I was about 11-12 when we did. We had our cat, Chloe, ever since I was a toddler. My father died, and a couple years later, my mom reconnected with a man across the country. He had 2 pit bulls who didn’t like cats. My siblings, mom and I moved across the country into his house, and left Chloe with our great-aunt, who is a known hoarder. I feel like at the time I didn’t have much say in the decision, but I think about Chloe literally every day. It breaks my heart that we left her behind with my aunt. She was a loyal, loving, sweet cat and she loved her family. I am constantly devastated and torn with guilt. I wish that I had said something to my mom, made more of a deal about not leaving her, about thinking of any other option. The truth is, she was an indoor/outdoor cat, and we were moving to a whole new state with a whole different environment and into a suburban neighborhood. My mom’s excuse was that she would not enjoy her life there, but really it was just the man who didn’t want the cat with his dogs. My aunt said that Chloe left one day, and just didn’t return. I feel so sad every time I think about what her last moments were, and her feeling of being scared and abandoned, and missing her family. I feel so scared thinking she was hurt, hunted by an animal, run over by a car, couldn’t find her way back to my aunts house and froze to death, or literally 100 different options, and it’s just devastating to me that I don’t know.

We did come back to the state to visit our aunt and grandma and saw Chloe again once, but that was it. It breaks my heart that she saw us and thought that maybe we would take her back again, that we were just on a REALLY long trip, but no, we never returned for her. And it breaks me every day.

Can anyone else tell me their stories of their lost pets who were put down before they got old? I feel very alone in this. I lost my boy Viktor 2 weeks ago who was almost 9, due to sudden acute kidney failure from Lyme disease. His breed was supposed to have an avg lifespan of 12-15 years. I expected to have so much more time with my sweet boy.

The grief keeps going in circles between asking what I could've done differently, if I could've saved him, if I agreed to euthanasia too soon, if I somehow caused this, what he is missing out on and what I wont be able to experience with him moving forward. I am miserable.

He would snuggle next to me anywhere I went in the house. He would even follow me into the bathroom, sit on the counter, and wait for me to be done so that he could be carried out like royalty. He was so funny and so unique, so loving, so snuggly. He would burrow under any blanket and grunt and throw a fit until you lifted the blanket to let him in. The house feels so wrong without him. My other dog, Nova, who is about 11, seems so much quieter and it hurts to see half of the pupper duo. Every inch of my house just drowns me in grief.

When does it get easier? What do you say to yourself to help get by?

My furry friend of 13 years had to be put down today. I didn't want him to suffer, but I keep thinking if I could make something different. He had a tumor and there was no cure, no surgery, nothing I could've done. We gave him everything he wanted this past month. He was happy, but he was fading away. When I petted him, I could feel his bones. He started limping, being a bit slow and sad. It was breaking our hearts, so we decided to end his suffering. But I keep questioning: Am I being compassionate or being a coward?

Sorry if it's messy or rambly, but I'm devastated right now. I think I just need to feel this sadness for awhile until it gets better

It’s been 2 months since I lost my best friend. My wife and I had our sweet boy Winston for almost 12 years and lost him suddenly to bone cancer. I still rotate between disbelief to unimaginable heartbreak and sadness. He was my best friend. Everything feels so pointless. He never showed any signs of aging, most people still thought he was a puppy. I’ve lurked on this subreddit for the last few months. I’m hoping writing this post will help as reading some of the other stories have made me feel less alone but also sad for everyone else who has experienced this. It’s a grief I can’t even explain or understand until you’ve been through it. We love you Winston and think about you everyday.

I lost my cat today. She was old, 18yrs. We were lucky to share such a beautiful long life with her. I struggle with feelings of guilt, hoping we gave her a good enough time here, that she was happy, that she knew she was loved. I am scared even now she has been put to sleep, she’s lonely in her basket. I’m scared that she didn’t know how much she was loved. I think of all the memories we got to share together and it breaks my heart knowing there won’t be anymore. We lost her brother earlier this year and all I can think about is I hope they are together in heaven, and that I may be able to have the privilege to see them once again one day. Sorry this is a mess, I’m heartbroken

Hi! I lost my soulcat a few weeks ago. It's been extremely hard, it still is. For years she was my whole world and now she's just gone. When i got her ashes back i started to talk to her urn similar sentences as i did when she was alive and it makes me feel a bit better. Just some little comments like "good morning honey", "good night, sleep tight", "i'll see you after work, i really need to hurry because i'm running late AGAIN", "grandma is visiting today, i'm making us lunch". And i stroke her urn and sometimes give it a kiss. I know she is gone. Is that an awful and weird thing to do?

