PetLvr.com - [The Blog]

Pet Loss, the Inspirational Story of My Dog Companions

By Connie Bowen

There I was, standing in the veterinarian’s office looking at the X-Rays she had placed up on the lighted wall, hearing news that every pet owner dreads. “Do you see this tumor right here?” she said. “It’s what’s taking up all the protein in his blood and causing him to vomit and have the diarrhea. It’s inoperable, too large. There’s nothing to be done.” My beloved 11 year old yellow lab, Simon, was not going to be going home with me that day. He wagged his tail and whined to go home. “You can take him with you if you want, but the tumor could burst at any time and he’s not going to be getting any better like we’d hoped.”

After I left her office alone, crying and talking to myself all the way home, I shook my head. I’d held him for those last few minutes while she administered the shot that put him to sleep. “He wanted to go home, but he couldn’t,” I told myself. The guilt crept in, but I pushed it aside. I thought back to a time 12 years earlier, and I knew the grief that was starting to seep in would be manageable this time, for I remembered the song of life told to me by my aged German Shepherd who had faced the same prognosis 12 years earlier.

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