It was my nephews 5th birthday the other day. We had been at his house on the weekend for his birthday party. He was really excited and full of energy. He had a clown there and all of his friends. His family was there, as was his 8 year old Boxer. The Boxer was not feeling well but still seemed ok.
The next day my sis called me and told me her dog was rushed to the vet and on meds. She said he had a tumor and kidney issues. They may have to do surgery. She sounded down but still positive.
My sis has had her boxer since he was a pup. She and her boyfriend brought him home just after they got together and bought their home. He was their child until her some was born. He was my nephews best friend. I called my nephew on his birthday and my sister told me they had to put the dog down. Sad he was sick. Happy he is not in pain and suffering. Sad my nephew is now remembering his birthday as the day his dog went away. He doe snot understand death. What 5 year old does? They have explained it to him best as they can. But when they went to pick up his toys and pillow my nephew would not allow them. He insisted his best friend would be back for them.
It is so hard to say good bye to loved one. No matter if it is a friend, family member or pet. Today they pick up his ashes.
My husky is 16 years old. I know she has had a good life. She is still in good health and gets spurts of energy. I know though, her day will come. I am not sure how I will handle it. Not sure how to prepare my children. With the heat being like it is she often does not want to go outside. She prefers to lay around ion her bedding and sleep. I hope she will be with us for a while longer, but I still can not help but prepare for the worse.
How do you explain death to children?
I have no idea what I am going to tell my son when it's our cats time to go. I have had so many pets in my lifetime and it never gets easier when one dies. For days or weeks later I am so sad. I feel bad for your sister and her family. I do understand how hard it is to have to put down a pet you have had since it was a baby. My condolences to their family.
It's so sad when a pet dies. I had to put down a cat that was around 15 years of my life last October. He was old and his body was shutting down. It never does get easier like Cheryl said. It's a loved one, a family member. Today I just got a call from my boyfriend. One of his family dogs had to be put down. He was healthy 6 months ago at the vet checkup, but since then developed Cancer and it spread through his whole body 🙁 They had to put him down this morning.
They will have to explain at some point to my boyfriend's nephew who just turned 4 why Rudy is no longer around. That's going to be tough. I guess there is no right way to explain death to a child. But there are some tips I found. Maybe you could have a look and send them over to your sister to read. I hope they are helpful.
http://kidshealth.org/parent/positive/talk/death…. http://www.todaysparent.com/family/parenting/expl…
Losing a pet is so difficult. I lost my7 year old cat to diabetes 2 years ago and I still think about him every day. My kids are older, but still it was hard on them. Eventually we got another cat, but still we miss our RexyCat so much.