13 days ago, I lost Mocha. Today, we lost Montana. I remember very vividly, 7 years ago, walking into the vet's office and being asked if I knew anyone that wanted a Golden Retriever. At the time, my husband and I had Belle and had gotten to know the vet pretty well. I took look one look at that little 9 week old fluff ball boy the vet tech had named Montana and fell in love. We lived in an apartment at the time and I knew we could not take Montana. I begged my parents to get him. After much debate, I talked them into it, although they were a bit hesitant. I brought him back home to them and of course they fell in love with him too. For the last 7 years, he has been glued to my dad's side. We used to come to my parents' home almost every weekend with Belle and Mocha, so they all grew up together.

Montana was the 100 lb lap dog type. He always wanted you to hold his hand. Over the last year or so, he has had a couple mild siezures. The vet didn't put him on any antiseizure medication because he said they were not severe or frequent enough to require meds. On the 4th of July, Montana had what my mom thought was a bad seizure. My dad was gone on a trip, but left to come home right away when he spoke to mom and found out Montana was sick. They took him into the vet on the 5th and the vet thought it may have been some type of nerve malfunction because Montana was still staggering a bit...i guess it almost looked like he was drunk. The vet said that he thought Montana would pull out of it and that it wasn't permanent. By yesterday, he was still the same and dad took him back to the vet. They wanted to keep him overnight and run some more blood work this morning. The vet called this morning to say that when they were taking Montana out to draw blood this morning..he had another seizure. They recommended my parents take him to the specialty hospital to determine the cause as they did not have the means there. Mom and dad took him out there and were told that he had a brain tumor. They wanted to keep him the weekend and run some more tests to be sure but my parents didn't want to leave him for the weekend. They were told that the tests were going to cost about $2000 and these were only the tests to confirm the tumor. The vet said that prognosis was not good. They made the choice to bring him home and keep him comfortable for as long as they could. They were not home 20 minutes when Montana began seizing again...and really bad this time. After it was over, he couldn't stand up...it was like he was paralyzed. He wanted to be near at least one of us for comfort..he was trying to scoot closer if we got more than a foot away. We all took turns holding him and comforting him as much as possible. He tried to drink water but didn't have any control of his tongue. We all took Montana to the vet and said goodbye.

I am at a loss as to how to deal with losing Montana while Mocha's death is still so fresh. Even though Montana came into the family after I had moved away from home, he was still so special to me. Heck, I "found" him for my parents! I am just still in absolute shock right now.

I am so sorry for your loss.
What a great life you gave to him when he could have ended up abused or in a shelter.
I am sure it was 8 wonderful years and knowing you all got to be with him and say goodbye was the way he would have wanted it.
I hope time heals you soon.
again I'm sorry.

How devastating for you. I'm so sorry this happened. That is a lot of loss to take at one time. Wow. Losing those that we love is the hardest part of life. I've got one cat left after I lost Chestnut and I think about her because she is 14 and already had a mild seizure or stroke. Sometimes you wonder if our animals choose their timing. My Chestnut had cancer and he died a few days before close of escrow. He may have sensed the impending move and made a decision to go. There is so much to this life and afterlife that we don't know. Mocha and Montana are together at the Rainbow Bridge and waiting for you to eventually meet up with them again. They'll be happy to wait forever, because in eternity, time means nothing. To us, every day is like a year when we are grieving. It does get better and this is such a great website. Crying, talking and writing are helping me get through the grief. But it will be awhile before I can think of Chestnut and just smile. Right now, I have such a hole in my heart that I'm not there yet. But time heals and we'll be ready to love again. The first few days after the loss of Chestnut, I was convinced that I would never be able to love that way again, but I know that is just grief talking. Take good care of yourself and keep posting.

Chestnut's mommy (Catherine)

I am so sorry for your sad loss. My dog Max died on November 11, 2004 and my husband took in a foster dog only a month later on Christmas. I wasn't ready for a dog but this dog (Sal) was the oldest, sickest dog I'd ever seen. Rickety, almost hairless, deaf, .... I'll spare you all the details. Well, we kept Sal and he got better and had a great year with us. But in January he suddenly got sick. He was at the vet nearly every other week and I took him to a neurologist the day before I had to put him down. The specialist said Sal was in good shape and there was nothing further I could do to help him. The next day was Sal's last -- he was in pain from an unrelated issue and I had to say goodbye.

This experience with Sal taught me that there is not necessarily a right decision when it comes to medical care for your dog. I put poor Sal through several hours of uncomfortable car travel to try to help him and it probably added to his other problems. My vet advised this even though I protested, but I deferred to her superior knowledge and didn't trust my heart.

None of us can extend our loved ones lives no matter how hard we try or how much medical care we give them. We can only try to make them comfortable.

It's terribly hard and I grieve for you and your family. But I'm glad you had good times together that you will always hold in your heart. And I believe in the Rainbow Bridge and that both my loves will be there for me again, and so will yours. Hang in there, Karen

Jaime, I am so sorry to hear that you have lost another beloved pet. I know you were trying to be so strong since you lost Mocha. Well, if you believe in Rainbow Bridge, and we all have to, then Mocha and Montana are together. Take comfort in that. Take care and hang in there. Life is just not fair sometimes.