16 Comments

• 1. Jennifer&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 7:02 am

  Hey,

  I am so sorry to hear about your pet problums… If I could give any advise this would be it…. When my daughter was in second grade we were walking out of our garage to go to the bus stop and rite then and there her dog had ran out and as he did every mornig he would go rite to the edge of our yard and do his “business” there. Rite then a lawn guy with his trailer came by cutting the curve a little close and hit him… Thank goodness Katie did not see it happen but the guy had stopped and asked if we owned a little dog. We said yea and he explained that he was very sorry and he had hit hime. She started screaming and I made her go into the house. Our taz was gone ( even in writing this it makes me choke up) . Me and the guy took care of Taz and I then went into take care of Katie, she was in shock but wanted to go to school. In her very young years she knew if she stayed home she would be very sad all day and she wanted to go to school. She had never experionced anything like this before. That day while at school I looked in the paper, on line and called out vet to try to fine a little puppy for us. By the time she came home I found a puppy for us to go look at. Katie , her cousin and I were off to “Look”. We brought home Angel that day and she has been with us sence. Katie now is in 9th grade. Angel has been the best dog. She did not replace Tazzy but she did refocuse us on the living and not the sadness of death. I really think it helped us thru a very sad time and i would recomind it to anyone going thru a loss of a pet….

  Hope this helps,
  Jennifer

• 2. Christine&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 7:06 am

  My heart goes out to your children over the decision that is obviously, in the end, out of your hands. I just want to say that animals add so much joy to our lives and it is so overwhelmingly painful when something happens to them even if they are only with you a short time. I was extremely lucky with my old cat, Shezzy, who lived a until one month before his 20th birthday. He brought such joy to our lives and put up with quite a few additions between animals and kids along the way. My grief was beyond believeable. But I wanted to touch on my children’s pain. Each one, there are 4, handles their grief differently but my youngest is the most noticeable. He was young when Shezzy died but I would like to tell you about his hamster, Bob. When he died, my son was very quiet but i could hear his pain. He wanted to make Bob a box to be burried in. We found a nice velvet box of my daughters and he lined it and we had a little private moment with Bob outside before we burried him. It is what my son wanted to do. I let him lead the way. It was how he had to deal with it. So be sure to pay attention to their clues no matter how silent they may be.
  God Bless you and your family,
  Christine

• 3. Leigh Ann&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 8:41 am

  I have a lot of experience with FIP. My family took in a stray several years ago. It later was noted that she had FIP but looked perfectly healthy. We had four other cats in the family so all were exposed. We lost the stray and all of the other cats one by one. They died of varying organ damage due to the FIP (It is like the human AIDs virus but in a feline strain). They now have a nose drop vaccine for it, so if your other cat does well and you decide to replace Panther, then I would recommend before introducing another cat into the household, you get it vaccinated. I was told by my vet that you can bring the virus into the house from your shoes, etc. if you a cat has been on your porch or you have been in contact with a sick cat. Please beware of any friends that might have cats. Try to wash your hands before handling any other cats. It is hard to loose a friend but the kitten will be in heaven chasing butterflies and birds!

• 4. Lynsey Fairfax&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 9:06 am

  Hello – So sorry – brings a tear to the eye – I know its sad when these things happen – When my sons fish died we did the funeral in the toilet like most fish funerals!

  My sons fish was rather big and took 3 flushes but bless my little boy ( 6 at the time) kept saying goodbye Borris , god bless.

  Point out the positive that the cat will not be in pain and make a memory book or memory box – helps to keep the children active ,whilst remebering the pet.
  Be it only a fish it was my sons first so I made a few scrapbook pages for his book so he will always have something to look back on and he does like to do this now he is 8.

  Take care to all at SYT – You are the best site by far – Love Lyns xx

• 5. Cilla&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 9:07 am

  I have four children, ages 12 – 19. We have buried fish(yes, sometimes the younger kids don’t want to flush them–the older ones don’t care as much!) and have had two impressive funerals for hamsters. In fact, by mutual consent, we don’t have hamsters any more(just three old cats) because hamsters live about 2 years and it got too sad to say good-bye to family members so frequently. Sorry to hear about the sad event facing you and your family. A couple of things have helped us cope. Having a real “funeral” helps–we use little prayers for the death of a pet, poems, etc–you can find that kind of thing on line, and placing flowers on the grave or a memorial site in the yard. I take pictures of the funeral to keep for later times if the kids want to see them. Making a little scrapbook or a couple of scrapbook pages filled with memories of the pet is also healing, to celebrate the life of the pet. Rituals and traditions about death, even of pets, can be comforting and also give affirmation that the life and death of the pet was meaningful.

