Did a tough thing this afternoon.

[Jason Roehl]

I had to put down our family's cat today. Rajah was an incredibly loyal tabby that my wife and I got as a few-weeks-old kitten shortly after we were married in July '95. Unfortunately, he came down with cancer a few months ago in one of his front legs, and this past week we noticed he was having trouble with one of his back legs also. He really hadn't been himself for a couple months, but he was one tough cat and never gave up, despite his lame legs. I took my boys with me to do the deed (no, I didn't make either of them pull the trigger), as I wanted them to learn one of life's tougher lessons about doing what is necessary when it comes to family pets.

Thanks for the memories, Rajah (ca. June 1995-March 29, 2008).

[Jackie Outten]

Jason,

I am very sorry to here about your cat. It's always so hard to lose a pet especially when they are such a big part of your family.

Jackie

[Mark Stutz]

Sorry to hear about Rajah, Jason. We lost our yellow lab several months ago...I still can't look at any pictures...just tears me up.

Mark

[Kevin French]

That is a tough thing to do.

I had to put a dog down last summer. Flat out, I cried like a baby most of the day.

http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g179/sweeper54/Freckles2copy.jpg

[Ted Calver]

Jason,
Sorry your family lost a valued friend. I wish vets could give us a way for our pets to fall asleep in the comfort of their own homes.

[Jim O'Dell]

Jason, it is always hard to lose a loyal four legged friend. As a family, make a memorial page in the computer that you can add one line rememberances about the funny and loving things Rajah did while he was with you. It is theraputic. Allow the kids to add theirs too. It helps with the healing.
Ted, there are some Vets that will come to the house. If you create a good relationship with your's, I'm sure they would be most accomodating.
The last 2 we have had to put down, the Vet came out to the van, did the deed, then left LOML and I to cry and hold them for a while until we were ready to let them go. The hardest one was our first show dog, and carrying him into the office at the end and passing a friend who was grooming at the clinic who didn't know about it. The look on her face just tore me up again.
May the shamrocks fall softly, Rajah.
Jim.

[Belinda Barfield]

Jason, I am so sorry to hear about your family's loss of Rajah. If you are not familiar with the poem "The Rainbow Bridge" here is a link. Your children may in it. Religious or not, it is nice to think that our pets are just waiting for us to join them.

http://www.petloss.com/poems/maingrp/rainbowb.htm

[Dennis Peacock]

Jason,

I'm very sorry to hear about Rajah. It's hard to deal with loosing a pet.

[Bryan Berguson]

Jason,

Pets are tough to lose. I've cried like a baby over a number of pets.

Bryan

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Jason....My condolences over the loss of a member of your family.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

I'm sorry for your family's loss Jason. We have lost 3 dogs and 2 cats over the years--it's never gotten any easier.

[Tom Veatch]

I feel your pain, Jason. The dog in my avatar, Lady, had to be put down several months ago due to her epilepsy getting to the point it couldn't be controlled - grand mal seizures about every 4 hours. My eyes still tear up thinking of her.

They are a member of the family and their loss cuts deeply. Yoy have my most sincere condolences.

[Martin Shupe]

Jason, sorry for your loss. I don't have any cats, but I don't look forward to that day that will come for the family dog.

[David Sallee]

Sorry to hear about you loss Jason... We have a yellow tabby that we have had for almost 22 yrs (got him when he was 6 weeks old) and I know how hard it's going to be when he goes.

Our thought and prayers go out to your family....

Dave

[Jim Becker]

Rajah lives on Jason...in both memories and in the little ways he changed your lives over time.

[Fred Voorhees]

I hear where your coming from Jason! My wife and I are "cat people" and we have had a number of cats come and go and they were all tough in one respect or another. My sympathies go out to you and your family. We currently have two after losing one a few months ago and we have two more coming in the next month or so that we will be adopting.

[Jim King]

SHE IS GONE , YOU CAN SHED TEARS THAT SHE IS GONE OR YOU CAN SMILE BECAUSE SHE LIVED.

YOU CAN CLOSE YOUR EYES AND PRAY THAT SHE’LL COME BACK OR YOU CAN OPEN YOUR EYES AND SEE ALL SHE’S LEFT.

YOU HEART CAN BE EMPTY BECAUSE YOU CAN’T SEE HER OR YOU CAN BE FULL OF THE LOVE YOU SHARED.