I had to put my dog Nina down July 14th due to thyroid cancer. To say it broke me is an understatement. I still cry daily because I miss her so much. I don’t bother people with it. I function, wife, mom, help elderly parents etc….but it still hits me randomly. My husband said to me yesterday why are you sad and I said because I miss Nina.

It finally happened! “WTF! Karen (yes that’s my name, lol) it was just a dog! You need to get over this!!!!! I mean go see someone or just move on!!!”

Now to be fair, my husband loved Nina and did grieve her as well. I actually never saw my husband cry so much and we have buried his father!

Am I doing something wrong???? Should I have moved on by now??? Should I not be picturing her in her favorite spot or smelling her blankets every now and then that I still haven’t washed, or praying to her to come to me in my dreams because I wake up so happy when she does???

Does anyone have any advice on how to move past this next stage? I feel like I will miss her like this forever and that’s ok with me because she deserves to be missed this much. 💔

My 6yo cat is dying from heart disease. He went through a congestive heart failure episode 4 days and pulled through.
Prognosis is poor. Months, a year if we get very lucky.
I can’t handle it. I can’t. He’s the centre of my life.
My whole life is him. I run home from work to be with him. I wake up in the morning to give him kisses.
Oh how much I love him.
He is a Devon Rex and he smells like a plate of nachos and I love this smell. He loves when I carry him on my chest and he hugs me with both paws around my neck.
He loves giving kisses. He loves receiving them. He loves watching squirrels through the window. He loves people. All people. He really loves food, all food. He loves taking a nap with his head on my chest.

He doesn’t like taking showers. He doesn’t like wearing pijamas. And he doesn’t like waking up early, just like his mom.

I can’t do it without him. My life stopped when I received his diagnosis.
How am I going to do it?
I hate that I have to go to work instead of being there with him. I watch him through the camera and cry.
It terrifies me that he will get a blood clot or another episode while I’m at work and that he will die alone and scared.
We were supposed to have so much more time together. It’s not fair, why do people get 15-20 years with their babies. I only got 6.

We got them at the same time, maybe a month apart. They were like brothers, raised together, little snips together. I lived separately, but they saw each other all the time. They were both leaders of their other dogs in the household. They're both twelve and have been going downhill, but I thought my dog was doing ok. We'd been talking about euthanasia for Sam (my stepmother's) for a while now, and I came down to visit her yesterday for a few days and make a choice. My dog was fine yesterday, but today he had seizures throughout the day. Took him to the vet, and his white blood cell count is through the roof. It's almost like he waited until he could be with his whole extended dog family to get sick like this. So we've decided to put them down together, so they'll be together for it. They came into our lives together, and they'll go out together. I am absolutely devastated. I have thousands of photos and videos of them, and my boy, William, is my soul dog. Saved my life and is the most singularly devoted dog I've ever had.

I wish we had more time. I've been devastated by the loss of dogs before, but William is my boy. I don't think I could love a man as much as I love him.

My dog passed away 6 months ago. He was 17 and i’ve had him since i was 6, i was an only child but he was my brother. He is my everything, truly my best friend and i’ve always been completely obsessed with him because how can you not love them more than anything?? But I keep realizing over and over that truly no one knows your pet like you. To other people he’s just a dog and they can’t see his personality, they might have been sad for me when it first happened, but no one else had a real relationship with him like a human would have had. Of course i know other people who have lost their pet will understand what I am going through, but it’s the fact that no one knew him like do. Especially because he’s the best lol. It just sucks doing things alone.

I learned about companies that use ashes (professionally) in tattoo ink through this subreddit and the tattoo subreddit. I’m curious if anyone here has used their services and if so:

How hard was it to find an artist willing to use the ink?

How was the healing process?

Did the ink cause any reactions?

I know the efficacy and legitimacy is debated (especially on the tattoo subreddit) but this grief is consuming me and I want to get his paw prints- the idea or believe or even delusion is something I need so please don’t comment anything that refutes this.

I miss him so much and the emptiness inside of me and darkness is consuming me. I just want my baby back.

