I have old photographs of me and Otto when I was 14 looking 30. Remind me and I will post those!

Note: just trying to get Robb’s mind in a better place with pets here. Not trying to make the thread about my pets.

Cat Dracula may meet Gritty one day. He despises most other animals.

My best dog friend Otto died when he was 13 or 14. After the vet said he was riddled in tumors.. we could not do it. We kept him doped up on pain killers in his food for his last year or so.

Casual Observer wrote: Fri Feb 21, 2020 9:37 am

AArdvark wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:03 pm Having to make that decision is probably one of the hardest choices a dog owner can do. Sorry for your loss. It never gets any easier, does it.

You ain't kidding about this, one of the hardest saddest things I've done is put down my 20 year old cat. Worst part for us was second guessing. Even though she had four distinct problems that were chronic and now couldn't even reliably walk to the pan, she still showed how much she loved us and wanted to spend time with us. It took about six months for us to be able to even consider replacing her and I still have pangs of self doubt about whether we chose the right time.

For what it's worth, Boggit (my cat) died in my arms when the guy knocked on the door who was coming to put him to sleep. It fucking sucked, his little legs could not keep him upright his last day.

I'm 1000000x happier we spared Gritty that last awful 24 hours. There was a tumor on his neck that was going to suffocate him. The fact that you cared about the decision, CO, means that you did everything our pets could hope for. You're one of the good guys.

AArdvark wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 6:03 pm Having to make that decision is probably one of the hardest choices a dog owner can do. Sorry for your loss. It never gets any easier, does it.

You ain't kidding about this, one of the hardest saddest things I've done is put down my 20 year old cat. Worst part for us was second guessing. Even though she had four distinct problems that were chronic and now couldn't even reliably walk to the pan, she still showed how much she loved us and wanted to spend time with us. It took about six months for us to be able to even consider replacing her and I still have pangs of self doubt about whether we chose the right time.

Thanks, all. He was a great dog.

We had an Irish Setter when I was really little. I have some memories of him but not many. He was described to me as a dog where toddlers could do whatever they wanted around or to the dog and he (Ginger) was so good with kids that he didn't care. Gritty was like that with all humans.

But he did snarl or snap at other dogs when they got to close to him and I thought that was great. Maybe 5 times in all the years we had him. But because I am aware of my canine surroundings, I didn't let situations develop where that could happen (even though it was just a snarl and not a bite, and really, who cares if dogs snarl at each other.)

There are a lot of oblivious pet owners in the world in public. I think there must be some sort of expectation difference because I would never let my leashed dog go up to another dog and let my dog be aggressive. Especially if I saw that the owner of the other dog was making very obvious attempts to create distance. But people will just HURR DURR and let leashed dogs do whatever and sometimes (for large dogs) Gritty would snap. And each time I'm like, well, it's your own goddamn fault for not having a clue, rando.

He never cared at a dog park when off leash, or when we took him swimming. He would let small dogs do whatever at any time. At the park, piles of dogs would be rolling around with no regard for personal space or anything else and that was all good.

Anyway, when we took him to the vet for the last time I'm in the waiting room and sure enough some dumb broad has a large dog with a cone on its head and it comes over to sniff Gritty. Now, my face is pretty red because of how emotional the day was already and I scoot down a bench to create distance. I feel anyone could READ THE ROOM to think, hey, maybe we are here to put our dog to sleep. But the dumb idiot lets her dog approach Gritty again and sure enough at 13, riddled with cancer he turns and goes RARRRRNNNNNGH one last time.

I thought it was hilarious. I took him outside to a bench, fed him the remaining ribeye treats and told him what a good boy he was.

Having to make that decision is probably one of the hardest choices a dog owner can do. Sorry for your loss. It never gets any easier, does it.

So sorry to hear this, Robb.

Damn. Sorry to hear that Robb.

Thanks, pal. I feel really really horrible for my wife and for our other golden retriever (Honey) - I don't know how dogs know that the one they've been around for most of their lives is gone. It's a mess. We're going to give the other pets a lot more love this week.

Here is an album I threw together with some pictures of Gritty over the years https://photos.app.goo.gl/FZoFoo4ETkAfA8Sj7

Sorry, Robb...that's awful. This is around the same time of year Frobozz died as well. One of my dogs and my dad died on the same day in February in different years. Perhaps some people could take that as a sign of something positive, but it mostly made me feel like the universe hated me at the time. In conclusion, fuck February (note to Paul: this statement does not mean I've come out as a monthosexual).

I don't have a pet at the moment largely because I hate having to witness the death process over and over again. I know that's selfish and probably bad for me and also bad for some animal or animals out there that could be adopted, but I haven't been able to overcome that feeling.

Gritty had a stroke in August but recovered pretty well. He got cancer recently though and all the bad things that go along with it. Today he got to see his nephews and eat a ribeye and muffins (okay, he had been eating lots of delicious food the last few days) and we said goodbye this afternoon. He was 13. I will tell some stories shortly. I love you buddy. You are the bestest boy.