Sue, Reading this brought tears to my eyes. I'm so sorry. I'm the mother of 9 feline fur children. They are all old...breaks my heart to think I'm going to start losing them. Big Hugs, Lori

Laurie - I know you wrote this the other day (I've not checked in for a while) but I wanted to give you some reassurance! I have a bottle of Xanax that I use when I need it. Not the whole bottle although sometimes I feel like I could use it! Anyway, anxiety and depression are a b*tch - I've dealt with it most of my adult life. I've been off and on anti-depressants several times. Right now I'm on them, not for depression, but for my fibromyalgia (which is treated the same as depression) and like I said, I've got my Xanax for those anxiety attacks. I hate em! My heart starts fluttering, I get really nervous and shakey feeling, and after many attempts at slow breathing, going to my "happy place", visualizing, etc. if I'm still feeling it, I will take 1/2 pill and if that doesn't cut it, I'll take the 2nd half. We're here for you! Michelle

Thank you for all your well wishes during this time, it's hard to come home after work and not see Lucky waiting for me. We've been looking back over the last 11 1/2 years and remembering all the nutty things Lucky used to do. She was quite a character. We went through all the pictures we have of her and you can really see how much she aged over the years. But, even in the young pictures of her, you can see that her hips were bad. She always walked and ran different. She never stood to eat, she would lay down. As she got older and the hip dyplasia got worse, she NEVER let it show that she was in pain. Our 2 year old grand-daughter could walk right up to her and give her a big hug and Lucky would sit still for her. We have another lab who's 6 years old named Baby. So right now, we've just been spoiling the heck out of her. She's mourning also. She goes outside and looks in the doghouse for Lucky, then she'll walk around the backyard looking for her. She's been mopey all week and is just now starting to eat again. Baby always took care of Lucky. She'd clean her, lay by her. At night, even though there were 2 dogs houses, they always slept together in one. Now, Baby's taken to sleeping with my 13 year old daughter!

Aw, Sue, I'm so sorry... I know how hard it is to have to go through that. My first dog, Pippy, lived until she was 14. The year I moved out and then my mom died, she just got so lonely and heartbroken she quit eating. Went from 15 pounds to 8, and we finally decided to let her go. I have two big dogs now (Rotts) and they both have hip displasia, as well. So far, they have many more good days than bad but we know some day we'll have to make some decisions, too. You're in my thoughts.

Any one who shares in loving a pet understands your loss. Just reading your story brings me to tears, as I have been in the same spot when the "time" arrived with pets of my own. You are in my thoughts.