My sweet dog was 14 years old and I had to make the decision to let him go at 3 AM this morning. It's been a hard last couple of years managing arthritis and many times when I thought we were to the end but we managed through it with medications, supplements, at-home vet visits, and wonderful physical therapists that made his last six months more enjoyable. I don't think I was always the best dog mom but I made up for it in the last several years and everything I did was with him in mind. The rugs, the bed on the floor, the cooked food, the cost of it all, worth it. I owe him my life. Truly. This has been a devastating year for me all around and I knew this time was coming. I tried so hard to plan for it. I called Lap of Love. I talked to my at-home vet. But the last week and a half or so, he was rejecting his food and medication off and on and on Saturday, I took him to the emergency vet where we admitted him for kidney issues. He also presented with anemia and some nodes on his chest. 

I told them I did not want to treat the cancer, but if we kept him there and got his kidneys in a better state, I could get him home to consult with my vet if it was time so we could do in home euthanasia. They admitted him and I went home to sleep a bit. When I got back the next morning, I crawled into the kennel with him and he got up and nuzzled into my armpit. I held him and stayed with him in the kennel all day. They moved us to a room in the evening. He's a reactive dog so we had a room the first day but in the kennel I thought he would be drugged enough to sleep and ignore the smells. I kept him calm and covered his ears with a blanket and had him fall asleep with my hand in front of his nose to mask other scents. I'd mentioned the reactivity so they got us a room again and made up the bed. But he just seemed to be getting worse. I just wanted to get through the night again and get him home when I could talk to his vet and make a plan. But as the night went on, I started to worry that I was prolonging it for myself. He was just staring and panting. He started to pee in the bed. I know he was highly medicated but the vet thought that something more insidious was happening. I kept questioning if I was doing the right thing. When I asked her twice point blank, she said the decision to euthanize him now is a decision I fully support you in. When she saw him the night before, he was in the same pain. We put him to sleep at 3 AM.

I hate everything about this. All of the things I tried to avoid happened. I was so diligent in his care because I didn't want any regrets and now I'm filled with what if's. He had a nice walk the morning before we went in but I know he wasn't feeling well. We didn't sleep in the bed together the night before but we did nap in the bed that morning. I was in such a rush to get him to the clinic I didn't take the time to really assess. The first vet didn't think it was the end of the road. I really thought, we'll get him out of here and home where it's comfortable. 

I worry that I took his reaction to the pain medication as a tell all. I was looking into his eyes and I couldn't tell what he wanted but he wasn't responsive to me in the end. He wouldn't really look at me unless I was really at eye level. He wouldn't lift his head. It wasn't him. I keep thinking if I could've had him tapered off and on to something else would I have seen a glimpse of himself. We took the feeding tube out and it seemed like he perked up but then he was so stressed. I just don't know what would have happened. I was so worried that I wouldn't be able to keep him comfortable for long enough and then to get him home and manage him on my own until I could get in touch with an in-home service. I should have chatted with Lap of Love just to check and I didn't. How am I going to live with these feelings of regret? I'm just sick to my stomach for leaving him that first night and for taking him at all. Maybe I should have had Lap of Love come and assess him first but I really thought maybe it's a dental issue or he's constipated. I worry that the emergency room created a great deal of trauma and stress that made it all snowball. I told him at one point, you have to eat this food and they'll let you go home and he did lick it which if you know what a picky eater he was, you'd know that was successful. But the vet didn't consider that to be enough. Now I don't know if I should've have advocated more or if it would have caused more pain and stress. I feel like he wasn't looking at me because he didn't think it was the right decision. He wanted to go home. 

I just don't know and it's all so fresh. But I do know I love him more than anything in this whole world. I had him for 13 years. He was my soulmate, my get out of bed dog. We've been through it all. I held him and snuggled him and kissed him so much, even in the end. I told him I loved him over and over again. I love him so fiercely, I don't know how to live without him. I'm worried we'll never see our babies again in any kind of afterlife. I'm worried I'll get a pet psychic reading and they'll say he wasn't ready. He was mad you didn't get him home like you promised. How do we move past it all? I know I did right by him in many ways but I feel like I failed him in the very end. I can't shake the feeling that it wasn't the right decision. I'm heartbroken.

