Dogs & Pet End-of-Life

I’ll never forget calling the mobile vet clinic when our 10-year-old chocolate lab, Griffey, was deteriorating rapidly with bone cancer. The time was coming quicker than I was prepared for. I didn’t want to euthanize a moment too soon or a moment too late and it felt impossible to know when the exact right moment was, if there even is such a thing.

In my memory it was a sloppy send-off. My puffy face was smothered in a mix of tears, snot and fur. I closed my eyes and concentrated hard to commit our snuggles to memory: the feeling of his meaty bald belly beneath my fingertips, his whiskery nose tickling my lips and his big brown eyes looking directly into my soul. We set up camp with our mattress on the living room floor for the final few days so he’d never be alone. When the dreaded moment arrived I inhaled each puff of air that came out of his nose, until there were no more puffs. 

The intensity of our grief is a reflection of the intensity of our love for them. I see so much love and beauty in our final, sloppy goodbyes. I wish I had a picture from my final day with Griffey, which is why I am offering this to you. I’m a dog person but the following goes for cats or any pets too