Hello everyone, I am new to the site.  But I loved it after reading through some posts, and joined.  I have a 2 year old rattie names Leila.  She is my daughter's dog who is 17 and lives at home.  we also have a 5-year old black lab named Averice.  My dogs are best friends.  I think Averice keeps her entertained all the time while we are gone.  Averice has bone cancer really bad, and is very sick, we are going to have to put him asleep very soon. 

My question is, I wonder if Leila is going to start getting herself in trouble after Averice is gone.  Has anyone had the same circumstances?  Will she be just fine after he is gone by herself?  Should I find another sog, before I put m y lab down?  I really just don't know what to do.  Any advice would be helpful.  Thanks,

Patty

I am going to tell my friends that have ratties about this site.  You are definately right!

amen, Bonita!

thank you so much.  The hardest part is that Averice should have been taken to put down already, but my kids just don't understand when he still acts happy and wants to play, not laying around sick.  I have to be the mom and just do it, but I haven't been able to.  I know he is in pain and suffering, and that is just not humane.  I am going to have to do it though, and the kids will understand at some point.  It just stinks.

Patty

Leila turned 2 last month, so that is good to know.  I bet having two of them, is like having 2 little kids in the terrible twos.  Alot of work, but alot of fun.  Averice sort of adopted Leila and looked out for her from the day she came.

Thank you diane.  I appeciate the support.

That is sad that you have to put your dog to sleep. I know what you are going through. I had to have my shih'tzu Miss Peppy  put to sleep on 19 Oct  of this year. She had suffered a massive brain stroke and went into a coma. The vet said nothing could be done for her.

thanks for your support.

It is so hard when we loose  our pets.  I was in a similar situation a few years back when I faced putting my much loved 15 year old Lab down.

I couldn't face loosing the older of two Chocolate Labs although I knew she was very sick.  The thought came to my  mind that It might be time to put her down but I couldn't bring myself to do it.  Her last 2 days were awful and I wish I could go back and spare her those.

The two Labs were close to the same age and when the other one became very sick I took her to the vet and after a heartbreaking but frank conversation, decided to put her down.  Years later, I cry as I write this, but as I drove home from the vet, I knew that it was the right thing to do. At least the loss was softened by knowing that my Sugar Bear  left us with her head on my lap as she drifted into a comfortable sleep.

I hope I am not overstepping my bounds here but although you zipped past this in your post, you mentioned your daughter.  I might suspect this may be about her as much as  the left behind pet.   The lesson of compassion is much easier to take than if she must watch your sweet pet suffer. She may suprise you with how well she understands.

Lastly,  the last pair of pets we had before the Labs were Beagle Mixes.  They were litter mates and when the more dominant of the two died suddenly, the "left behind pet" did grieve.  Over a few months, she lost  weight and would only eat if we sat with her and hand fed her.  She bounced right back as soon as we got the first Lab.

My thoughts are with you as you deal with this AND deal with a college bound 17 year old

Rybekka

This August we discovered one of our ratties Penny's heart murmer had worsened considerably. SHe had always had epilepsy, had been treated for heart worms soon after we adopted her at six years old, and even had a lump removed and was always a happy dog. We faced treating her for her last few months with meds as just another treatment to preserve her quality of life. The meds gave us two happy months of Penny's love, but when she worsened in early October we had to let her go. Her body was exhausted with trying to carry on. We kne the day it was time to let go. They just look at you and you know they are ready. Mooch loved Penny. We adopted her when he was 5 years old and since day one they were best buddies, playmates. He woudl even wait at the door when she took longer outside then he did and kiss her on the nose when she came back in. Mooch had to adjust to being alone during the day when she was gone. At first he kept looking around for her. Then he started rubbing his nose on the towel in his kennel, rubbed his little nose raw. Slowly with love and lots of attention he has adjusted while we heal emotionally. We will probably soon foster some ratties so he has company again. I think he misses the doggy interaction.  My husband still misses Penny terribly. We both agreed it was time when he saw how she was suffering. I'm thinking of creating a memory tree for us to say goodbye. Maybe something similar like favorite photos of your lab and a family remembrance day would help. We hated to let her go, but we did it. We were exhausted by the time she was ready to go from caring for her, but when she was finaly gone we were almost releived that her suffering was done. Do it and move on, as fast as you can. Take a period to mourn. If your ratty becomes lonely and destructive, crate trainng is a great way for everyone to be safe while you are not hoem to supervise. When the time is right, you'll know, and a new doggy life will be added. Dogs are after all pack animals and if there has been more than one in the house, your dog will look for pack mates soon. Mooch is coming along. He was not eating well for a while. Now after much patience and some tummy meds he's back eating OK and looking like the old mooie again. I think his greiving is almost over. I had no idea dogs coudl grieve, but it sure seems like he did. Take your time bringing a new soul into the house. Give yourself some healing time as well.