Some people think it is ridiculous...

gottabemore2life

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...but I work at an animal clinic and see it every day. Some pets become so much a part of the family that when they pass it on, it is extremely difficult for some people to deal with.

I know I was very broken up when my parents put my dog to sleep (mostly because they didn't tell me until 3 days after they did it, I thought she was just at the vet!). I had that dog for most of my childhood though and I loved her. She was always there.

Animals have personality, they give affection and assurance and love... When people think it's stupid that people cry over animals dying, I just get really sad for them... because they obviously never had that connection.

On the other hand... it's hard to see how some people can become so connected to an animal... A lady came in the other day and had shut her parrot in the door :(... Shortly after they went into the exam room I heard a blood curdling scream... The parrot had died, and this lady went ballistic. I thought it was a bit eccentric, and it was really hard for me to understand how someone could get so connected to a bird... something that can't really show affection or lay at your feet, or follow you around the house... but... to each his own I guess.

Have you ever had a pet die and felt part of yourself die with it? I feel like when my dog died it was part of my childhood too...
 
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Spicy McHaggis

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I understand why and how people get attached, but my buddy and I were talking about this, and how for some people, the pets satiate their desire for children, and that, imo, is inherrantly sad.

He summed it up with "yeah, your dog is happy to see you but don't kid yourself, if you die in your home and no one comes to check on you, eventually the dog will eat you because you're it's only food source. That's not love."
 
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Tinkerbell33

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I understand why and how people get attached, but my buddy and I were talking about this, and how for some people, the pets satiate their desire for children, and that, imo, is inherrantly sad.

He summed it up with "yeah, your dog is happy to see you but don't kid yourself, if you die in your home and no one comes to check on you, eventually the dog will eat you because you're it's only food source. That's not love."
I wouldn't mind if I was in that situation, well if the dog doesn't have any food it would need to do that so that it can survive.
 
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Spicy McHaggis

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I wouldn't mind if I was in that situation, well if the dog doesn't have any food it would need to do that so that it can survive.


the statement has nothing to do with wether or not you mind, it illustrates that the dog doesn't "love" you back.
 
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justanobserver

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When I was a teen, I had this mongrel dog named Kimmie that I raised from a pup and I loved her. She was kept at my folk;s home while i was gone in the service.

Later after I came home from the Marines, She had gotten bad sick and the Vet said she needed to put to sleep.

I took her to the clinic, stroked her fur as they inserted the needle, talked lovingly as she closed her eyes (oh heck, am getting misty as I type this!) and then she was gone.

I wrapped her in her favorite blanket, took her to my folks home back then, buried her deep in this one part of the back property where she loved to lay in the sun.

I cried like a baby and aint ashamed to say it. that was back in '78 and I still remember it like it was yesterday.
 
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twebcheater

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the dog i had from when i was a small child through my early teens i was really attached to. In the end, I knew he was going to be put to sleep (he did bite my lil brother after all) but it was supposed to happen a day later than it did, and i went in there expecting to tell him goodbye and never got the chance. I laid out near where we had kept the dog and cried a little for a couple hours that night. I had a cat once that i found froze to death one morning... that was really hard ... it was a cat that behaved much like dogs do... it would come when i called it, it would follow me around etc. Good cat.

Other pets ive had i never really got too attached to. Like the fish, never got too attached to them, even though i did like having them around to look at.
 
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ido

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I had a miniature schnauzer for 8 1/2 years. I got her when I was 20 and spoiled her rotten. She was a great guard dog, very protective of me, and very affectionate. She was diagnosed with congestive heart failure at 8 1/2 - a result of being on prednisone most of her life for skin problems. I was devestated. My vet put her on some meds to try and ease the symptoms, but she got progressively worse and then began having seizures.

The day I took her in to be put down was a miserable day for me. My vet at the time also happened to be a good friend of mine. I was bawling as he explained everything to me and after he put her down, he hugged me 3 times and kept telling me it would be ok. He even sent me a sympathy card b/c he knew how much I loved that dog. :sorry:

But, as difficult as it was, I also reached a point in the process where I acknowledged that as attached as I was to Roxy, she was a dog - not a human - and I could not afford to try and prolong her life with meds and expensive vet bills. (Initial diagnosis cost me $500+ at an emergency vet clinic) Besides the fact that prolonging her life would have been a selfish choice on my part - she had too much fluid in her lungs to have any quality of life.

I love the dog we have now, too. But, as much of a part of the family as she is - she is still just a dog.
 
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Spicy McHaggis

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Well desperate times call for desperate measures....


I personally will never become desperate enough to eat the people I love.