Two years ago I was rushing my almost two year old dog to the ER vet. A few days earlier he was diagnosed with IMHA. I was so hopeful the meds would work. They did not. I thought he was doing okay until he started throwing up very dark liquid. The ER vet charged me for a blood transfusion then changed their mind and sent us an hour away to another vet with my dying dog. They said not to worry they would refund me but I spent the car drive worrying about how to pay for the second ER after the first drained my entire account. I should’ve spent time with my dog. I didn’t know he was going to die. Young dogs aren’t supposed to die.

The second vet put him into a kennel. When they removed him after a long wait he collapsed and stopped breathing. He was resuscitated. They started the blood transfusion. I thought he would pull through. The vet said his gums started turning pink again. I was full of so much hope. Then she came back and said he was crashing. She blamed my normal vet and myself for missing the issue and now he is too sick he is going to die. She gave a different diagnosis than the first two vets and put words in my mouth I did not say. Then she fought me on it, trying to make her diagnosis make sense. All while my dog lay dying in the other room. I have theories but still don’t know what happened fully. But he was a very sick boy and his body could not keep up. The vet put the idea in my head that if this was caught sooner he would still be here. I still feel so much guilt and that it is my fault. I’m angry at that vet for how she handled the situation and saying things I can’t forget after two years. I felt I was doing all I could for him. But I failed. When I saw him for the last time he was taking his last breaths on the table at the vet. I am grateful I got to be there with him. But I am still so sick over what happened. I wasn’t ready to lose him. We should’ve had so many years together. But I was forced to say goodbye to him at two years old.

I had just gone through a divorce and bought an old farmhouse with 3 acres. It was supposed to be a fresh start for me and my 3 dogs. I was so hopeful for a new beginning. But Finn never got to live here. I buried him under the willow tree. I moved in as quickly as I could so I could be back with him. He was the sweetest and most gentle boy and my heart is still shattered. My older dogs I adopted as adults and Finn was my first puppy. He was so perfect and fit in immediately. The three dogs were inseparable and seeing them together made my heart so full. Finn brought so much joy. He didn’t deserve any of the bad that happened to him. He always had a wagging tail and was so gentle, affectionate, and goofy too. My perfect boy. He deserved a healthy body and a life free from pain. It just didn’t happen that way. I will never stop missing you buddy. 💔

My dog is being put down tomorrow and I feel just agonizing pain.This happened so soon I love my little guy so much.I just keep thinking about life after and it’s not a life I want I woke up this morning and felt like not getting out of bed.I so sad and heart broken it feels like my entire world has ended.What can I do to feel better when he goes I dont want to feel like this anymore I love him and I want to grieve but this hurts me

We had to let go of our baby girl yesterday morning. She was only 11 and a cockapoo.

The vets said a mass had ruptured on her spleen that was cancerous and bleeding into her stomach.

I’m at a total loss if there is anything we could’ve done but we were told at aged 11 these things are seriously life threatening and the operation would only be 50% surviving to live for 2/3 months more or dying on the operating table.

Is there anything we could spotted or done to have helped her beforehand? She showed no signs of ill health until the morning of.

We as a family have not stopped crying - the world can be so cruel.

i need words of comfort pls. my friends suck. my family sucks. i just really wish i went with her. i miss her. i need her back i just want her back there’s no way around it

i lost my soul cat 10 months ago on the first day of 2026. funny it is easy to track how long it's been. anyways. i blamed myself a lot then my sadness evolved to anger and it eventually faded away. i had to keep living but for some reason i couldn't visit her grave or look at her photos or listen to any song that could remind me of her. i start crying so easily.

anyways i decided to write this because i just started crying ten minutes ago. she comes into my mind out of nowhere and it suddenly feels like i just lost her. i read someone say that exact same thing and i didn't believe it would happen to me. i just can't handle loss. i'm scared of everything. i don't want to loose anyone and i hate that humans can feel these emotions because it's just cruel and now im crying again

Hello, I had a 3 year old husky who escaped from the yard and got hit by a car. We were moving into our new house and we thought it was safe to leave him and another dog in the backyard. While I was cleaning the old house out, my roommate left the dogs outside at the new house, and when I came home there was two notes on my door that a husky was hit and taken to a nearby animal shelter. There was an opening in the fence that we did not see, we thought they would be okay..

I called nearby hospitals and found out which one he was at and they told me he was gone. He had died in the car ride on the way there. The car that hit him kept driving, but two good samaritans stopped and tried to save him. They told me he wasn’t alone and was having the time of his life running around before it happened, I just have so much regret that I was not there and I’m blaming myself.

