Preparing for a Pet's Death

[Scott Lindstrom]

We have a wonderful dog who predates our kids -- well,
we got Mollie from the pound when DD was in utero, although
we didn't know it yet. Mollie is a Golden/Chow/Border
Collie mix and has been a wonderful companion. And boy!
is she soft!

<http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottl/pictures/old/MolliePuppyDog.jpg>

Anyway, Mollie is failing. I woke up today to find
what my Mother used to call dog dirt all over the living
room carpet, and Mollie was scarcely able to walk. (She
has big lumps -- presumably tumors -- on both sides of
her hips that have been interfering pretty severely with
her mobility). She ate none of her breakfast, and threw
up on her bed and is now holding her head at an angle.
Well, this could be a reaction to the chicken liver we gave
her yesterday -- her stomach is very intolerant to rich foods.
Or it could be the beginning of the end, and a euthanization
could be in the future for us sooner rather than later.
I'm gonna try to find a vet that will come to the house and
do the deed there, and then take Mollie away. Everyone
will be a wreck, I'm sure.

If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
responded, I'd like to hear it.

Thanks.

Scott DD 10 and DS 7 and Mollie McButter PuppyDog, somewhere
between 12 and 15 in human years

[Hillary Israeli]

In >,
Scott Lindstrom > wrote:

*If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
*responded, I'd like to hear it.

I usually recommend this to my clients and neighbors:



http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0671541579/002-9211829-7871216?v
=glance
or
http://tinyurl.com/p29t

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large :)

[Robyn Kozierok]

In article >,
Scott Lindstrom > wrote:
>Or it could be the beginning of the end, and a euthanization
>could be in the future for us sooner rather than later.
>I'm gonna try to find a vet that will come to the house and
>do the deed there, and then take Mollie away. Everyone
>will be a wreck, I'm sure.
>
>If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
>responded, I'd like to hear it.

I'm so sorry to hear about Mollie's declining health. I don't have
experience with this as a parent, but I do as a child. My parents lied
to us and said they found the dog dead on the floor one morning. I
don't think you would do this, but in case you are considering it,
please don't do that to your kids. I've always felt betrayed since
finding out the truth. Your kids are old enough to understand the
truth, and I'm sure you'll get lots of replies here about how to go
about presenting it to them. And I think it would be *easier* to
handle the dog's death with preparation and the understanding of how
much pain etc. she was in than to just think the died "of old age" one
morning out of the blue with no preparation for it.

Good luck!

--Robyn

[Allen McIntosh]

In article >,
Scott Lindstrom > wrote:

This part of your post struck a chord:

> and is now holding her head at an angle.

Google for Canine Vestibular Disease. Executive summary:
The dog's inner ear doesn't function for a couple of days.
Are her eyes rolling? That's apparently a good indication.

You may be able to nurse her through it.

--
My real email address is
mcintosh ##at## research ##dot## telcordia ##dot## com

[Ann Porter]

"Scott Lindstrom" > wrote in message
...
>
> We have a wonderful dog who predates our kids -- well,
> we got Mollie from the pound when DD was in utero, although
> we didn't know it yet. Mollie is a Golden/Chow/Border
> Collie mix and has been a wonderful companion. And boy!
> is she soft!
>
> <http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottl/pictures/old/MolliePuppyDog.jpg>

Our dog died this summer. We did what we thought was the right thing, but
we ended up dragging it out longer than we should have, and instead of dying
peacefully, Cindy was probably in a great deal of pain and very frightened
for the last several hours of her life. Don't put things off. If she's
suffering, do something about it quickly.

DH got Cindy as a puppy, and she was already 6 or 7 years old when we got
married.

Our at-home kids are of very different age than yours. Our little boy (just
under 4 when this happened) wanted to know immediately if we could get a new
dog. We had told him in advance that Cindy was sick, and that she was going
to die. He very quickly adopted a little stuffed dog as our "new dog,"
named it Dogspots, and told us that Dogspots would be a good dog, and that
he wouldn't die.

Older son (17) didn't really ever bond much with Cindy - he was old enough
when DH and I married that he wasn't much of a dog person. But he was sad
to see her go.

