We Are The Cure Blog | Canine Cancer Information

I received a contact form one day from Christine asking if we had any running clothes in our store.  She told me that she was going to run a marathon in honor of a dog she has lost to cancer.  As our conversation via email grew, I learned more and more of her Abbey and the hurt Christine still feels from her loss.  I asked her to share her story with us, here it is:

Our yellow lab Abbey died on March 9, 2011.  She was 12 1/2 when she passed of hermangeosarcoma.

Abbey, the light of the Risi family, lost to Hemangiosarcoma

Abbey, the yellow lab

After she died, it was like a part of our neighborhood died.  She had been there since the neighborhood was built.  The community suffered a loss.  We received more cards and gifts at her passing then we did with any human family member.  My neighbors took a collection of $350 and asked us to plant a tree in our front yard in her honor.  She just touched so many lives.

We received a quick contact form today with a short message that I wanted to share with you:

We recently lost our St. Bernard, Holly, and my daughter has a blog. Today she painted the sweetest tribute to our girl Holly. I thought you might all appreciate it Her blog is Rosehilldesigns.blogspot.com (April 12, 2012 post)

Stephanie

I loved the art work it was a nice tribute and it made me smile.  We all have different ways of saying goodbye, dealing with our loss and making a tribute.  I love it when they are shared.

As often is the case, we will have the horrible knowledge that it is just a matter of time before we have to make the choice of putting our pets to sleep. It is both a blessing and a curse. The one good thing is that we can really focus on quality time. We get a chance to say goodbye. We get to really connect.

Yet for anyone who does not get that chance, you must remember that they already know how much you love them. That is why they loved you so much.

If you lose your pet after you had to give them a shorter walk than usual, after you had to rush of to work without giving them the attention they deserved that day, remember, that is just life. There is no guilt meant to exist there. Think of your long term love, not just a moment you weren’t perfect. Your dedication, your love, your being loved, is what counts.

And, before we are put in the position of saying our last minute loving goodbyes, when we are in daily life with our healthy and happy pets, let’s make sure they know we love them.

This blog is contributed by Alex in Welderland from www.custompeturns.com. His Twitter contact is @CustomPetUrns.

Are you using one of the popular, ‘applied monthly’ flea products? Think about it…it can kill fleas because it is a form of poison. Some products contain strychnine. Others have the active ingredient, imidacloprid a nicotine-like substance which is rated as “moderately toxic” acutely by the WHO and the EPA and which causes thyroid lesions in rats. Is that really something you want to apply to your dog between his/her shoulders once a month to be absorbed by his/her skin until it’s able to also poison every flea that comes into contact with him/her?

There are wonderful, affordable essential oil combinations made especially for repelling fleas. Most contain oil of lemon and eucalyptus- very pleasant smelling.

If your dog does pick up fleas from another animal, a simple decoction of lemon peel poured over the dog will kill the fleas instantly. I love that solution! I mean, I’m not a scientist, but my sense is that lemon peel probably doesn’t cause cancer!

Diatomaceous earth and cedar chips are inexpensive, natural remedies for flea infested areas of the home or yard. Both can be found online.

This blog is contributed by Nadine M. Rosin, author of The Healing Art of Pet Parenthood http://www.TheHealingArtOfPetParenthood.com

We often forget, or we simply ignore, the stress that the loss of a beloved pet puts on us. Our hearts, our minds, and our spirits take a hard hit, and there remain a bruise left where that pain struck. We may not be able to see it, but we can definitely feel it.

To heal, we need to restore our souls back to that good place where it once was. Yes, we do heal on our own, and time greatly helps the journey, of course. But sometimes things get hidden, like splinters that have worked their way in and we don’t really realize they are there, we just feel the discomfort.

We can be the healthiest if we take action. After the grief, we need to give time and space for recovery. We can treat ourselves without asking why.

We need to shine a light on what has happened, allow ourselves to feel the pain, and then allow ourselves the time we need to heal it. This way, we can, and should, help ourselves through it, owing it to our loved ones, our own hearts and spirits, our mind and our other pets.

This blog is contributed by Alex in Welderland from www.custompeturns.com. His Twitter contact is @CustomPetUrns.

We all want love. We all want to give it and to receive it. With our pets, we find it unconditionally. And once they are gone, we feel that emptiness. And we suffer. We can want to have it back so badly, and that can hurt so very much. The finality of death is so very difficult for us. I wish it wasn’t, but it is a truth we all have to face.

I wonder if we could feel the ‘enough’, would it relieve our sorrow. If we could appreciate the year, five years, 16 years, we had with our beloved pets, is there a point where we can be grateful for that time more strongly than wanting more of it? If we could celebrate that joy, that love, that togetherness that we had as the be all and end all of everything?

It is a huge challenge, but what a great way to walk through life, feeling we have enough. To focus daily on being grateful for what we have, what we have had in our past. I want to take this on, joyful in the ‘enough’ of life. Grateful and appreciative more that needy and wanting.

