I’m so very sorry for your loss.
I’m so sorry, StGermain. I think this is one of the pitfalls of having lots of animals. You help a lot, but you get hurt when something happens.
We have fostered and adopted many stray animals over the years. About a year ago, a puppy we adopted got hit by a car when we weren’t watching him. He was such a great puppy, too. I still haven’t forgiven myself. Anyway. I guess my point is, it happens. You take good care of your pets, and they’re lucky to have you. Kind of sucks being responsible for them, though, when you make a mistake. Or even when something happens that isn’t your fault. I think this was a pretty minor error on your end, don’t be too hard on yourself.
It was hard for me to look at my dogs the same way after they had gone after the first cat, the second time was worse. It must be especially hard for you, not just a random animal that they killed, but your own kitten and you’re blaming yourself for what happened. I hope time heals this for you and you can get past it. You’re right, the dogs don’t understand why you’re mad, though I would guess they know something is up.
A few years ago, one of my dog park friends got a kitten while her large older dog was starting to decline from cancer. She kept them separated, not trusting the dog with the tiny kitten, but she slipped up one day and the kitten was gone without a trace. I won’t go into detail, TMI, but it was the dog. She blamed the meds he was on, but she chose to euthanize him shortly after. I’m still not sure how to feel about that and no idea how I would respond in that situation either.
Don’t beat yourself up. Be kind to your dogs, be kind to yourself.
I’m so sorry for your loss. I know it was shocking how fast it happened. {{{StGermain}}}
Didn’t you take on a kitty that a poster found in their yard a year or two ago?
Thank you, everyone, for your condolences.
It was hard burying him last night when I got home from work. Stupid, I know, but all the while I was at work yesterday I kept thinking, “Maybe he’d just passed out and he’ll be alive when I get home!”. I didn’t really believe it, but I kept hoping so hard. Of course, he was just as dead when I got home as when I left for work.
I’m forgiving my dogs, mostly because I can see that they didn’t understand why I was so mad at them last night. Usually if I lie on my bed and read at night, Drago the doberman comes and lies behind me and puts his head on my waist. Last night he got on the bed behind me, but didn’t snuggle next to me or put his head on me. He knew he wasn’t welcome, but still wanted to be with me. So what choice did I have but to pet them all?
StG
I’m so very sorry for your loss. I can’t bring myself to read the thread right now, so I don’t know the circumstances–I’m sorry for that. But just the title of your post made me cry. I can’t imagine how you must feel, regardless of what the details were.