I genuinely don’t know how to get through this. That was my bestfriend, my baby, and my entire life. Every morning when I wake up without Sage, i immediately start crying and breaking down. He was taken from me too soon. This was supposed to be a fresh start and new beginning, and I’m supposed to be happy in this new house but I’m not. I have so many mixed emotions of being okay, then I’m crying and breaking down. I just want my boy back. How do you get through something so traumatic? Do pets stay with us after they die? Do they find us again in another form? I just know I’m mentally not gonna be okay because I love that dog so much and he was always by my side. I’m so heartbroken. This is a living nightmare I can’t wake up from.

Ever since i was a kid, i used to always beg for a dog. I had various other pets, but they never filled the need for a dog. I had to beg, and beg, and prove myself worthy of a high-maintenance pet. And then finally, my parents surprised me with one at age 11. A pomeranian. Granted, i wanted a big dog, but a dogs a dog! He turned out to have the most beautiful soul a living creature could ever have. He never barked or got aggressive/angry with us, never caused any ruckus or harm with other dogs, and truly loved everyone unconditionally. Hes such a friendly boy, he trusts and loves everyone! Id cover my face and pretend to cry, and hed drop everything to come and stick his nose between my face and hands. His nickname was “the gentleman”! When he eats, unlike his siblings who inhale their food, he sits and takes his sweet time, sipping water in between, cute boy with an old soul🥹. When we gave him treats, he’d take it to either his bed or on the carpet and eat there (cuz hes just soo classy). We had an ottoman, which he claimed as his throne. Whenever we sat in the living room, he’d get up on the ottoman and chill by us. If i sat next to him, he’d take a leap of faith and jump to my lap, uninvited! Whenever he gets upset with us, he’d sit on his bed and stay away from us, ignore us, and refuse food. the only way to get him out of his stump was to just play with him, for a minute or two! Thats all he needed to forgive us and go back to his happy personality. The most beautiful boy inside out. He had kidney stones and was due for an operation. He was doing great, and they got everything out, but towards the end of the surgery he had a heart attack. We’re guessing he couldnt handle the anesthesia? I dont know. All i want and wish is that this is just a terrible, long nightmare that im due to wake up from. I can’t believe it has happened, and this early! He was 8, which is 4 to 8 years short of the average lifespan. My heart aches for my boy, the fact his last memory was around strangers, with needle up his paw. Usually, i dont get upset when i know hes due to come back and feel better after a vet appointment. But now its different.

I dont know how to deal with grief, because i never truly remember what happened, or atleast i grieved change but not loss. i cant grasp hes gone and ill never see him or anyone like him ever again.

my cat died 2 years ago and still after a long day i go home and all i want to do is hold her but shes never there and it gets more and more draining every time

It's been five months since I lost my best friend in the world after 16 years of having him in my life. A few months ago, my wife started talking about getting another dog. On Wednesday, we're going to pick up a little Cairn Terrier puppy.

I find myself unable to move Calvin's ashes from his favorite bed in his favorite room, even knowing that a curious little puppy will be coming home. I can't bring myself to get new toys for the puppy, or get her a new bed, or new anything.

I know this is a very common thing, but bringing home a puppy feels like I'm replacing Calvin and that really hurts. I want to love Kira, but I'm worried that I'll resent her for trying to fill a void that is Calvin shaped.

This afternoon I noticed my mom cleaned Bailey’s nose prints off the front door. The last few weeks of her life Bailey spent a lot of time at the front door barking at cats. It’s very devastating to lose a piece of my girl. I had a meltdown and cried hysterically for a while then cried some more and now I just feel dead inside. There’s nothing I can do to fix this.

Please share if you’ve experienced something like this. Or please share some kind words to help validate how upset I am. Please be gentle. I am hurting 💔

Lost my baby for almost a month. I’ve been living my life normally, but every night I still cry myself to sleep missing her. People have been asking me whether I’m ready to take care for another pet, my answer is always consistent, I am not yet ready.

I don’t feel like I can love another dog as much as I loved my luna. She was perfect even behind imperfections. I also don’t like the idea of taking care for another pet while still wishing my luna was there instead, no one deserves to live like that. I don’t want a pet to live her life being compared to luna.

A part of me died with her, and I don’t think I’ll be able to get that version of me soon again.