dealing with the loss of a pet

Last Saturday was the worst day of my younger children’s lives.  I am thankful that my children have not had to deal with loss of a loved one very much in their lifetimes, but it is hard to prepare them.  My children are 15, 10 and 7.  We lost Gabby, one of our fur babies Saturday morning.  I woke to find her having difficulty breathing and not able to walk.  Gabby was a healthy seven-year-old, chocolate, Labrador Retriever and she had not been showing any signs of illness. We contacted a vet and tried to make her as comfortable as we could, but she died a couple of hours later.

My husband and I have had at least one Labrador Retriever since before we got married 20 years ago.  Since then it is the only breed we will have around our children.  Each of our fur babies have been so lovable and gentle with our children I couldn’t possibly think of having a different breed.  This loss was very unexpected Gabby was so healthy, strong and energetic– she had not shown any signs of being sick.

The day before my husband took the kids hunting and spent the afternoon fishing in our pond. The girls (Labradors) were out there with them the whole day playing with the kids. We adopted both of our labs as puppies, they were from the same litter and the girls have never been separated. Not only have we had to deal with our children loosing a beloved pet, but also Bella loosing her sister.

Bella has lost a good 5-10 pounds dealing with her loss. She isn’t eating much and my children are keeping her busy running all over the house. I took her to the vet yesterday to make sure she was up to date on her shots . . . I couldn’t bear the thought of loosing another fur baby. Take time today to love on your fur babies for Gabby. If you do not regularly take your pets to the vet find a local organization that gives shots for a reduced price to prevent anything from taking your babies from you. We have no idea what caused Gabby to leave us so soon, but plan to make sure her sister will be with us for years to come.