Surviving Pet Loss

[Suzie Johnson]

My thoughts are with all of you that have lost your little pup. </3

[lsiddell]

I lost my Prissy this morning. I have known it was coming and I've tried to prepare myself but the grief I feel is devastating. I'm so lucky to have three more that I love immensely but she was my first Yorkie and my baby. I will miss her so much. Thank you for the help and tips how to handle the grief.

[dawz1026]

Originally Posted by ErniesDad

AMother’s Unconditional Love…….for Her Yorkie Son “Ernie”

I want to tell you about my wife Anna’s care of our agingYorkshire Terrier Ernie. But first, you must understand that Ernie was MYdog. He loved his Daddy. If I was in the pool he was a nervous wreck, following me around the pool deck wherever I swam, barking the whole time. My wife and kids would feign drowning, but his eyes were always locked on me. I was the guy who walked him and roughhoused with him and he loved it.

About a year and a half ago our 15 year old Ernie, had a 2:00 AM “episode” where he jumped off our bed and was running, crying and shooting his rear right leg straight back as he ran. This went on for about two hours and we initially thought it might be a skeletal issue, like when Yorkie knees go out of socket. My wife Anna and my daughter Jennifer were able to soothe him to sleep and when he got up in the morning he seemed OK.

That morning, we called the vet, explained what happened and she asked us how he was doing now. We said he seemed OK and she advised us to just watch him and let her know if it happens again. Over the next six months we noticed Ernie was losing his hearing and eyesight and was beginning to show signs of cognitive dysfunction. Nothing unusual for a 16year old dog we thought. He would walk in a circle from kitchen to dining room, living room, hallway and back to the kitchen. He could do this for hours, if we let him.

About 6 months ago, he had another “episode” of running and kicking his leg backwards, and the vet then told us that the first episode may have been some type of brain injury. We had Ernie checked; blood, urine, skeletal and heart. Everything seemed OK.

Fast forward a few months. Ernie could no longer jump off our bed and our bed was the ONLY place he would sleep. If he awoke from sleep and sat up he would shake his head and jingled his tags. When we heard this, we hadabout 5 seconds to get him off the bed and onto a pee pad or he wet his blankets. He awoke on average three times a night. I got pretty good at crawling on my hands and knees and moving the pee pad to wherever he was circling until he decided to go. He still ate and drank normally, but lost his ability to go outside to do his business. Whereas before he circled through three rooms, he now circled in tight 2 foot circles.

Here is how my wife Anna and the rest of the family cared for our aging son/brother. We blocked the top of the stairs with a 6 inch high plank so that Ernie would not fall down the stairs. Everyone in the family got use to stepping over the plank to go upstairs or downstairs. We would never leave Ernie alone. One of us always had to be home with him. Our daughter Jennifer or son Michael would sometimes come over to give us a break and babysit Ernie.The peeing on the bed? No problem. Anna bought a waterproof mattress pad. Ernie loved to sleep cuddled in this one bedspread, but with the peeing issue, that was a problem. Anna cut the bedspread in half. She would bunch it up and place him comfortably on it. The other half of the bedspread was always washed and ready in case he had an accident. During the day, as he slept, she covered the bed with pee pads in case we did not hear him awake. Before she came up with this solution, she would sometimes be washing the bedding two or three times a day. With this solution, she would need to wash the bedding maybe once every other day. Since his eyesight was poor and he could no longer get off the bed himself, but sometimes fell off, she surrounded the bed with throw pillows and blankets so that if he fell off he would not be hurt. When he would wake up during the night, his routine was pee, drink some water and get put back on the bed and go to sleep. Other times, he would begin howling and circling on the bed refusing to lie down. My wife would interpret this as “he is hungry”, so at 3:30 in the morning she would be in the kitchen warming up chicken in the microwave or frying a cheese steak. She would sit on the floor in the bedroom, and hand feed him and then put him back to bed. Ernie would then sleep.

