I am 48 and never had a dog until my girlfriend adopted a shelter dog named Kito. He was a all white muskie/Shepard/chow mix. This was 1997 and on his cage at the shelter it read "will be huge" and nippy".
Most puppys are nippy and talk about a bad review to get adopted. I wasn't their when she adopted him but as we got married we were inseparable. (me and the dog of course!) Walking 1000's of miles in parks all over the area.

We moved to rural wisconsin from Rockford Ill and he loved the winters being a big snow dog.We walked even more up in the pristine north woods. At the time I would think to myself "Theres NOTHING in the world that I would rather be doing , than being with him in the woods"

We moved to SW Mo which he hated because of the heat but we made sure the air was always on, for him mostly.

The day came that I have always dreaded the 8th. We had to put him down at 12 1/2 years old. I have never had kids and since I moved from home I know no one. So I lost my kid and my best friend.

We have 9 cats we rescued and another dog we found in Kansas, a stray, but he was my snow bear..

He got pneumonia and anti biotics didn't work and he could not walk at all. He was miserable and this is the worst day of my life. I have a chronic liver condition and I'm afraid this stress and grief is effecting my health...feel physically awful... I don't know how many years I have left but I would have gladly gave half of what I do have just to be with him....

Thank you for listening,,, I miss you Kito..so much..

He was beautiful

I am so sorry you lost your Kito. It is so hard to lose them! Like you said, he was your best friend AND your kid, I can soooooooooo relate to feeling like that! It's a special combination reserved only for our pets which makes it doubley hard to lose them.

You'll need a photo editor to make your pics small enough.

Holmeed, I am so sorry for your loss. I went to your profile to see Kito's picture. He was beautiful! Thank you for posting your story. I lost my baby 2 weeks ago today and I can tell you that while you are feeling worse than ever right now, it does ease up to the point of letting you function. I don't know how much your physical illness is effecting the way you are feeling but I know that I was stunned at how physically ill I felt in the first few days of losing my Frasier.
Grief IS a physical thing! I am so sorry you are experiencing this. Please keep posting. I don't know how to tell you to post a picture because I have trouble myself.
Take care of yourself.

good to see you made it in. here is a site where you can resize your photogs: http://www.resize2mail.com/ try to keep the size no larger than 640x480 and under 300k. if you need help, send me the photo and i will provide you with a link you can use to display it.

Dear Holmeed
I am thinking of you during this sad & awful time.
What a beautiful dog.
I lost my Buddy in June this year he was 14yrs & I was suprised by how physically I felt his loss. I don't think my body has fully recovered yet!!!!! Be kind to yourself, you are going thru a very stressful time & even if your health was at 100% you would feel like cr**p so having your condition will magnify everything.....go gently & as I always say...........BREATHE OUT!!!!!!!!!! then breathe in...........& out again.............I had to remind myself to do this, seriously...........Come & share with us here we hve all experienced the loss of often the "love of our lives".....
You are in my thoughts & prayers.
{{{HUGS}}}
elaine

Dear Holmeed,
-
I know just what you mean when you say "I have lost a kid and my best friend". That's exactly right. It's even harder when you have to make that terrible decision at the end. Even though you know it's right, it feels so wrong and hurts so much. I would give anything to have my Abbey girl back - just to hold her and smile back into her sweet eyes and thoroughly enjoy her company just for one more day. Although I lost her in January, the pain still cuts incredibly deep, and I feel like my heart is being held together by tattered bandaids. The only solace I can find is in knowing that I gave her a great home and all the love she could ever want or need, and she lived well and we had an incredible amount of fun and good adventures. We both brought complete contentment to one another. I know you felt the same bond with Kito. Let yourself fully grieve, but take care of yourself, too. You were blessed with a very special gift. He will forever live on in your heart. I wish you strength during the saddest days, and the enduring comfort of always remembering and cherishing Kito's special presence in your life.

I am so sorry for your loss. Kito was a beatiful boy, so pretty. You have to remembr that you gave him a wonderful life and I'm sure Kito would want you to be happy. I know it hurts terrible right now but it gets a little easier everyday, you are in my prayers.

Thanks everyone .. When I see one of you write "he WAS a beautiful dog" It hits home....he's gone.. as its been only 3 days.. Was........I am lost with out him..

Thanks so much...

Now one our favorite cats Franky is missing... it all piles on at once doesn't it?

He has never been gone in 4 years this long, I'm afraid we lost him too...

Holmeed, I hope your cat returns home. I am so sorry! I know exactly what you mean about the "WAS" part. I will always say that I LOVE Frasier and not that I LOVED him. When we speak in the past tense it makes it so real all over again.
I do hope your cat comes home. I pray that he will.
-Donna

I am so sorry to hear that your cat is missing! A little while after Eileen died, a stray cat showed up at our door and we adopted her. Well, three months later, she went missing. We never did find out what happened to her. It was a very difficult time. I hope your kitty comes home.

Magdalene

Frankie is still gone I'm afraid for good, we lost him a day after Kito... we live outside city on 5 acres perfect for animals. No coyotes anything down here... don't know what happened to him..more misery.
Like I said never had kids so these are mine...

Missouri has been nothing but a heartache. From losing $$ on house to losing 3 animals in 2 years. We are moving and I can't wait to get the hell out of this state...
The worst part is not knowing what happened to to Frankie.. I search and search the woods around here. nothing...
Thanks ...

PS Its different too for people like me that have not worked in 5 years.. I am with my animals morning, noon and night. Not just a pat on the head and off to work then get home another pat and then family time...
ALL THE TIME.. Its makes it that much harder IMO.. Its all about TIME together..

Thinking of you holmeed.
Your are right, it does all seem to happen @ once....
elaine