I still sometimes see her out of the corner of my eye. It was a couple of
months before I went to bed without thinking I needed to let her out, or in.
Cindy always freaked out during thunderstorms, so I always think of her when
it thunders outside. I can leave a loaf of bread on the counter without
worrying it will get eaten, but I have to sweep the floor more frequently
after cooking, as Cindy isn't here to take care of the crumbs.

I did a web page after Cindy died, and I found the process very therapeutic
http://webpages.charter.net/laporters/ There is a story called "The Rainbow
Bridge" at http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm. It's kind of
hokey, but I found it very moving after Cindy died.

I've never had a dog before Cindy. My cat died when I was 10, and I was
heartbroken for about three days. I cried for hours and hours after I found
her. But pretty soon, I got over it. Within a week, I was fine. Cindy
memories have stuck around far longer. I don't know if it's because she's a
dog, or because I'm 43 and not 10.

Mollie is a beautiful dog. I'm sorry.

Best,
Ann

[Scott Lindstrom]

Robyn Kozierok wrote:
> In article >,
> Scott Lindstrom > wrote:
>
>>Or it could be the beginning of the end, and a euthanization
>>could be in the future for us sooner rather than later.
>>I'm gonna try to find a vet that will come to the house and
>>do the deed there, and then take Mollie away. Everyone
>>will be a wreck, I'm sure.
>>
>>If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
>>responded, I'd like to hear it.
>
>
> I'm so sorry to hear about Mollie's declining health. I don't have
> experience with this as a parent, but I do as a child. My parents lied
> to us and said they found the dog dead on the floor one morning. I
> don't think you would do this, but in case you are considering it,
> please don't do that to your kids. I've always felt betrayed since
> finding out the truth. Your kids are old enough to understand the
> truth, and I'm sure you'll get lots of replies here about how to go
> about presenting it to them. And I think it would be *easier* to
> handle the dog's death with preparation and the understanding of how
> much pain etc. she was in than to just think the died "of old age" one
> morning out of the blue with no preparation for it.
>

Oh, they know Mollie is not long for the world, as we've
discussed it a lot so far. It's pretty obvious that her
mobility has been in a severe decline the past couple months.
They've asked if we're getting a new dog right away, for
example [NO!! is my answer now, but who knows if I go near
a pound ;) ]

If they hear that I found her dead one morning, that'll
likely be what happened. Part of me would like her to
die that way, another, tidier, part of me doesn't, and
the part that just read the completely and utterly
fascinating book 'Stiff' is just morbidly curious
about the whole process.

Scott DD 10 and DS 7

[LFortier]

Scott Lindstrom wrote:
>
> We have a wonderful dog who predates our kids -- well,
> we got Mollie from the pound when DD was in utero, although
> we didn't know it yet. Mollie is a Golden/Chow/Border
> Collie mix and has been a wonderful companion. And boy!
> is she soft!
>
> <http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottl/pictures/old/MolliePuppyDog.jpg>

> If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
> responded, I'd like to hear it.


She's a beauty!

We lost a cat in January of 02 who predated my kids. He was
12, and full of cancer. We got the diagnosis before
Christmas, and put off the day until after the holidays. At
some point, it just became obvious that it was time.

My girls were 5 and 8 at the time. We told them he was
sicker than the vet could fix (true - it was inoperable) and
that it wouldn't be fair to let him suffer. The younger one
didn't get it immediately, but the older was crushed. When
the time came, we told them the night before and all had
lots of tears. My dh took Dustin to the vet, the girls and
I were crying, but they went about their business pretty
quickly. We did have a funeral - he's in our backyard. For
months afterward, my older one didn't want to talk about
Dustin, because "it's too sad." But I didn't see tears.

Lesley
mom to Tootsie (14 yo cat) and Sammi (11 yo dog)

[Molly Bentsen]

Scott Lindstrom wrote:

> I'm gonna try to find a vet that will come to the house and
> do the deed there, and then take Mollie away. Everyone
> will be a wreck, I'm sure.
>
> If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
> responded, I'd like to hear it.
>
Scott: I'm sorry to hear about your Mollie. The process of
choosing to have our failing Dalmatian put down two years ago
was the hardest thing I'd had to do in many years, and
there hasn't been any tougher decision since.

Our vet would have come to the house, and that was my plan.
It seemed ideal to me, and felt right. But in talking with
Mitchell, then 6-1/2, to prepare him for what Prairie needed
and what the vet would be doing, I learned that he didn't
agree. He felt it would be too hard for him to be in the
vicinity when she died.

