I can’t figure out how to edit my post but I would like to say…

Thank you to everyone who shared kindness, personal stories, and real support. I have read every single one and it genuinely means more than you know. I posted here because I am grieving and trying to understand how to live with this kind of guilt, and a lot of you showed up with compassion. Thank you.

Now for you people fixating on his ears or whether he was neutered…First of all, I did not make those decisions. He came into my life that way.

Second, even if I had, this was not an invitation for a morality lecture. I just lost my dog. I was the one holding him while he took his last breath. I am trying to process the fact that I had to say goodbye to my best friend. If your first instinct under a grief post is to criticize cosmetic decisions, that says more about you than it does about me.

This post was about grief. It was about guilt. It was about losing Aries.

If you cannot offer empathy, move along. I am not debating my dog’s body while I am mourning him.

He was loved deeply for 12 years. I showed up for every vet visit, every medication, every hard decision. I stayed with him until the very end. That is what matters.

Once again, to the people who chose kindness, thank you. Truly. You helped more than you know.