Your Pet Loss Stories

by Peter
(Melbourne, Australia)

This is a story about a little Staffordshire Terrier named Chloe who changed the lives of a family that has been ravaged by trauma. I never thought I could love an animal and grow so attached as I have to this sweet little dog.

I am not one to grieve openly and tend to internalise my emotions, but once I found out that this lovely soul only had a month at most to live because a recent operation could not remove a rare form of cancer the emotional dam was breached. I wept and sobbed having no control it just seemed so unfair that this dog who has given so much will be dead by this time next month.

I moved to Melbourne over 600 km from where this sweet little dog resides with other family members and am overwhelmed that I may not be there when she goes. The thought of her wasting away over next 4 weeks or so is heartbreaking I try to forget it but it keeps coming to mind.

Guilt that I will not be there when she leaves this earth is also something I am finding hard to come to terms with, when I said goodbye a week ago and came back to where I was living I could not speak I was so choked with emotion and so heartbroken.

She was better than most people I have met and it may sound harsh but if I had to choose I would put her first most times. She had a big teddy bear larger than herself we called Buddy that she used to lay on and would fall asleep and snore.

A dog with so much character and a gentle loving nature even the hardest of people would normally soften by her playful antics. She hated going to the vet but they loved her the veterinarians and staff all knew her by name.

She will be missed and never forgotten.