We asked our new vet if there was something we could give him for his restlessness/pacing and he said we could tryXanex. At first this seemed to work, but not really. We then tried Valium with much the same result, so we stopped giving Ernie either of these. We then tried Anypril, which based on our reading, may have helped him when the original episode occurred, but at this stage it did not.

On April 6, 2014, Ernie had his worst episode. It was our son Alan’s 39th birthday so the whole family was over and we heard howling from the bedroom. Ernie was crying out in pain, howling and kicking that right rear leg out again. He was inconsolable. Once again, I don’t know how she did it but after acouple of hours Anna got him to sleep. He awoke again at 2:00 AM with the same symptoms. Anna and our daughter Jennifer consoled him and eventually fed him a meatball from our son’s favorite birthday dinner! He went to sleep! At 6:00 AM he awoke and we knew it wast ime. We called the vet and asked if he could see Ernie and put him down, as he could no longer live like this.


The vet was so loving and understanding of the significance of our decision. He took Ernie and inserted an IV for the sedative and the final shot and brought him to us wrapped in a rose colored blanket. We each got to hold him and get a last kiss. The vet told us to take as much time as we needed. When we were ready, he asked us if we wanted him to take Ernie in the back to administer the final shot. Anna insisted on holding him as it was administered. Ernie went to sleep and we all cried, just as I am crying as I write this. Ernie’s life was a full 16 years 7 months long.

I always knew I had a wonderful, loving wife, but after seeing her tirelessly and patiently caring for our frail, aging Ernie all these months, I love and respect her more than ever.

Me and Ernie ….. two very lucky guys.

Ernie’s Dad

I feel like I just read my own story. My Rex was put down Sat 3am His final episode had him spinning in circles so fast and collapsing and urinating on himself. I knew it was time..13 yrs 9mos not long enough..xo

[dawz1026]

I want to say thank you as well. Having read every symptom of when you know its time helped me greatly.As my boy had every one.Pain is so great right now and being on here is my greatest help..

[Lil Sis]

Thank you for this thread. I needed this. <3

[dawz1026]

I start on Sunday..has anyone tried this?

[fauna]

Thanks for this very helpful tips

[Rileymom]

Thank you so much for this exceptional set of essays on dealing with the loss of a pet. I think you must have also experienced this grief in order to be so accurately empathetic. Our little Yorkies are blessings, true gifts from God, and He has helped me greatly dealing with my grief. I pray others grieving will give Him the chance to rely on and receive His comfort too.

[Yorkie Mom2]

Porsche, my 13 year old Yorkie, remains behind after having Bentley as her "brother" for over 10 years. She never cuddled him, nor him her. Yet, now that he has passed, she is showing some of the same signs of dementia that he had shown before he died. The most significant is that she gets us up in the middle of the night to come downstairs to sleep in her own bed. Since she sleeps with us, she whines or cries until one of us gets up to take her downstairs. Do you think this is grief or just being spoiled? My husband is the one coming downstairs with her. He is having a very hard time sleeping. What do you think?

[mizzwanned]

I just saw this and thank you for it. I lost my precious Sophie in 2009 and London in 2014. They were both my first yorkie girls and they were 3 months apart. I am crying as I type this because it brings it all back when it happened. I was absolutely crushed when Sophie died because she was only 2 and she was sooo attached to me. She was scared and shy when she first came to me and blossomed. She became more confident and less scared. Of course I had to be around lol They were attached as well, played together(being the same size), and fought as well. They looked for each other and when Sophie died London was depressed. She looked every where for her. I did let her smell her body when she died so that she knew but she still looked around for her, and lay down to sleep when she couldn't find her. London passed at 7 years old from the dreaded cancer. She had a tumor in her colon that went undetected for months by various trips to the vet. They said she only had a small infection until it was too late. Even when her lymph node was swollen which is a huge giveaway and she lost weight, throwing up etc. I didn't know as I never had a pet with cancer. It was too late and we had to put her down-tumor had burst. She was going to die in a day if we didn't and she was finding places to hide to die as dogs do(I read). I couldn't bear it and we spared her that last day of pain. My little babies. Time heals wounds but I still cry when I think about them. And I hope that they both knew how much I love them. Teddy is 3 months older than them, he was my first and he is now almost 11. He has health issues here and there and I will be devastated when he passes. He was their big older brother that they loved to bother. I have had dreams of them like they never left and I truly believe I will see them again in my after life. I don't believe they just die and disappear forever. They are keeping God company Lucky him and lucky them . Anyway thank you <3

