Mage: so sorry to hear of your loss, but so happy to hear that your Max was so well loved and cared for and lived a long life.
If more pet owners shared your devotion and loyalty, we would’nt have the epidemic of unwanted dogs and cats residing in shelters across North America that we do now.
I share your pain as I’ve felt it myself a few times and will do so again in the not to distant future, as my oldest dog is 11 and big boy. (although quite healthy at the moment) Losing beloved animal family members is so painful yet worth the lessons of love, loyalty and compassion we learn from them.
Like all the others who posted, I can relate to your pain. I had a yellow lab named Bailey who, well, liked to run a lot - hence my username. He’d tag along for any kind of exercise and simply would not stop fetching a ball, stick, or whatever anyone would throw for him. Sadly we had to put him to sleep a few years ago, but the whole family still misses him.
This is Elmo. She was one of the neatest, most unique dogs I have ever met. For various reasons we had to put her down a year and a half ago. It is hard to even talk about. It’s only been recently that we have been able to say “remember when Elmo did this?” without tearing up. She was just so special and I know there is no other dog in the world like her. I really miss her.
We have another dog named Fozzy who was an abandoned puppy we adopted four years ago. We are so close to her that the thought of loosing her is too hard to even imagine.
Everyone here is right, until you truly love a pet, you will never understand those who do. I never understood before why someone would spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on vet bills to try and save an animal, but now I completely understand.
Mage,
Sorry to hear about your dog. I’ve cried like a baby whenever a pet has died. I guess I’m just a baby, and I’ve accepted that.
DB
Mage,
The way you and your family cared for Max shows what a wonderful life he had. Losing a pet is such a deep hurt for where else can you get such unconditional love.
I have lost pets and each time a small piece of me goes with them. This past year has been the worst year of my life. I won’t go into details but suffice it so say I wouldn’t wish the experiences on anyone. My one saving grace is my lil guy, a pomeranian/mutt, that just has a way of making me feel better with his overwhelming cuteness. I am proud to be his human.
Thanks everyone for the kind words, and to all the lost pets, your grief actually shows how much they were loved during their lives, and how much joy they actually brought to your lives.
Anybody who questions if it was worth it, we wouldn?t grieve as much if it wasn?t.
Interestingly I do notice when I see other peoples cats or dogs, I think those are just cats and dogs. But when I see my 2 (-1) cats, I think those are my pets. They are not just cats.
Really I every cat I have ever had has had a unique personality. Their little quirks, attitude, and demeanor. I know, sounds like anthropomorphism, and kind of a way it is, but I actually recognize how much I do that, and how much is real.
Keep the pets coming. This is the place to honor them.
Mage,
Don’t doubt for a minute whether you did the right thing, you did the right thing. A couple of months ago we had to put down our 10 year old Golden Retriever, Amber. The toughest thing in the world to do. Nothing, however shows your love for your pet than to stop the suffering. Stay strong.
Mage,
Our family’s sympathy and well wishes are with you. We are the proud and fortunate owners of two dalmatians Lady and Baron. Both of which are a little past two years old. According to the literature they should be around until they’re aroud 14. However they were both born blind in one eye (brother and sister)and so they automatically have some genetic issues. Our little Lady has been to the vet a number of times already in her first two years with minor irritations like skin rashes and so forth, so we know eventually with age…
Anyway we live right across the street from the dog park. On any given morning or evening we commune with 20 to 40 dogs and their owners. (Isn’t it funny how we remember the dogs names way sooner then the owners.) We’ve recently had several deaths in the family of dogs and the whole community feels the loss. We always end up over the affected family’s home saying our final goodbye’s and taking pictures to remember our canine loved ones. I dread the day(s) when they will be coming over to our home. However until then we have happy, healthy and exceedingly loving dogs that greet us exactly the same way whether we’ve been gone out of the room 60 seconds or 6 hours. And it’s wonderful to live through that annoying non-stop licking just because they have no bounds for the amount of love they can share. I’m a firm believer that our animals allow us to connect with our deeper humanity if we allow it to.
Mage, I know that no words can truly assuage the hurt. So just be aware that all animal lovers on this website got your back.
Sincerely,
Warriorsage
You know, our cats are almost night and day as far as their medical conditions. Max had a whole host of medical problems, while our other cat is as healthy as I have ever seen a cat.
Once we found a lump on his back, which the doctor removed to test, and found it was just a fat deposit. Then we took him in for black spots appearing on his mouth. The vet said it was cat acne (first I heard of this) and cleaned the spots off.
So this cat has had liposuction, and a dermatology treatment. Go figure.
Warriorsage, my cat showed that even with medical problems, they can live a long happy life.
Sorry for your loss. It’s been awhile since I had my cat, but I loved them so much! When I was 16 I got two awesome dogs; a black lab & a border collie. The lab lived 11 yrs. He was awesome, loved to swim & run around with his brother. I still have the border collie, he’ll be 13 this Oct.
He’s my buddie & I take really good care of him. Lots of love & supps. too! 
I named the black lab Kramer after Kramer from well known tv show & the border collie is named after my all time baseball player, the Rocket. Roger Clemens.
Having pets is alot of fun & I look forward to the day I get another black lab.
It’s been a few yrs. since Kramer was put asleep but I still bust out in tears when I sit down & think of him, even while writing this.