I had to put my dog Emily down on May 6th of this year and the guilt, sadness and sorrow are still so overwhelming. I wonder if I did enough , did I explore all the options or did I put her down too soon .
We were together for 11 great years and when I learned that she was in Kidney failure I still thought that a change in her diet would give me more time with her . WRONG..it was 5 weeks to the day that she was diagnosed and that I had to make the decision to send her to the Rainbow Bridge.
I can still hear her walking thru the kitchen, I still hear her scratching at the door to go out , I even thought that I saw her curled up in her corner of the couch when I went to pet her Tues. morning before going to work.
I still can't bring myself to go back up to the vet's because the last time I was there I carried my dog's lifeless body out .I feel like a part of me died when Emily did.I was with her until the end and then I made the decision to have her cremated.

I miss her and I know that someday we will see each other again at The Rainbow Bridge.
Thank you for creating this site and also for listening.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I lost my 20-year old cat in March '05 and my 13-14 year old cat in Feb. '06. I know about the overwhelming feelings of sorrow, loss, and guilt. With the passing of each of my cats, I felt that part of me died with them. When I lost my second cat this past Feb., I thought about suicide at times. I am single with no children, currently not in a relationship, and my cats were everything to me. My pain was too much to bear on my own, and I sought help from a pet loss support counselor, and from this website. Over time, my pain and guilt have eased, and I know that I am making slow, but forward progress. Please be kind and patient with yourself. In time, you too will begin to recover from this heartbreaking loss. You are not alone in your time of need.

Take care,

Sandy

Hi, I'm so sorry for your loss!!!

It's never easy to make that decision---is it too soon, too late (it never seems to be "just the right time", and it's a natural part of grief to feel guilt over many things.

It sounds as though you handled things as ideally as anybody humanly could.

Try to be gentle with yourself. And yes, you and Emily will be fully reunited. She knows how much you love her. It's natural to grieve, to "heal" and to continue to live, but that love never dies, and you will experience it again.

All the best,

Kathy

Guilt feelings seem to be attached to many people's feelings of sorrow with the burden of having to euthanize a loved one. Most of the time it is misplaced because the person did all that could reasonably be done to prolong life. You have nothing to feel guilty for. We can only do what is humanly possible to medically help a furkid. Some things are beyond our control including rolling back the effects of time. Be good to yourself and know that you did what you could do.

Ken Albin

Hi, Emily's Mom, I am sorrowing together with your sorrow. I have had all the same feelings as thoughts as you have been having, for my dear elderly cat Marmalade who passed on three weeks ago. It is proof that you truly love your dog, that you are having the guilt and regrets and feelings of failure, and that is a part of your grief, and will become less later. I have learned that the best thing to do is do get all the truths from the messages we feel we got, and write down on paper all the truth messages you got from this, and then make a loving commitment to use all this truth for the good, and to use all the truth and wisdom that you got, to help you to grow in wisdom and truth, and help you to do more right and less wrong from now on, so you can do better next time, with both human persons and non-human animal creatures. Use it for the good, to do wiser better loving help from now on. That is one of the ways that you can love you dog now. A few years ago, I had an elderly cat die from kidney failure. I know how it is. I am here for you. Your friend, Maureen