is so hard to lose a pet so suddenly. I am trying to get through it myself and I had to put Curley to sleep yesterday. I am not sure how I am going to get through, but they say day by day it gets easier. Just know that that he is in a better place and that no matter what you gave Elvis the best life with all of the love in the world. Remember every good moment you had with him. {{{{hugs}}}}

The reason your posting here is because you want to tell the world your heart is breaking and why.
Somehow you cant say the words because your voice sounds all squeaky and you cant understand the words that are coming out and you cant stop crying.
Does the person your telling understand, chances are if they are not pet lovers then they don’t.

Posting on here you can say/type all those thoughts that are torturing you and you say them to people that understand, who lost a loved one themselves and know how you are feeling and what you are going through.

An hour is such a short time I hope by now you have managed to get some sleep.
Tell us your story of Elvis, it really helps to share a little of that hurt.

I loved the picture of Curley, and those eyes, what a lovely colour.

Yesterday was my one-year anniversary of loosing Sadie and so I know what you mean about xmas. We had friends coming to dinner so I didn’t have much time to feel sorry for myself cooking for 9 people. Is there anyone you can invite over I know its difficult because you don’t want to spoil someone else’s day, but the distraction may be good for YOU, and if you feel like a cry then go to the bathroom for a while till it passes.

That basically was my day last year I know its going to be different for you, but we find that we just have to take one minute at a time and eventually its one hour then one day.

One thing we all agree on here is that Rainbow Bridge is the best place to be and our babies are happy, free from pain and only a little sad because we are so sad back here.

Take care,
Love Sue

Dear Denise and Elvis's parent,

I am very very sorry for your losses. We all know how badly it hurts. Sometimes it hurts so badly, all you can do is scream out at the world "IT HURTS!!!!!"

I don't have any advice for getting through the holidays. But most of us have found that memorializing our fur babies helps us cope and when you post here, or create a web site or create a collage or photo album, or care for their remains, you are doing that. I would say that you should allow yourself to grieve as much as you need. As for the people who don't understand, pity them, because they have never experienced the boundless love and joy offered by a fur baby. When they fail to understand your despair, do not feel ashamed of your sorrow, just know that their lives are much more empty than yours.

Thank you for the photo of Curley. I love the hat!!!!!

Love,
Jennifer

I just put up my Christmas decorations and it felt good to finally see a bit of the holiday season in the house. I miss him so much and it was good to spend time with my husband shopping for decorations for the house. I miss Curley so much and I don't know what I am going to do with his stocking. Thank you all so much for your kind words. It really helps me through this.

~Denise~
Curley's Rainbow Residency

I just lost my Junior and he looked so much like that. He was a red tabby and had a very peculiar habit of putting his lips into a perfect black o when he "investigated" something. I'm still in denial but reading this forum and knowing that there are people out there does make people feel better, it's true. May if keep realating these small little details I guess they live on in this small electric box, but even more so in our hearts. And in the end...that's all that really matter any way isn't it? Maybe I'm just saying this to make us all feel better, but the more you repeat if the more it sounds true.

Hi, everyone,
This is my first post and on a board I never thought I would use. I've found sadness and comfort reading through some of the posts here, but I guess that is what animal lovers do. We can feel the pain and joy of others who love their furry friends so much.
I've lost pets to different maladies, most recently, my Rottweiler, Egor in June of 2002 to cancer. It is still painful to remember the anguish of getting the definitive diagnosis only 2 days before he had to be euthenized. Of course, I went through the shoulda/coulda/woulda and if only's we all go through.
Now I am faced with our female, Rotti, Greta, having cancer. Our wonderful veterinarian says it is an aggressive form of lymphatic cancer, but I never asked for the specific name. She has a few lumps that are slowly growing in size, but otherwise she is her usual self. Still active and playing with the other 3 dogs we have.
The only change we've made (besides extra rides in the car) is in her diet. She decided that dry food wasn't good enough anymore Now she gets canned food with cooked burger or chicken, brown rice, cottage cheese, and some vegetables thrown in. She east twice a day and normally finishes every bit
I feel lucky that she is still here. When our vet said this was an aggressive cancer and from what I read on the web about canine lymphoma, I assumed she would be at the Rainbow Bridge by Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for this time with her.

To anyone who reads this having lost their friend, know that time does ease the pain. My first dog died 11 years ago this fall and it still hurts and I still miss her, but the wonderful memories far outweigh anything else I could be feeling.
To have this board, and to share with others having gone through similar situations, is a great comfort. Come back often,
to fee and share your feelings with an accepting group of animal lovers. I don't think you will be alone here

Take care,
Paula

Dear Paula,

Thanks so much for your post, though I am sorry you lost Egor and that Greta has not been well. If you can, try to take lots of photos of Greta. I started organizing my pet photos on May 28, when Freyja passed, and realized how few we had. In those weeks, I took several of the cats, and we lost Saki June 19; I am so grateful for those last photos.

Frey also had cancer, tho not an aggressive type (cushings). I don't know what made her go so bad -- if the tumor was pressing on her brain or if she had a stroke or what... Those last few days, the last one especially, were the worst of my life.

Spoil greta while you can. Our surviving cat, 15 and FIV, eats ONLY baby food at this point. It's all she will eat. And we feed her several jars a day. She's so old and small and frail that this year the vet didn't even give her shots when she went in for her annual... sometimes i look at her and I cry...

She's 4.5 lbs. We took her in this summer and that was what she weighed. So then we tried to fatten her up by feeding her several jars of baby food every day. Like 24 ounces of baby food a day. But when we took her in for her annual, she still weighed exactly 4.5 pounds... We worry, but all we can do for now is love her and spoil her...

Try not to feel sad when you read our posts. You're a good person if you feel empathy. But don't feel sad. All of us who post out here are some of the luckiest people on the face of the earth. Even when we cry, we are lucky...