• 6. Sharon&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 9:55 am

  I am sorry to hear about Panther. We have two old lady cats (16 and 17 this summer) and the older one is already on daily anti-inflamintories. I worry about my husband (almost 45), because he is really attached to her (Madeline). I already have in mind to do a rememberance scrapbook of pictures of her, I thought it might help him a bit. Maybe if you got the kids to work on the scrapbook?

• 7. Kristi Barnes&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 10:03 am

  I know how heart wrenching it is to loose a pet! My daughter was older when we had to put our “baby” to sleep. She had her since she was a kitten and she was about 13 when we put her sleep, she had a form of kitty cancer. She cherishes the pictures we had taken of Squirt and has fond memories. Hopefully both your children will as well. I told my daughter that she was in a better place kitty heaven and not sick any more. And just last year we had to put our 15 yr old dog to sleep. One thing is certain kids are resilient and bounce back. God Bless!

• 8. Susan&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 10:36 am

  Along with everyone else, I feel for your loss and know how hard it is. I lost a cat to FIP many years ago and it was tough. I also unfortunately just recently had to put my “old man” Puck down at 14 years. It is not an easy decision, but luckily I have a wonderfully supportive husbands, friends and a great vet. I’m sure Puck and Sarge will keep an eye out for Panther and help him out when he gets over the rainbow bridge (reference to a poem on pet loss) To paraphrase what my husband wrote on a card after I lost Puck….Hopefully the sadness is just a small price to pay for the happiness Panther gave you and your kids.

• 9. Bonnie&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 11:13 am

  I am so sorry that your family will be losing Panther. It is so hard to lose our animal companions.

• 10. Susan&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 11:15 am

  You and your children have my complete sympathy about Panther. Do a memorial scrapbook page about his/her short life. One comfort is that his short life was spent in a loving home. It is always hard to put a pet to sleep, but especially since yours is still a kitten. There is a website that deals with this about cats “going over the Rainbow bridge.” I don’t have the URL but perhaps you could find it. Your remaining cat will also mourn for his companion and the advice we got when our first cat passed, was to wait awhile before getting a replacement, so his companion could mourn. I hope and pray that your other kitten will remain healthy.

• 11. TristanzNina&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 8:40 pm

  Hi Julie, It’s a sad experience for children, my heart goes out to them but it is a part of growing up. My daughter lost her cat when she was 7 and told me it left a hole in her heart – almost brought me to tears.

  On a happier note, the mexican cowboy die cuts are really cute! I wish you had some broncing bulls too!

  Keep you the great job of bring great things in! I also love the John Deere – we have a John Deere tractor at the ranch in Mexico and I have lots of fotos to scrap!

• 12. Keri&hellip  |  April 16th, 2008 at 9:00 pm

  I’m so sorry about your kitten. When our animals get sick and die it is so hard because they are our family. I’ll be thinking of your family at this hard time. Take care.

• 13. Andrea&hellip  |  April 17th, 2008 at 11:06 am

  Hi, My girls are the same ages as yours- 8 and 5– and two years ago, I had to put our 15 yr. old cat down. He was also sick and I tried many efforts– but it was going to be hopeless. So, as he started to get sick– I started preparing my girls for the possiblilty– (Tiger is sick, I’m bringing him to the vet to get better, but he is in pain and unhappy…) I did this three times, until finally Tiger didn’t come home. The visits stretched over a month and in between, the girls saw me giving the medicine and Tiger’s decline and I talked to them that he really wasn’t feeling well and in pain. And during that month, I took a lot of pictures of Tiger with the girls and let them say good-bye.
  Then when Tiger finally didn’t come home, I told them that he just “died” at the vet. I didn’t think that they needed to know the burden that I had to bear of making the final choice. But I told them that I was with him when he died, and he is in a better place. We all cried together, and I let them comfort me as I comforted them. (this turned out to be good- b/c they still talk about how even grown-ups cry when they’re sad– and we felt like a team going through this grieving together)

  We lit him a candle (our family tradition when someone passes). And we talked about what we loved about Tiger and some funny stories and what a great cat he was.

