having a pretty crappy day at work. been a hard month. a co worker has a pup that she just realised has kidney failure. she was told to change her food to a k/d science diet to help her. i mentioned the recalls and such just to make sure that one wasnt on it.
she was the one that originally started the conversation about her pups health. what she told me was the dr said one of the pups kidneys dont work properly.. maybe in the first stages of kindney failure..so i ask are you going to change her food? she says...
" oh i shouldnt talk to you about this.. cause you cant make the seperation between your animals and family members...where i can.. i love my dog to death but shes a dog..not a member of the family..".

this hurts more than anyone can understand, as tears stream down my face right now.. i cant beleive that someone would not consider their animal a memebr of their family... and she knows just how much my girls meant to me and how much my dogs are members of my family...it just hurts.. and i hate it!!!! i want to jump on top of a mountian and scream.... you dont know the love your missing!!!!!
thanks for listening..i know i cant make the whole world love their furbabies they way i loved mine...but how can one person say something so insensitive knowing how i felt about my girls? i want to crawl under a rock right now i am so sad...

Sickening!....just sickening!

Does this woman not even realize she doesn't even know what love means??? You don't 'love' someone and in the same breath discount their worth!! So many people are just total idiots!

I'm so sorry you were subjected to such rubbish, and especially at work, where you can't just bust into tears w/o worrying about being seen and heard. Garbage like that makes me want to scream at this world, too. People's insensitivity seems to know no bounds and sometimes it's almost as if when we're grieving and at our lowest and most vulnerable, they're drawn to us like magnets, ready and willing to dump iron shavings all over us! It can be such a cold and heartless world when we're already hurting to capacity.

Oh I'm so sorry this happened to you. A lot of people just don't understand. There isn't much you can do. I agree with FK's Mom that people are "total idiots".

I think it may come from the fact that they see love as a commodity, that you only have so much of it and you can somehow 'run out'. Love isn't like that, there is no lack of love. I think the people here know that. The more you love, the more love you have.

If it were me I'd think of how much SHE is missing by withholding love. I'd stop being upset and just be sorry for her. You are very special for loving the lives in your care so much, and getting that love back.

Edit: I wanted to say this but forgot. My Sister lost her husband 3 years before my Butch kitty passed. I spent so much time with her, helping her, being there for her. My world fell apart when my Butch died, and she said, "he was just a cat". I was not only hurt but felt very betrayed. We don't talk much anymore. They will just never 'get it'.

Love

I would tell that anyone who shows this kind of insensitivy : Though to you it's just a cat, to me it's a member of the family, but that's okay cause my cat doesn't think much of people like you either.

That is horrible! I can't believe people are so callous about their pets. I guess I never realized until I lost Misty how little people think of pets. But they are important, to us. Don't mind waht that woman said, your cats were important to YOU and that's all that matters!!!!

Hugs, Amy

This might sound a little mean.... Will she still be singing that same tune if her dog dies? Oh yeah! I said it!! Who else here wasn't thinking it?
Not that I would wish anything bad on anyone... I'm just saying...

I confess!
I was thinking that too and it feels darn good to come right out and say it!!!!

Dear Michelle....try not to lose heart over an idiot and a fool....I really have never heard such a terrible thing said especially since you are obviously going through grief, how heartless and sad....we understand. My world is cold and bleak without dog/cat/companion love right now....Take Care,

thank you all for your kind words. i had today off and i sat around crying, feeling a little better that i released it all out.

v-angel and toonie..yeah i was thinking the same thing!! she will be singing a different tune if that happens..she had even made a comment about her mother and her dying..only led me to know that she does not have an over abundance of love in her heart..

i know i shouldnt take her comments to heart..but i was just so shocked and dismayed by her comments. it really hurt you know?
im so glad i have this place to go to where people care and understand and love their babies like i do.

yesterday was my anniversary married 11 years been together for 15. it was my first without my girls. the first time they were not here to see us make it to another year together..i really thought this pain was sort of away from me..but now its back and for some reason or another it hurts more. i dunno why..the 3rd was 7 months and the 10th will be 5 months for my girls..i miss them so much..

my buddy thank you i am trying not to take it to heart...
amy thank you also..i am trying to put her comments out of my head...they just keep sneaking back in there..sometimes i over &%^ize things..i gotta stop doing that..
moosemom and fk..i agree also people like that are idiots..thank you for making me feel better..

Michelle,

I'm jumping in late here....I'm so sorry that you were on the receiving end of such an insensitive comment.

As Moose's Mom said, I actually feel sorry for people that will never know that kind of love. They are missing out on a way to connect with a part of our world. I have reached the point of silently shaking my head when it comes to folks like your co-worker. You won't change her mind, most likely, but you can rest assured that your life has been filled with love b/c you DO see pets as part of your family. What is the point of inviting an animal into your life if you don't treat them as a family member?

Anyway, I'm sorry you had to hear that from her. Please take care.

Warmly,
Gretchen and Bob's mommy.

Hi, Michelle

Some people could certainly use an 'edit' chip in their brains before they open their mouths sometimes. And some people just don't fully appreciate the inconditional love given by their pets until it's gone. These people are to be pitied.

Just wondering, too...she might not feel badly for saying that, but sometimes people can say perfectly insensitive if not rotten things and then feel horrible, but they don't apologize because they don't even want to bring it up again. It's not a good excuse, but I think that's the reason sometimes that people don't apologize when they know in their hearts they should.

A few months ago, a co-worker of mine had to have her dog, Lacy, put to sleep, and she was devastated. That was one horrible week around the office, let me tell you. She's usually so funny and upbeat, but that week...almost total silence. A little better every day, but oh my gosh, it was awful, and we felt terrible for her. But another co-worker (who did really feel terrible for her) said something that came out sounding insensitive, and later on she told me how bad she felt that she'd said this thing, she just felt horrible, but she said nothing more about it to the bereaved co-worker because she was just so embarrassed. Again, no excuse, but it happens -- we've probably all been in that position.

So, cutting your co-worker some slack, maybe she really doesn't get. But maybe she does, and could just bite her tongue out (too late, as the case may be!)

I'm so sorry it made such a bad day for you. I hope you feel better soon, knowing you're not alone in how you love your animals!!

--Michelle K. (Lucy's mom)

I have only one response to people that are that insensitive and ignorant, "She/He was so much more than a pet, she/he was Love; the Love that kept my heart from shriveling up and closing itself off like yours seems to have done". Though in a way I do feel sorry for her because until we've truly loved selflessly we have not even begun to live. Love is why we're all here, period. Everything revolves around Love, which I feel is actually God. Without Love, our existence is absolutely meaningless. Animals bring us back into touch with that, reminding us that we are never alone, and that our feeling of separateness is only an illusion.

My heart goes out to for your incredible losses. There are more people that believe in Love than do not. Try to remember that, and try to cast off the hurt that her ignorance has caused.

Much Love,

Jenn (Chaos' Mom).