[Jasminesmom]

This was really good for me to read. Jasmine is fading but doesn't seem to be in any pain. We are watching her closely, letting her eat whatever she wants...and enjoying these last few moments we have with her. I am not ready but I refuse to let her suffer for me. I hope we take the appropriate action when the time comes.

[amberw725]

I am glad to have come across this thread. I lost my baby 2 weeks ago on New Years Day.

I keep thinking 'time heals all wounds', but every day is the same... I wake up and feel OK and try to go about my day. But as the day progresses I think about him and get so incredibly sad that he isn't with me. I try to focus on happy memories or look at pictures of him being silly, but it only makes me long for him more and miss him and wish he were with me.

I have a hard time sleeping at night because I replay his last day in my head. I think of the time we spent together and how much I hope he felt the love I had for him.

I am struggling so terribly, and all I want is a day without tears.

[sandy simpson]

God bless you Wylie mom for posting that beautiful message. You have sent comfort to a lot of hurting hearts. It is better to have loved a sweet dog than never to have known that strong bond of love a dog and a person can have. Grief is a heartbreaking experience but with your words of wisdom I pray that peace and acceptance will come.
I work with hospice patients and I have a corner where I have pictures of dear ones who have passed. Also my dogs pictures are there. I keep bible scriptures and little messages that are special.
When tomorrow starts without me try to understand, an angel came and called my name and took me by my hand. (Or paw)

Those we love don't go away, they walk beside us everyday. Unseen, unheard, but always near. So loved, so missed, so very dear!

[keelysantino]

I am so blessed to have found this website. I have two yorkies 13yrs and 15yrs old. We adopted them when they were 3 & 5. These angels are our family's first dogs. Our 15 year old, Trojan is suffering and we are about to have him put down. I am just devastated. I didn't expect to be in this much pain. I spend all day with them as I am a stay at home Mom. I bring them everywhere with me. We travel with them and rarely ever leave them alone. My 13 year old girl Chanel has been so sad/confused as to why I am giving so much attention to Trojan and that makes it difficult as well. It really helps to read about ways to deal with the loss. I know I will be on this site a lot now that I have found it. Thank you so much. xx

[nanajoy]

Originally Posted by keelysantino

I am so blessed to have found this website. I have two yorkies 13yrs and 15yrs old. We adopted them when they were 3 & 5. These angels are our family's first dogs. Our 15 year old, Trojan is suffering and we are about to have him put down. I am just devastated. I didn't expect to be in this much pain. I spend all day with them as I am a stay at home Mom. I bring them everywhere with me. We travel with them and rarely ever leave them alone. My 13 year old girl Chanel has been so sad/confused as to why I am giving so much attention to Trojan and that makes it difficult as well. It really helps to read about ways to deal with the loss. I know I will be on this site a lot now that I have found it. Thank you so much. xx

Unfortunately, most of us have had to deal with the reality that our beloved little ones leave us too soon. I am currently living with the fact that our little poodle, Beau, is reaching that point at age 13. We had a hospitalization two weeks ago, and he is still recovering...his two much younger brothers are making it clear that they are not happy with all of the extra attention he is receiving. The only advice that I can offer is to try to enjoy the time your beloved companions have left, and try to build upon the loving memories that you will have to treasure when their time comes to cross the rainbow bridge. As bittersweet as their final days are, consider every single day a blessing, and a chance to celebrate the love you have to share. Welcome to YorkieTalk!