Your Pet Loss Stories

by Nicole
(Lima, Peru)

When I was 11 years old (right now I'm 22) my Dad asked me (like any other year) what I wanted for Christmas and all I could ever think of is: "I want a dog!", after begging a lot since I am an only child and wanted a pet sooo bad, he bought me the most beautiful 2 months old Wire Fox Terrier, I named him Doug (because I loved that cartoon) but he all called him Dooggie.

My entire house fell in love with him, he always found ways to make us laugh all the time, being silly, rolling over his back so we could pet his belly and smiling at us (yes! he could smile!), besides that he could always sense when one of us had a bad or sad day, he would just sit right next to you and even though he couldn't talk that's all you needed, his beautiful company and knowing he loves you no matter what.

My Dad used to make up songs (of all genres) and sing them to him and he would go crazy! running, barking, moving his tiny tail so fast...he would wait for us to come home at the door, jumping all over us, he wasnt just a dog, he was the little brother I never had.

Time went by quickly and I always thought that my dog was inmortal, he never got sick, but you could tell he was getting old, he became blind (but he NEVER let you notice that, he wouldn't allowed others notice he couldn't see) and because of that he couldn't run like in his best years, but he was the same, the same goofy, silly, most loving dog I've ever seen.

Three weeks ago, he got sick. He couldn't pee at all for 2 days so we took him to the vet, he said he had a kidney stone in his urethra, making it impossible for him to pee, they treated him and came back home as a new dog I would say. A week after that, the problem came back, but this time it was bad, somehow he entered renal failure, needed blood transfusions and surgery (cause they thought about maybe other problem being the cause of that) but being the stubborn dog he was, he kept not letting you know he was sick and moving his tail at everybody, but the prognosis was still bad.

Inmediately I called my parents to tell them he was really sick and they came to the vet, by that time I couldn't do any other thing but cry, thinking what I did wrong? Why I couldn't see this before? I felt like I failed him, he gave us the most wonderful years of our lives and we didn't see he was becoming ill. My Mom was in complete shock, both my parents and I didn't want him to let him go, but it was the best we could do for him, after all those years we didn't want him to suffer and that was it, in less than a minute, he was gone and I felt like someone broke my heart in a thousand pieces.

It was the first close loss I've ever experienced, my entire family was really sad, we couldn't believe it, it was so sudden. I still can't move on, everytime I come home I expect him to be near by the door, I miss his smell, I miss him opening my bedroom door every night bringing his old and dirty stuffed cow that he loved so much to play with, I miss him coming from whenever he was everytime he listened to the sound of a cookie or chocolate bag, I miss his cute little nose, and I miss him so so so much and I take a part of him everywhere I go cause his dog tag is in my keychain, he knew we loved him so much and I can't wait for the day to meet him again :)

Nicole (from Peru)