15 years and still

[yikes]

My German Shepard dog was named Cobaka. He was my best friend
and I loved him. He and I wrestled in the dirt and camped out
in the woods, played in the creek and swam in the lake. I got
older and he got ancient, barely able to move. He was going off
to die when he left our woods and was hit by a car. The
neighbor said he was still alive, so I went to him with a 12
gauge and a wheelbarrow. There would be no stainless steel
antiseptic sterile lonely departure. He and I would look into
each others eyes when I pulled the trigger. I talk to him
every May when the spider-wort blooms that covers his grave and
I still see him prancing around in joy and can still hear him
growl as we would play tug of war. He was mine; I was his.

[mnn2300]

We do get attached, don't we. I always thought it important to be holding/petting/comforting a cat or dog as they passed over. My one regret with pets was one of our cats that died while we were at work one day.

[papaof2]

Many years ago, the kids had to have one of the kittens from a neighbor's cat. I think he bonded with me the first day, even if he didn't like what I was doing - spent half an hour getting the flea swarm off before allowing him inside the house. They named him Sandy for his coloration.

Early on, he wanted to be on the kitchen table - which I discouraged by sweeping him off into the floor with a rolled up newspaper. He never got up on any furniture uninvited after that although he did come up with a way to get attention when he wanted out - he'd jump up on one of the end tables for a few seconds, then jump back down and repeat until we noticed him and let him out.

He became as much of a junk food junkie as I was - getting up on his back paws and poking the side of my knee with a front paw - accompanied by a "MEOW" - whenever I had potato chips, corn chips, Cheetos, or just about any other "salty crunchy" food.

He grew to be a big cat - not fat, just long. The vet we used never said which cage when he sent an assistant to get Sandy - just said "the big yellow cat." Sandy wanted lap time, but he hung off both sides even in my lap.

One of the kids found him in the driveway, lying still in the sun, one winter day. He hadn't been gone long - still a little warm on his underside when I picked him up to go find the right size box.

Fourteen years is a long life for an indoor/outdoor cat...

Sent from my M1061 using proboards

[yikes]

Thank you for sharing. It brightened my day to hear of your "love story".

[eyeseetwo]

We live on a tiny parcel of heaven on earth far from veterinarian services.

Dear husband was the one to end the misery our fur kids were at the end of their earthly lives.

They are buried in our garden nourishing the asparagus and medicinal herb beds.

One of our cats survived a few days after being taken by a young mountain lion. It escaped and passed away under the cabin.

Loss of fur kiddos does hurt.