And I use that as a barometer with chicks. Once I can look at her and know, deep down in my soul, that I wouldn't eat her dead body if I was locked in a room with it, it's time to stop stalking and actually ask her out.
 
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Tink

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I personally will never become desperate enough to eat the people I love.

And I use that as a barometer with chicks. Once I can look at her and know, deep down in my soul, that I wouldn't eat her dead body if I was locked in a room with it, it's time to stop stalking and actually ask her out.


lolz

and btw

u sux 4 backin' out of the Big Loser leading thing.

mmkay.

EDIT: to be on topic, I would like to say: I love my dog. A lot. I'll be sad when he dies, but not like I would if a person died.
 
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Spicy McHaggis

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lolz

and btw

u sux 4 backin' out of the Big Loser leading thing.

mmkay.

EDIT: to be on topic, I would like to say: I love my dog. A lot. I'll be sad when he dies, but not like I would if a person died.

I wouldn't be able to follow through on any commitment.

I'll be a cheerleader and a source of info/help, I just don't think I'd be a good lead at this time, too much of the real world is going to interfere. Don'twant to let anyone down.

on topic: we love our pets, our pets don't love us.
 
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Tink

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I wouldn't be able to follow through on any commitment.

I'll be a cheerleader and a source of info/help, I just don't think I'd be a good lead at this time, too much of the real world is going to interfere. Don'twant to let anyone down.

on topic: we love our pets, our pets don't love us.

o sure. let RL get in teh way of the interweb!

on topic: duh. stop repeating yourself.

:p
 
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awashinlove

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I don't think I've ever felt a part of myself die with an animal, but there certainly is a lasting emptiness without their happy presence.

OT- Actually, parrots do show affection -- if someone who grew up in a parrot sanctuary may say. :p Parrots cuddle (I have a Grey and a 'tiel tucked up under my neck making their sweet little coos of comfort right now), will indeed -want- go everywhere with you, and become far more bonded than any dog or cat. In fact, a parrot is one of the few creatures to demonstrate intelligent emotion and selfless acts (when has a dog ever tried to pet anyone? My lovely birds, on the other hand, preen me and try to scrooch my head with their talons. Painful, but sweet). Dogs and cats primarily just appreciate their food source and back scratcher. I once saw a Severe Macaw call out to an elderly gentleman he hadn't seen in 20-some years. This fellow came in to visit with our fosters, and a quiet, aggressive little Macaw we'd been working with began chanting, "Hi Richie. Come 'ere. Come 'ere, Richie Richie." And toddled right up to the guy, who two-ish decades prior would greet his parrot, this Macaw, every day with, "Hi Richie, come here." This bird had spent years plucking, biting, not saying a word, and barely eating. With one glimpse of his first owner he became a happy, normal parrot. Though now the guy's dead and we're back to square one. But the story, a testament to a parrot's devotion to his flock, is only one of many. Just leaving certain bonded parrots for a weekend vacation can cause them to mutilate themselves to the point of suicide. That's true love, I say! Compared to the parrot, I don't even love.
 
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LadyOfMystery

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Whenever my first dog, Cleo, died I was about 11 or so. It was terrible, because she had been with me since I had been born and before and we were inseperable. I cried, but I didn't go ballistic or anything. Now in '04 when my Collie died it was much different because I was older and more aware of feelings and having him pass away was a lot harder and there were a lot more terrible feelings and I felt it longer - I still feel sad when I think of him, but he was a great dog so I don't feel sad all the time when I think of him.
And then in '06 my mix died, that was terrible.
I understand when people get upset over their pet dying, whether it be a dog or a bird or whatever, it means something to them just like it means something to us when our pet dies. But it's a bad feeling in itself.
 
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Blackguard_

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Wow.

Parrots: nature's emo kids.
That's true love, I say!
That's co-dependency, I say.

Neat story about the old man though, I never knew parrots could bond that much/ had that good of memory.

I don't think I've ever felt a part of myself die with an animal, but there certainly is a lasting emptiness without their happy presence.
I'll second this.
 
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Miles

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On the other hand... it's hard to see how some people can become so connected to an animal... A lady came in the other day and had shut her parrot in the door :(... Shortly after they went into the exam room I heard a blood curdling scream... The parrot had died, and this lady went ballistic. I thought it was a bit eccentric, and it was really hard for me to understand how someone could get so connected to a bird... something that can't really show affection or lay at your feet, or follow you around the house... but... to each his own I guess.

Is her parrot a Norwegian Blue? Maybe it's just resting... or pining for the fjords.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=aqz_4OgMi7M
 
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