Millions of us have pets that we love and cherish. They become a big part of our family and eventually we loose these beloved pets. When we do many times we ask ourselves:
IF ONLY I:
didn't have to make that decision
could tell them how much I love them
could hold them one more time
could smell that familiar scent one more time
had taken them to the veterinarian
had watched them a little closer
had recognized the signs
IF ONLY I:
didn't have to make that decision
could tell them how much I love them
could hold them one more time
could smell that familiar scent one more time
had taken them to the veterinarian
had watched them a little closer
had recognized the signs
Over the last 18 years I have owned three Brittany's. Jordan, my first Brittany lived a relatively healthy life with the exception of ear infections from swimming in the pool. I was able to successfully treat his ear infections with medicine.
In 1999 Colt came along. Colt was different; he had problems with seizures generated from valley fever. I was able to treat the valley fever which eliminated the seizures.
My third Brittany, Kimber, came along in 2007, shortly after I lost Jordan. Kimber is a very high strung working dog. I have had an ongoing problem with high anxiety in KImber. I had been to the vet multiple times for his anxiety issue and they had recommended medicine to help with his hyper anxiety. In giving him this medicine, he appeared to be intoxicated. I have adjusted the amount of medicine I give him with no success.
The last time I had him in the Vet, they could not determine what was wrong with him, but the vet recommended a new product named the Thunder Shirt. It was funny the Vet mentioned this because a week before my oldest son brought me an article about the Thunder Shirt.
I purchased the Thunder Shirt a couple months ago and was very surprised with the results. I no longer have to give KImber any medicine. When he starts showing signs of anxiety, I put the thunder shirt on and almost instantly it seems to calm him down.
I would recommend this product to anyone with the same problem. Whether it be anxieties from thunder, fireworks, loud noises or just traveling in the car. It seems to be a great alternative to mind altering medicines.
In 1999 Colt came along. Colt was different; he had problems with seizures generated from valley fever. I was able to treat the valley fever which eliminated the seizures.
My third Brittany, Kimber, came along in 2007, shortly after I lost Jordan. Kimber is a very high strung working dog. I have had an ongoing problem with high anxiety in KImber. I had been to the vet multiple times for his anxiety issue and they had recommended medicine to help with his hyper anxiety. In giving him this medicine, he appeared to be intoxicated. I have adjusted the amount of medicine I give him with no success.
The last time I had him in the Vet, they could not determine what was wrong with him, but the vet recommended a new product named the Thunder Shirt. It was funny the Vet mentioned this because a week before my oldest son brought me an article about the Thunder Shirt.
I purchased the Thunder Shirt a couple months ago and was very surprised with the results. I no longer have to give KImber any medicine. When he starts showing signs of anxiety, I put the thunder shirt on and almost instantly it seems to calm him down.
I would recommend this product to anyone with the same problem. Whether it be anxieties from thunder, fireworks, loud noises or just traveling in the car. It seems to be a great alternative to mind altering medicines.
Losing a beloved pet may be one of the hardest thing many of us will go through. I know it was for me. Fortunately I was able to take many pictures of my boys. After doing a little research I was able to find a couple of pet memorial web sites. Now I am able to go to one place to visit and pay my respects to both Jordan and Colt. I started using the Rainbow Bridge web site for many things. After Jordan died in late 2006, I set up a memorial site on the Rainbow Bridge and every week I go to this site to read all the stories and poems posted. Rainbow Bridge is a wonderful site for many things related to the loss of your pet and I highly recommend it.
Pets Memories is another site that that I was able to set up memorials for both Jordan and Colt. This site has more photo storage and versatility than others. And this site is FREE.
The below story was given to me by a very good friend and huge animal lover shortly after the lost my first Brittany, Jordan. It really helped me understand my grieving stages, and I think it might help you.
Living Love
by Martin Scot Kosins
If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember...
The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter--simply because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room--and when you feel it brush against you for the first time--it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.
The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your long-time friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet--and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.
And on this day--if your friend and God have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own--on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you--- you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night. If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you. But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul--a bit smaller in size than your own---seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come. And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg--very very lightly. And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay---you will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely be painful, and leave an ache in your heart---As time passes the ache will come and go as it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.
But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when---along with the memory of your pet---and piercing through the heaviness in your heart---there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love---like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this love will remain and grow--and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our beloved pets--it is a love that we will always possess.
Pets Memories is another site that that I was able to set up memorials for both Jordan and Colt. This site has more photo storage and versatility than others. And this site is FREE.
The below story was given to me by a very good friend and huge animal lover shortly after the lost my first Brittany, Jordan. It really helped me understand my grieving stages, and I think it might help you.
Living Love
by Martin Scot Kosins
If you ever love an animal, there are three days in your life you will always remember...
The first is a day, blessed with happiness, when you bring home your young new friend. You may have spent weeks deciding on a breed. You may have asked numerous opinions of many vets, or done long research in finding a breeder. Or, perhaps in a fleeting moment, you may have just chosen that silly looking mutt in a shelter--simply because something in its eyes reached your heart. But when you bring that chosen pet home, and watch it explore, and claim its special place in your hall or front room--and when you feel it brush against you for the first time--it instills a feeling of pure love you will carry with you through the many years to come.
The second day will occur eight or nine or ten years later. It will be a day like any other. Routine and unexceptional. But, for a surprising instant, you will look at your long-time friend and see age where you once saw youth. You will see slow deliberate steps where you once saw energy. And you will see sleep where you once saw activity. So you will begin to adjust your friend's diet--and you may add a pill or two to her food. And you may feel a growing fear deep within yourself, which bodes of a coming emptiness. And you will feel this uneasy feeling, on and off, until the third day finally arrives.
And on this day--if your friend and God have not decided for you, then you will be faced with making a decision of your own--on behalf of your lifelong friend, and with the guidance of your own deepest Spirit. But whichever way your friend eventually leaves you--- you will feel as alone as a single star in the dark night. If you are wise, you will let the tears flow as freely and as often as they must. And if you are typical, you will find that not many in your circle of family or friends will be able to understand your grief, or comfort you. But if you are true to the love of the pet you cherished through the many joy-filled years, you may find that a soul--a bit smaller in size than your own---seems to walk with you, at times, during the lonely days to come. And at moments when you least expect anything out of the ordinary to happen, you may feel something brush against your leg--very very lightly. And looking down at the place where your dear, perhaps dearest, friend used to lay---you will remember those three significant days. The memory will most likely be painful, and leave an ache in your heart---As time passes the ache will come and go as it has a life of its own. You will both reject it and embrace it, and it may confuse you. If you reject it, it will depress you. If you embrace it, it will deepen you. Either way, it will still be an ache.
But there will be, I assure you, a fourth day when---along with the memory of your pet---and piercing through the heaviness in your heart---there will come a realization that belongs only to you. It will be as unique and strong as our relationship with each animal we have loved, and lost. This realization takes the form of a Living Love---like the heavenly scent of a rose that remains after the petals have wilted, this love will remain and grow--and be there for us to remember. It is a love we have earned. It is the legacy our pets leave us when they go. And it is a gift we may keep with us as long as we live. It is a love which is ours alone. And until we ourselves leave, perhaps to join our beloved pets--it is a love that we will always possess.