It is very powerful. It is very beautiful. And it is what our angels want for us.

This blog is contributed by Alex in Welderland at www.custompeturns.com. His twitter contact is @CustomPetUrns

One word is wrong in the title of this post.

Can you find it?

It is the word “should”.

There is no “should”.

There is no “right” way to feel.

There is no “right” way to act.

What is, is.

What you feel, is what you feel.

There is no more than that.

There is no judgment to your reaction.

If you cry, yell, are silent, laugh, focus on your work, get mad, turn towards friends, turn away, that is just the nature of what is. We all react differently and there is no “one” way. Just let it all be.

Be who you are. Be how you are. Do not allow it to mean anything about yourself. No judgment that you are good, that you are bad, you should feel this, you shouldn’t feel that.

Contributed by Alex in Welderland at www.custompeturns.com Twitter is @CustomPetUrns

Our pets are among the most joyful things in our lives. They are family, they are friendship, they are unconditional love. We cherish them and spoil them and look forward to their heartfelt welcomes every time we see them. The last thing that we want to think about is when they will no longer be there to greet us, lick our faces, nuzzle their noses up against us.

After five years of talking to grieving pet owners every day, one of the most common things that I hear from people is “I wish that I would have prepared for this.” Just as devastating as losing any other family member, losing a pet can be paralyzing. I think this reference to “preparing” is both preparing emotionally, and logistically, i.e., what do you want to do with the body? One dear client of mine took a leave of absence from work and spent the last year of her dog’s life at home with her, not wanting to miss a moment of her last days. But never did she think of preparing for what she would do with her loved one’s (Coco) remains after she passed. Once Coco was gone, she realized that she didn’t believe in cremation and wanted to bury her dear pup but had no idea what kind of box or container to bury her in. She was so distraught over the loss that she couldn’t think clearly at all and wished that she had made all of these decisions before the dreaded time came – when she was able to think clearly.

While it is difficult, not fun and absolutely dreadful to think about, preparing for the loss of your animal companion(s) can prove to be the best thing that you ever do for yourself. You’ll thank yourself later because all of these difficult decisions will already be made and the logistics and motions that you have to go through will be just that – logistics and motions. You won’t be bogged down in a lot of difficult decisions that are made so much harder by your broken heart.

Decisions to give some thought to now:

1. Cremation or burial? This is a VERY personal choice. Do you believe in cremation? It’s a good question to make a decision about ahead of time.

2. If burial is the right choice for you, choose a pet cemetery now, find out the pricing and availability of plots.

3. What type of grave marker do you want to use

4. Do you want to have a ceremony? Large or small? Indoors or out?

5. Do you want to put anything else in the grave with your pet, i.e., toys, photos, pillow, blanket, a memento of yourself, etc?

On a bit of a lighter note you might want to consider making a list of all of the fun and indulgent things that you’re going to do with your furry friend in his or her last days. Now this is only useful if your pet is sick and you know the end is coming. Unfortunately, our friends sometimes suffer unexpected accidents that we don’t see coming, but if you know the end is near, spoil your pet rotten in their last days with you. Let them sleep on furniture they’re not supposed to, let them indulge in their treats (if it won’t harm them or cause them to be uncomfortable), take them for lots of car rides if they love that, take lots of walks and play all of those silly games that make them so happy.

Make every day meaningful for both you and your pet. Unfortunately they’re not with us forever, so we need to savor all of the love and friendship that they give us so generously.

Colleen Mihelich is the Founder of Peternity.com, a website dedicated to supporting the grieving pet owner. She is an expert author on the subject of Pet Loss. You can find her on her blog, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. Post a free memorial to your pet on Peternity.com

After reading the great blog by our guest blogger Alex of Welderland, I started to think about when we had to put our three dogs down because of Cancer.  I don’t have to tell anyone reading this how hard that decision is, especially right at the time of doing it.

But my wife and I have discovered something that happens with our dogs.  Each dog in their own way, let us know when it was time.  I can still remember when we made the decision for Bailey.  He was the hard one because even with only days left, he was still strong but he could hardly breathe because the Hermangiosarcoma had spread throughout his lungs.

When Bailey let us know it was time, it was at night.  We brush our dogs every night before going to bed and Bailey loved that.  He was up on the grooming table and struggled to breathe but was wagging his tail because he loved to be on the table and brushed.  Then there was a moment when he looked at us in a way that said he was ready, Sara and I both knew without saying anything to each other that it was time, and we just hugged him what seems forever and cried.  The next morning we said good bye to him.

Each of our dogs that have died of Cancer have told us when it is time by a look or an action that in our case makes us know we did the right thing.  But doing the right thing still is not easy and I still sometimes have doubts.  That is why I think Alexandria’s blog was so powerful.