  I scheduled the appointment in the late afternoon, so they found out around dinenr time and my thought was that it would be a shorter day of sadness, they would go to bed sad, but tomorrow is a new day.

  And we still talk about Tiger and how much we loved him.

  With deepest sympathy as you and your family go through this…..Andrea

• 14. Betsy Hetfield&hellip  |  April 17th, 2008 at 9:07 pm

  I adopted two kittens “Buzz” and “Woody” from the humane society in 2000 that were in a cattery also. Two weeks after a good check up Buzz started getting ill. He was diagnosed with FIP. Woody tested positive but showed no signs. Buzz passed in less than a week. Woody is curled up on my desk asking to get his belly rubbed while I type this. I got a new Buzz a year later and they are best friends. I hope it all works out well.

• 15. Judy Berkley&hellip  |  April 19th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

  Hi Julie, I am so, so sorry about your loss of Panther. I know how you feel, I have been through this scenario. Twice in a row! A few years ago we adopted a cute orange tabby from the Humane Society. We named him Beau. He was small but seemed healthy and had been tested for viruses, but after a year or so he got sick. Our vet said that tests done on youngsters all not as accurate. He went downhill quickly in spite of many expensive efforts to help him, and we had to let him go. He was only about 18 months old. A little later we took another kitten from a shelter, a cute little gray and white, and named him Dakota. He got sick almost right away and the same thing happened. We lost him at 6 months old! He also had tested ok for viruses. It was heartbreaking, expensive, and a nightmare to have it happen twice. Kitties from shelters need homes! And yet they are the most likely to be sick, so good people take a risk when adopting them. It might be better to take an older cat because they test more accurately. Next my daughter gave me two kittens that were born at her house. Although the pregnant mom was found in a parking lot, she tested healthy and her babies have been fine. They are 6 years old now.
  I used to work in a cat hospital years ago, and comforted many people when their kitties died. I found that the best thing to think about is how lucky the kitty was to have had you and your family during whatever length of life they were granted. Any kitty with a good home is a lucky kitty, so many never get a home. And when the time is right and your family has healed, take another chance on life and another kitty. Some people say “Never again” because the pain of loss was so bad—but that does not help those who still need homes. Tell your kids they have personally made a difference, and given Panther joy while he lived, as he gave them. Let them do that again, and again throughout their lives. Sooner or later we lose our beloved animals, their life span is shorter than ours under the best of conditions. We are their guardians for a little while, then they go to the angels and our work is done.
  Scrapbooking their lives is a great idea. Take pictures during the good times. I have taken some pictures at the end and can not bear to look at them.
  The best of luck to you and your family. It is always heartening to meet other people who care deeply for animals. This caring is your gift to them regardless of the length of their life. And some will live long! I recently lost my almost-20 year old cat. He was s stray that I took in “tmporarily” when he was a kitten. Although I miss him, he had a wonderful life. He went from one heaven to another with prayers, blessings, and comforting humans in attendance. My husband and I made his life a good one, and knowing that is a great comfort. No one can do any more than that.
  Prayers and blessings to you and your family.
  Judy.

• 16. donna&hellip  |  April 24th, 2008 at 8:58 pm

  Very sorry to hear about your kitty, its very hard to deal with that first loss. My daughter was 7 when we had to do the same for our dog of 17 years, it was heart wrenching enough for my hubby and I, never mind trying to help both our kids cope. That was the first loss, and as many people in the 40 plus age bracket we have lost several family members since, one at a time (mostly due to age).
  I might recommend a great book that has helped us through a lot of it. It is called Dog Heaven authored by Cynthia Rylant, (Blue Sky Press). If nothing else it sort of opens the dialogue to talk about some of the odd questiosn children will ask or quietly worry about and NOT ask which is worse! It offers a rather comforting view of there after.
  Hope you will be able to find it…
  donna