So, so sorry.  My heart goes out to you.

Oh my, this is such awful news.  I can see those big deep brown eyes right here, right now.

A great big heartfelt {{hug}} from all the way across the country.

I’m so sorry for your loss. We just lost our Demon cat this week, so I really empathize with you.

I am so sorry, it seems so strange that it happened so quickly.  My thoughts are with you and the Lad, cause this is going to be tough on him as well.  And, if he is reading this, do NOT feel guilty cause you chose to stay at school for the long weekend, do not--you made the right decision, your mom knows it and being at home would not have changed a thing. (I am a mom, things happened when my sons were away and I can assure you that had they been here, nothing would have changed!!) Just remember the good things!

I am so sorry for your loss.  Our pets become such huge parts of our families, no matter how long they are a part of them. 

Here’s another big hug from down in Texas.

I’m so sorry to see this sad news, Kate.  I know how much Terry meant to you and the lad, and my heart goes out to both of you.  We, your loyal readers, are going to miss Terry, too.  She featured prominently on your blog, and I loved hearing about her antics ... even the ones that made you tear your hair out.

I’m sure that not knowing what happened makes the situation more difficult, but perhaps you can take a bit of comfort in knowing that she didn’t suffer, as so many pets do when they have a long decline. 

Huge hugs to you and the lad from the three of us here.

Thank you all.

I talked with the lad last night and he was quite shaken and yes, I told him that he could have done absolutely nothing by being here. He thought it would have been better if he could have been with her at the end, but I don’t know that Terry would have noticed. I’m not sure that she even knew that I was there. I’d rather he remember her as a healthy playful dog rather than what she looked like the last two days. She was most definitely an important part of his growing up years and those are the most important memories.

It’s funny, though, he did mention getting another dog. He said he hoped that I would because it would be just too awful coming home to a house without a dog. And I agree that a house without a dog is not quite home. I thought about it last night, that maybe I should go to the pound today and rescue a needy soul. But that was more a matter of trying to replace Terry and the gaping hole she’s left behind. That’s not a good reason. I can’t replace Terry and that would be most unfair to a new pup, too. So, I’ll grieve for my girl as long as it takes and get used to life without her. And then we’ll see what happens.

And I must say that it really is awful without her. I’m such a mess today. And Abbie is pretty whacked out, too, even though she studiously ignored Terry’s existence for the most part. She’s been giving me a great deal of extra attention. We both appear to need it.

And Eleanor, yes, I would much rather have had her decline and demise quick like this than lingering over a painful illness. The vet claimed that she wasn’t in any pain, she just shut down gently kind of like a balloon floating gently to earth as the air went out of it. That’s a nice way of looking at it, I suppose. But with modern medicine we’ve become accustomed to having a diagnosis...a reason...when someone dies. It leaves one feeling as if there is nothing to grasp onto. I want a reason and there isn’t one that I can grab and hold on to. I mean, it’s kind of stupid, but I can’t even look at anything and say, “Maybe if I’d done something differently.” Leaves me feeling a bit in space over it. But that’s my need and I shouldn’t fight it because Terry chose the very best way.

I am so sorry for you and the lad.  I’ve been there, and there are not words.

My ex-room-mate’s dog died (at 14 exactly five years ago.) Coincidentally, I ran across this post from a blog I check only periodically, and I sent him the post today.  Now I read this, and it puts me in a funk all over again.  I’m so sorry for the profound loss you’re feeling, and I can honestly say I understand it.  There aren’t words.

Here’s someone else who just went through the same thing - and also wrote some words of eloquence to try to capture the feeling of loss.  I wish you the best, and I am so sorry for Terry and you and yours.  Don

http://www.dogpoet.com/blog/archives/619

Oh, Kate, I’m so sorry.  They’re family, and when they go it hurts just as it does when a family member goes.

The speed of it astonishes and scares me (since Tigger is 14+ herself).  The vets’s inability to diagnose is unfortunate, too; as you say, if you’ve got a peg to hang it on that’s something tangible.

Again, I’m sorry.

It doesn’t help you any, but a long, slow decline can be so much more painful.  Not much more you can ask of an ending, it was quick and she was loved.