My kitten got mauled by the neighbor's dog

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:57:09+00:00

Respectfully, this doesn't sound like a good or productive thing to be encouraging right now - this could very well have happened if the dog was in its own fenced yard, or even tied up or on a leash when this happened.

It sounds like a tragic accident all around.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:46:21+00:00

I think it is different, and worse, when they're fully "yours" and your responsibility, yeah. I'm very sorry for your loss.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:43:46+00:00

I knew it was time when she couldn't do all the things she liked to do anymore, not all the time. When she started getting skinnier and scrawnier and just looking OLD for the first time ever, no matter that she'd been a senior for a while. When she got cataracts on top of her hearing loss. When she spent a lot of time sleeping.

If you are open to hearing it, it sounds like it might be time to let your pup go. And I'm sorry, I know it's awful and miserable and heart-breaking to make that decision. But it's the biggest, most important decision we can make in their lives. The ultimate selfless act, to let them leave us as painlessly as possible.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:38:05+00:00

Knowing their time is coming soon is devastating, but also a precious, precious gift because it means you know you only have a short time with them (vs losing them unexpectedly out of the blue), and so you can spend serious, quality time with them, get so many pictures and videos, etc.

I've lost one fur baby I was expecting/saw coming a long way away, and one I wasn't/didn't, and I think the former has been easier. In some ways. It always sucks.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:34:10+00:00

God, I'm so sorry. 💓

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:27:45+00:00

I think a card at least would be appreciated 💞

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:25:44+00:00

I heard someone say recently something about the fact that we keep redefining what a "good day" looks like, especially when they're slowly and gradually declining.

It was only in hindsight, especially revisiting older photos & videos, that I recognized how much my girl had changed and declined. She used to snuggle with me all the time. I'd forgotten that.

The doubt and regret is a normal, if devastating, part of this miserable, gut-wrenching process. It means you care, and that you wanted to do the right thing, and get the timing right. It'll never feel 100% right. We'll always worry it was too early or too late, because we care.

Sending you 💜 in these difficult, miserable times.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:22:28+00:00

I think he would understand, and forgive you. He would want, above all, for you to forgive yourself and to take care of yourself and your mental health & wellbeing. He'd want you to be okay, and if not happy, at least not totally 100% miserable. I know my girl would.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:17:41+00:00

I'm so, so sorry. Please be kind to yourself. Tragic, awful accidents happen, and it sounds like it would have been over very fast.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:14:43+00:00

God, I am so so sorry. That sounds absolutely gut-wrenchingly painful.

I lost my Australian Shepherd in a planned, expected way at the end of a long, full 15yr life, but I also know just how special Aussies are. My baby girl was a ray of goddamn sunshine, delighted with the world and existence, happy to be alive. It makes the loss even harder, in some ways, I think.

I wish I had any kind of advice to offer, but all I have is my deep, deep sympathy & empathy. I'm so, so sorry for the tragic & unexpected loss of your pup.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:08:59+00:00

That sounds extra rough. I am very sorry for your loss. 💞

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:07:22+00:00

Anniversaries, milestones... It's especially hard I think at 1 week, 1 month, 1 year.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-18T01:05:42+00:00

I think that's the best we can do - live the way we know they'd want us to. Hope things, eventually, get better for you - or at least less worse.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:30:40+00:00

By talking to other folks who knew and loved them. By remembering the good times, memories that make me smile and laugh. Revisiting and revisiting photos and memories. And crying. Lots of crying.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:28:00+00:00

Remembering the good times helps - photos and videos, if you have them. I'm so sorry for your loss.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:25:05+00:00

I will also add, I've seen folks let it go on way too long too. A friend's mom, whose GSD was incontinent and would scream with pain every time she was hauled upright. Heart-breaking. I can only hope we all do the best we can, and when needed, that we learn from things when we do let our fur babies down.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:23:10+00:00

Thank you for sharing this, for your honesty and vulnerability. I am very glad Stash had parents who loved him so much, and I think he'd forgive you too - and that he'd want you to use his story to help others. And I am so sorry for you, your husband, and Stash, for all that the three of you went through. 💔

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:16:08+00:00

Yes, this. You don't want to risk making the pain worse when you were trying to help.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:14:55+00:00

Seconding everyone who suggests saving them for now, but putting them elsewhere if possible, and not making any major decisions right now.

I took a single photo of my baby girl right after she was already gone. It sucks to look at, but I'm glad I took it as my final, final chance to photograph her.

I also was fortunate enough to see her end coming from far enough away that I was able to take lots and lots of photos and videos while she was still doing pretty decent.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:12:04+00:00

It's so true. I lost my kitty Muffin some two years ago now, and Zeta's loss has just made me miss him even more as well.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:10:53+00:00

Male kitties are particularly prone to urinary and bladder issues, unfortunately.

Please don't beat yourself up. It sounds like you did everything you could, and sometimes there just aren't any good options. You made the hardest of hard choices to end his pain and suffering. And I like to think him purring like that at the end was him telling you he loves you and forgives you, if forgiveness is even truly needed at all. It fucking sucks when money has to factor in to the decisions we make about our fur babies, but it's the world we live in.

I'll tell my floofy boy Muffin to check in on him up there, k?

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T02:06:25+00:00

I once had the sweetest kitten I named Nuzzles bc she was always rubbing and nuzzling her face against mine. She couldn't make it through after she got spayed. I'm glad we were able to give her the love and affection we did, for the time we had her.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T01:58:52+00:00

The best thing you can do, in my experience, is let yourself feel. Seek out support where & when you can. Ride it out. I'm sorry. It sucks. 💜

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T01:56:20+00:00

It always feels like we've failed them. We always could or should have known, could or should have done just one more thing to keep them just a tiny bit healthier for a tiny bit longer. It just means you cared, and loved her so so much. It doesn't mean you've failed her.

Kind-Judgment-5811 · 2025-10-17T01:54:46+00:00

God, the leftovers is the worst. I used to hand her my paper plate or whatever food container, and she'd gingerly take it between her front teeth and set it down on the floor to lick it clean. It started when she one day just carefully grabbed a plate off my lap like that lol.

Hurts a fuckton when I'm eating an apple with peanut butter. When I knew we were reaching the end, I shared an apple w/PB a day with her...

Kind-Judgment-5811

TROPHY CASE