Posted on Sep 3, 2022
'Like losing a person in your family': Owners grieve beloved pets
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Janis Dolphin recently lost her dog Felix and cat Graham within a month of each other. Both of them were 16 years old.
"It is very much for me like losing a person in your family,” Dolphin says. “There's a long period of time where every time you get in the car, you look over at the passenger's seat — I'm going to cry — and he's not there. Or you know, the cat's not trying to jump on my lap and walk on the laptop. So that part just doesn't get better.”
Dolphin lives on a small dairy goat farm along the Northern California coast. She worked as a professional dog trainer for over 20 years, mostly with bull terriers. But Felix was a little poodle.
“He was a lot like me,” Dolphin says. “I'm kind of a Type A who works real hard all the time. I'm busy a lot. I live in my head a lot. He was a lot the same way."
"It is very much for me like losing a person in your family,” Dolphin says. “There's a long period of time where every time you get in the car, you look over at the passenger's seat — I'm going to cry — and he's not there. Or you know, the cat's not trying to jump on my lap and walk on the laptop. So that part just doesn't get better.”
Dolphin lives on a small dairy goat farm along the Northern California coast. She worked as a professional dog trainer for over 20 years, mostly with bull terriers. But Felix was a little poodle.
“He was a lot like me,” Dolphin says. “I'm kind of a Type A who works real hard all the time. I'm busy a lot. I live in my head a lot. He was a lot the same way."
'Like losing a person in your family': Owners grieve beloved pets
Posted from wbur.org
Pets
Dogs
Cats
Posted >1 y ago
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I had to put mine down some years ago which was a horribleexperience. Her collar is still in the front seat of the car and will probably stay there till I die.
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Over the years we've had to have dogs & cats put down or have woken up in the morning and have found them after they have passed during the night. The toughest one for me was in 2020, my wife was in the hospital and my cat Tom hadn't been feeling good he had gone off his feed and was staying under our bed. One day I was in the bathroom and Tom came in calling for me, I got down on the floor with him, he got on my lap looked up at me we had a little talk and he took his last breath. He was my little buddy, where ever I was there he was. Sorry I'm starting to tear up here .
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel When I'm faced with this I have to type up a note explaining what I need because I'm too choked up to talk. I pay ahead of time & always in the room when they are euthanized. I can still see the eyes of each one if them... it's heartbreaking & I tear up just thinking about it.
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