So I changed my plan. After taking Mitchell to his bus stop,
I took Prairie to the vet's office and held her while the
barbiturate was being administered. They gave me as much
time with her as I wanted afterward.

Sigh. It still brings tears to my eyes. But I'm glad for the way
we did it. Your kids might not feel the same as mine did, but
I wanted to suggest that you actually discuss the situation and
the options if the "method" hasn't been a group decision.

--Another Molly

[Marijke]

"Scott Lindstrom" > wrote in message
...
>
> We have a wonderful dog who predates our kids -- well,
> we got Mollie from the pound when DD was in utero, although
> we didn't know it yet. Mollie is a Golden/Chow/Border
> Collie mix and has been a wonderful companion. And boy!
> is she soft!
>
> <http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottl/pictures/old/MolliePuppyDog.jpg>
>
> Anyway, Mollie is failing.

My sympathies. I had several pets while I was growing up and we now have an
almost 10 yr old golden and have had a few guinea pigs. The GPs are really
part of the family as well and the kids were devastated when the first two
died. When Paddy, our second GP died, my then 11 yr old daughter did say to
her siblings though, "hey, we learned something from when Ben died (our
first GP). When Ben died we hurt so much and it didn't stop hurting for a
long time. But, it did stop hurting. So, now that Paddy died, we're really
crying but we know it will stop hurting eventually." Those were her words,
exactly.

Our golden is slowing down and I imagine, no I know, that it will be
horrible here when he dies. Even my husband who has never had a pet and
really didn't want the dog in the first place, will be very sad as he truly
is one of the family.

I think, with our experience with the guinea pigs, is that the kids should
be as much of the process as they want to be. If you know that it is time
for euthanasia, allow your kids to take the lead - they can spend time
saying good-bye, or they don't have to. Let them lead the way and do what's
comfortable for them, although you give them the options. The one thing
that my kids found the most comforting when Ben died (the kids were 11, 9
and 6.5 yrs), was that I took instant photos of him for each of them the
night before it happened. My oldest kept his copy under his pillow for a
very long time, it was his way of staying close and now it's still with his
momentos.

That's the biggest part, allowing them to say good bye. Of all the pets I
lost as a child, the ones that still hurt are the ones that I never said
good bye to. The cat that was hit by a car, the dog (a St. Bernard) who was
euthanised after I'd left home.

Amazing, the imprint these creatures place on our hearts.

Marijke
Mom to Matthew (16), Anne (14) and Kevin (12)

[Sue]

We just went through this in March 2003. Our dog was 14 1/2 years old and
our children are 11, 8 and 6. Beau was very old and declining in health. We
were very honest about Beau in that she was getting old and wouldn't be
lasting very long. The day came when she no longer could get herself
outside, so we euthanized her (she had a ton of problems). We never used the
words put to sleep to our kids (didn't want them to be confused), but we did
say that we took her to the vet and they put the dog down. We explained that
it is more humane for animals to be put down when they no longer have the
quality of life that a dog deserves. The kids were upset of course, but I
think they handled it beautifully.
--
Sue (mom to three girls)

I'm Just a Raggedy Ann in a Barbie Doll World...
Scott Lindstrom > wrote in message
...
>
> We have a wonderful dog who predates our kids -- well,
> we got Mollie from the pound when DD was in utero, although
> we didn't know it yet. Mollie is a Golden/Chow/Border
> Collie mix and has been a wonderful companion. And boy!
> is she soft!
>
> <http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottl/pictures/old/MolliePuppyDog.jpg>
>
> Anyway, Mollie is failing. I woke up today to find
> what my Mother used to call dog dirt all over the living
> room carpet, and Mollie was scarcely able to walk. (She
> has big lumps -- presumably tumors -- on both sides of
> her hips that have been interfering pretty severely with
> her mobility). She ate none of her breakfast, and threw
> up on her bed and is now holding her head at an angle.
> Well, this could be a reaction to the chicken liver we gave
> her yesterday -- her stomach is very intolerant to rich foods.
> Or it could be the beginning of the end, and a euthanization
> could be in the future for us sooner rather than later.
> I'm gonna try to find a vet that will come to the house and
> do the deed there, and then take Mollie away. Everyone
> will be a wreck, I'm sure.
>
> If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
> responded, I'd like to hear it.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Scott DD 10 and DS 7 and Mollie McButter PuppyDog, somewhere
> between 12 and 15 in human years
>

[Iowacookiemom]

Scott,

Sorry for your loss -- we had a pair of great dogs who lived to be 11 and 12
and it was so hard to say goodbye.

