Murphy died

[troopersmommy]

Hi Dianne. Just wanted to say I hope y'all are doing okay. How's Smithers? Has he adjusted to being without Murphy?

[Dianne]

Hi Troopersmommy,

We're doing fine.

Eighteen years is a long time to have a pet, but I recognized that we were on borrowed time with his squamous cell carcinoma of the pink nose leather and the CHF. He was diabetic a few years ago but had since lost weight and gone off glipizide. At one point he stopped eating and I got a case of AD and spent a lot of time talking to him. He'd rebounded for a few weeks, but then died suddenly. The vet thinks he may have "thrown" a clot.

Our attention has now turned to our seizure pup. It may sound heartless, but you care for the living and let the dying go on. We love them while we have them, but then return them when they die.

Thanks for asking.

Dianne

[critters]

Our attention has now turned to our seizure pup. It may sound heartless, but you care for the living and let the dying go on. We love them while we have them, but then return them when they die.

Thanks for asking.

Dianne

Not heartless at all, in my opinion. I tend to do the same thing; I can't, after all, do anything else for the one that's died, but the others are here to be considered.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

The ones that need us are the ones that keep us going. I can't tell you. When all I wanted to do was curl up on the couch and stop, just stop, my dogs needed to be fed, pottied, stuck their cold wet noses in my tearfilled face. Their needs focused me back on breathing in and out and caring for them. The ones that are alive keep us alive as well. I owe my existence to my critters (sorry critters).

[troopersmommy]

Oh, I know the feeling oh so well.

For a while, I actually thought that I had gotten used to it - you know, the dying. But I know that's absurd. I mean, how could anyone ever get used to death!? Instead, like so many of you, I realized that I just don't have the time to grieve like I did in the beginning (when I only had a few to take care of). You're so right Dianne when you say that once they die we have to "let them go" to focus on the living, especially when the living may be the next one dying. I guess in an odd way, it is a blessing. Because just when you think "no more...I just can't do this any more"...and the grief is threatening to shut you down, God provides us with an escape. It appears - unsolicited, but not to be ignored - in the form of a nudge, a lick, a meow, or as Karen says cold wet noses in my tearfilled face. And then it becomes our life...again.