This has been incredibly hard for me and I don’t even know where to begin. The first thing I asked myself was, “How do you move on? What am I going to do?” The truth is that as much as I think about things, I have no solid answer for it. As pet owners, our job is to raise our precious animals, care for them, and love them as if they were our children or our little brothers and sisters. The hard part is when it’s time to let them go. This is so hard to do for many people who feel like their pet is part of their family.
You pack up the toys, the sweaters, their beds. You donate their medications, their food, their treats, their bowls. And then you’re sad and your heart hurts and you have no idea what’s next. There’s this understanding that you gave them the best life you possibly could. However, you realize that they have made a significant impact in your life. There’s this feeling of being lost after they’re gone. How do you move on from it?
How Do You Move On?
I have no answer for this. My dog was sick for a year and a half, but I don’t think the gravity of the situation was ever fully explained to me. He always seemed so happy, not like a sick puppy. Everyone who came into contact with him loved him so you could imagine how much he meant to my family.
However, he got really sick 6 months ago but he pulled through and he seemed to be doing better. He’d eat anything you gave him and was always looking for seconds. We’d call him a little crumb snatcher. But this past Sunday night, he couldn’t sleep and he had problems breathing. We took him to the hospital thinking that this was just another episode, and he’ll get better again, and we’ll take him home.
Sunday night they told us that we’d maybe have 4 more months left with him and I took that. That was 4 more months to prepare and 4 more months to have him. However, when Monday afternoon came around and we still couldn’t take him home, I became worried. And by Monday evening, my mom and I had to make the incredibly difficult decision to let him go.
We got to see him and say goodbye and my poor puppy was so sick. I asked him if he could stay a little bit longer with us, and I begged God to let us keep him. What could I do to try to keep him alive as long as possible? But he was so tired of fighting and you could see it in his eyes. It wouldn’t have been fair to him. So, how do you move on? How do you move on to this new life without your beloved pet?
I don’t know what’s next
What do I do now? I had 10 years with my sweet baby. He’s been my little sidekick through middle school, high school, university, and this post grad life. I’ll miss cuddling with him, or him sitting by my side, or him getting excited to go outside. It’s hard letting a dog go, or any animal for that fact. This experience has taught me that life could change so fast and any one of us, whether it be a human or a pet, could be gone in the blink of an eye. So, hug your pet, your family, your friend that you love because I would do anything to hug my puppy one last time.
I had a few posts drafted and some more ideas for the week, but I think I’m going to take the week off. Check out www.girlingamba.com for past posts or follow me on Bloglovin for instant updates.
-GG
Loosing a pet is really hard. Especially when you grew up with him/her. I have lost two of my cats and I could not remember how I moved on. It just happened and life went on. I think there is no right way to do it. xx corinne