Your kids are older than Henry was at the time (I believe he was 2.5) but I
still recommend Cynthia Rylant's excellent and moving book "Dog Heaven" if your
family has any religious tradition at all. It still makes me cry, but in a
happy, sentimental, good-memory sort of way:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0590417010/qid=1064875291/sr
=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-1858395-0169560?v=glance&s=books&n=507846

or

http://tinyurl.com/p3wn

I've found most book stores carry a single copy, re-ordering when it is sold.
You might be able to snag one locally.

FWIW Henry saw our older dog, Falstaff, after he died at home, and was mostly
fascinated by the fact that he was dead. He petted him for a while and said
good-bye. He was not traumatized. We knew we were going to euthanize Chelsea,
and let Henry know ahead of time so he could say good-bye. I'm not sure we
would do that today; he is quite dramatic and I envision a struggle the day of
the planned euthanization; YMMV -- ultimately you'll probably have a pretty
good idea of how your kids will react. If you can, try hard to meet their
anticipated needs, not your own -- it can be hard to tell the difference
through your own grief.

My best to you all,

-Dawn
Mom to Henry, 11

[Liz & Allan MacDonald]

We just went through this experience.

Onyx was approaching 16 years and slowing down slightly. Early this
summer she began having trouble walking. A few weeks later she stopped
eating. My vet came to my home and put her down peacefully.

I had been talking with DD(7.5) about Onyx's dying, and had asked her,
if Onyx should die while you are at school, do you want to say goodbye
or should I take her away? (We discussed what would happen to the body)
She wanted to see her a last time.

That afternoon at the bus stop I told DD I had some sad news. "Onyx
died?" was her response. We went inside and cried together, stroking
Onyx's silky fur and trying to get her eyes to stay closed. We wrapped
the (slightly stiff) body in a blanket and took her to the vet's office.

A day later I started hearing "You said we'd get another dog after Onyx
died - can we go today?" We lasted only about three weeks until we got
a new puppy. Which is like having a new baby, but that's another story.

Liz



Scott Lindstrom wrote:

>
> We have a wonderful dog who predates our kids -- well,
> we got Mollie from the pound when DD was in utero, although
> we didn't know it yet. Mollie is a Golden/Chow/Border
> Collie mix and has been a wonderful companion. And boy!
> is she soft!
>
> <http://www.ssec.wisc.edu/~scottl/pictures/old/MolliePuppyDog.jpg>
>
> Anyway, Mollie is failing. I woke up today to find
> what my Mother used to call dog dirt all over the living
> room carpet, and Mollie was scarcely able to walk. (She
> has big lumps -- presumably tumors -- on both sides of
> her hips that have been interfering pretty severely with
> her mobility). She ate none of her breakfast, and threw
> up on her bed and is now holding her head at an angle.
> Well, this could be a reaction to the chicken liver we gave
> her yesterday -- her stomach is very intolerant to rich foods.
> Or it could be the beginning of the end, and a euthanization
> could be in the future for us sooner rather than later.
> I'm gonna try to find a vet that will come to the house and
> do the deed there, and then take Mollie away. Everyone
> will be a wreck, I'm sure.
>
> If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
> responded, I'd like to hear it.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Scott DD 10 and DS 7 and Mollie McButter PuppyDog, somewhere
> between 12 and 15 in human years
>

[Scott Lindstrom]

Well, Mollie is still not 100% -- she's not really eating
anything (Tonight we're browning some hamburger for her
to see how she likes that), but she's drinking water at
least.

One poster suggested Mollie has Canine Vestibular Disease,
and she does have all the symptoms, so we're waiting to
see how she improves. The in-law's dog had the same
thing last year, and recovered (MIL suggested the ground
beef treatment).

We rolled up the rugs in the living room to deal with
Mollie's temporary incontinence. Now the living room
is covered with towels so she can stagger around and
not slip on the hardwood floors. It sure is easier to
throw the towels in the wash than to steam clean the rug ;)

Yesterday DD's best friend for 8 years called to make
sure we called her and had her come over to say "Bye"
to Mollie when/if the time comes.

DD and DS seem to have taken this in stride, but we'll
see what happens if Mollie gets worse.

Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts!

Scott, DD 10 and DS 7

[john]

Scott, DD 10 and DS 7
I can very much feel for the situation you must be going through at the
moment.
Our dog was getting old, and our Mum had him (Tricksy, an Australiain
Terrier) put to sleep whilst us kids where away at camp. Tricksy was about
14 and was in failing health, something us kids really don't see/know or
understand. Well, I'm now 43 and I still feel badly about the way we where
not told about what happened. Well, I own a dog of my own (Neelix, a Fox
Terrier cross) and I take a great deal of interest in the health of animals.
Can I suggest two things. First, if your dog seems like it is not living a
comfortable life, please consider that although we would do almost anything
for our pets, sadly there life-span is alot shorter than ours. The other is
have a family meeting, letting your children know the state of Mollies
health and how it effects her day to day life. It may be possible to arrange
a visit to the vets, where the vet can explain in understandable terms what
Mollies future holds. It may be easier for you too, having someone else
spell out the news. Also, have a family meeting and decide what will happen,
both whilst Mollie is still with you, when and how you feel it's time to let
Mollie rest, and what to do after. We can't stop Mollie from passing away,
but being prepared and having a plan might help you all through this
difficult time. I don't know whether you would have a memorial service, Let
Mollie rest in a pet cemetery or have some reminder made and set up in the
house somewhere. I sometimes wonder what I will do when Neelix starts
getting too old. Dogs are very much mans best friend. I hope you are able to
sort your way through this tough time.
John



"Scott Lindstrom" > wrote in message
...
>
> Well, Mollie is still not 100% -- she's not really eating
> anything (Tonight we're browning some hamburger for her
> to see how she likes that), but she's drinking water at
> least.
>
> One poster suggested Mollie has Canine Vestibular Disease,
> and she does have all the symptoms, so we're waiting to
> see how she improves. The in-law's dog had the same
> thing last year, and recovered (MIL suggested the ground
> beef treatment).
>
> We rolled up the rugs in the living room to deal with
> Mollie's temporary incontinence. Now the living room
> is covered with towels so she can stagger around and
> not slip on the hardwood floors. It sure is easier to
> throw the towels in the wash than to steam clean the rug ;)
>
> Yesterday DD's best friend for 8 years called to make
> sure we called her and had her come over to say "Bye"
> to Mollie when/if the time comes.
>
> DD and DS seem to have taken this in stride, but we'll
> see what happens if Mollie gets worse.
>
> Thanks to everyone for their kind thoughts!
>
> Scott, DD 10 and DS 7
>

[Claire Petersky]

Scott Lindstrom > wrote in message >...

> If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
> responded, I'd like to hear it.

Our cat Jasmine died this summer at the age of 16. Her world had been
becoming more and more limited as she grew older. Before we finally
had her put to sleep, her life was limited to the top of our bed,
under our bed, the food dish, and the litterbox. The final problem for
her was making it to the litter box at midnight and 4:00 AM, and we
had too many "accidents". I told my husband it was time. He was in
total denial, and it was very hard for me to take the leadership in
this decision.

You may remember this post I made: http://tinyurl.com/pdfh. I'd note
that Newt has stayed away from all things in the will that he was
supposed to avoid, with the notable exception of my husband's
computer.

Our older child elected not to go to the vet's for the euthanasia; the
younger child did. We then buried her in our yard. I read the Rainbow
Bridge story. Everyone cried and cried.

I think it's good for children to see you grieve -- they also need to
feel like they can express the loss as much or as little as they need
to, you know?

You have all my sympathies. This is hard on everyone, but you need to
do what you need to do, you know? Just be glad for the times you did
share together, you, your family, and your beloved animal.

Warm Regards,


Claire Petersky )
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm

Books just wanna be FREE! See what I mean at:
http://bookcrossing.com/friend/Cpetersky

[chiam margalit]

Scott Lindstrom > wrote in message >...
>> If anyone has experience with this, and how their kids
> responded, I'd like to hear it.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Scott DD 10 and DS 7 and Mollie McButter PuppyDog, somewhere
> between 12 and 15 in human years


My condolences on Molly's failing. We recently went through this with
our cat Bingo, who was 18.5 when he died. He was so ancient, and
obviously way predated my children, so he was my cat. They have a dog
that they adore, but my daughter especially loved Bingo. He was an
amazing cat, very smart, and did a lot of tricks. But the last couple
of years of his life were not great and I think in the end I should
have taken action sooner than I did. Hindsight....

Bingo was put down by our long time vet, who just adored him. This vet
is in a huge practice, but his specialty is cats with kidney problems,
which Bingo had for many years, and he really loved his patients.
Bingo ended up not even minding going to the vet because they had such
a good relationship. So, when it was time, we all came, and we all
cried (and I'm crying now just writing about it) and we all stroked
him and held him and told him how much we loved him, and then he just
went to sleep.

This is the 3rd pet I have had to put down in my adult life, and I've
always handled it the same way. When the quality of life really passes
and the pet is in pain, it crosses the line IMO from being a
responsible pet guardian (as they say in SF, you can't OWN a pet!) and
forgetting about your pet's welfare to care for your own. This is my
feeling, and other people feel diffently and I respect that. But for
my family, when a pet is ailing to the point of incontinence on a
constant basis (and I mean CONSTANT), is unable to walk without pain,
and is obviously only living to sleep and eat, then maybe it's time to
consider your options.

As I said, we have a dog, but we're still not ready to get another
cat. We've been talking about it a lot recently, but the truth is, I
don't think I could ever love another cat the way I loved Bingo. He
was my first cat and was raised by an ancient Irish Setter (my pets
tend to live forever) for the first year of his life and was
remarkably dog-like. In fact, he *loved* dogs and really didn't like
other cats. We tried to introduce one to our household once, and it
was disasterous. My son turned out to be allergic to this long-haired
cat and he went to live with a coworker of mine. Bingo was so happy he
was gone that I couldn't ever even consider trying this again. He was
a one cat kinda guy!

All I can say is, make sure your kids know the difference between
sleep and death, and let them know that it takes time to heal before
you can even think about replacing a pet. Explain that there is this
phantom pet thing, where you bend over to pat a pet, or step over a
spot where your pet usually sleeps long after he's gone. It's weird,
but it happens and it's better for them to know what to expect when it
happens to them.

I'm really sorry this is happening to your family and to Molly,

Marjorie

[Scott Lindstrom]

Mollie was put down this morning. This was the first
time I've ever seen it done, and it was pretty peaceful,
although we didn't see the part where they put the
catheter in Mollie's leg, after shaving it. *That*
probably wasn't peaceful. ;)

DD and her friend covered our driveway with chalk
yesterday -- We'll Miss you Mollie, Summer without
you is like the coldest winter, and things like that.
It really isn't very easy to drive up the driveway.
DS cried for a while in my arms last night also. Oof,
he's still very heavy.

To top it all off, today is picture day at DD's school,
and I swear to God it looks like she has a zit on
her forehead.

Scott DD 10 and DS 7 and Mollie McButter PuppyDog,
leap-leaping through the snow somewhere.

[Liz & Allan MacDonald]

Scott Lindstrom wrote:
>
> Mollie was put down this morning. This was the first
> time I've ever seen it done, and it was pretty peaceful,
> although we didn't see the part where they put the
> catheter in Mollie's leg, after shaving it. *That*
> probably wasn't peaceful. ;)
>
I'm sorry for your family's loss. If it helps any, the vet usually
gives the pet a sedative and allows it to work before beginning the
procedure. It takes effect in minutes, if you don't think enough time
elapsed for a sedative. My vet did this even though she knew she'd be
making the injection without a catheter.

> DD and her friend covered our driveway with chalk
> yesterday -- We'll Miss you Mollie, Summer without
> you is like the coldest winter, and things like that.
> It really isn't very easy to drive up the driveway.
> DS cried for a while in my arms last night also. Oof,
> he's still very heavy.

It's healing to cry together. DD and her friends ran around taking
turns wearing Onyx's collar that afternoon. We looked at photos that
evening.
Liz

[Jeff]

I am sorry for your loss.

Every living thing dies. Death is a part of life.

One book that is excellent for you (and later for you kids) is "How we die"
by Sherwin Nuland. It is an outstanding book about life and the end of life.

Jeff