YOU CAN TURN YOUR BACK ON TOMORROW AND LIVE YESTERDAY OR YOU CAN BE HAPPY FOR TOMORROW BECAUSE OF YESTERDAY.

YOU CAN REMEMBER HER AND ONLY THAT SHE’S GONE OR YOU CAN CHERISH HER MEMORY AND LET IT LIVE ON.

YOU CAN CRY AND LOSE YOUR MIND,BE EMPTY AND TURN YOUR BACK OR YOU CAN DO WHAT SHE’D WANT SMILE, OPEN YOUR EYES, LOVE AND GO ON

[Rob Russell]

Jason,

It sounds like we were in a similar situation. LOML and I were married in May of '82. She found a 6 week old kitten in the middle of the road about 2 months later. We had "Critter" for 17 1/2 years. She was 7 pounds of fluff and attitude for most folks, although she was all purr for us. We had to put her down when she had some sort of stroke or seizure that pretty much paralyzed her back end. Within a 24 hour period she went from being normal to us making the decision to make a 1-way trip to the vet. We don't have children, so losing her was hard.

We took the next day off as a vacation day to deal with our feelings.

Hope you get past the pain soon.

Rob

[Tyler Howell]

So Sorry for you loss.

[Colin Giersberg]

Sorry for your loss. We had to put Butch (our chow mix) down this past November because of cancer in his back left leg. In two weeks,he lost 10 pounds, and he wouldn't eat anymore, regardless of what we gave him.
I still go out to where I buried him and talk to him. I know that sounds crazy, but I loved him as much as any family member.
Butch, I wish you were still with us. Rest in peace, we'll see you at the "Rainbow Bridge"

Regards, Colin

I will try to add a photo of him, as soon as I get one resized.

[Dewey Torres]

Learn Marquetry and create a shadow box, serving tray, etc...
Silas Kpof has a great DVD you can check out for $25

http://www.silaskopf.com/

Dewey

[Colin Giersberg]

Hopefully this will work. A picture of Butch.

Regards, Colin

[Joe Chritz]

First, condolences on your loss. It is a necessary part of the whole equation.

Second, I am glad to see you taking the boys with you. I hope they learned it is OK to be sad when bad things happen, that death is always a part of life and most importantly, just because the decision is difficult doesn't relieve one of the responsibility to make it.

Having been in the animal training business, a dog handler for many years and in rescue (over several hundred dogs) I have made that trip more times then I care to remember. Some things get easier, that is certainly not one of them.

Joe

[Jason Roehl]

Thanks for all the encouraging sentiments, folks. I think the kids are bouncing back the quickest; I still miss him wandering into the bedroom in the morning meowing for some attention, or waiting at the top of the stairs for me when I got home (wife said he would go there when he heard the garage door open). He liked to lick my nose, purr and "talk" to us all the time, and he and I would play-fight from time to time. My eyes still well up a bit when I think about him, but when the boys and I took him on his final ride, it seemed he knew what it was about and was at peace with it.

Thanks again!

[Al Willits]

Never a easy thing to do, we are on dog number 4 and the previous three had to be put down, doesn't get any easier, Lori and I both send our condolences.

To many, it is indeed like losing a member of the family, I know it is to us.

Al

[Walt Nollan]

Jason I know how you feel. I too had to put down our dog "Gizmo" a Boston Bull. She was 12. Its a hard thing to do.

Walt

[Brent Ring]

My condolences as well. We have had that happen with a couple of friends and the emotions run very close to the surface. We have one cat left in the house, and I am dreading the day when she passes. I think, due to the emotional attachment that I have with pets, we won't be replacing her. Too tough to deal with the separation.

[Fred Voorhees]

My condolences as well. We have had that happen with a couple of friends and the emotions run very close to the surface. We have one cat left in the house, and I am dreading the day when she passes. I think, due to the emotional attachment that I have with pets, we won't be replacing her. Too tough to deal with the separation.

Brent, I have told myself that also. When my little cat Geddes (named after the Syracuse,NY suburb that we found her in) had to be put down, I cried like a darned baby at the vets and swore that it just wasn't worth the hurt that you eventually have to go through. You do get past that and learn to enjoy the replacements, though, with beloved pets, there are never any real replacements, just a next one in line.

[Alan Schell]

I feel your pain. We lost our Genie two years ago. We were blessed to have her for 17 years. It is a hard thing to even think about today...

I pray for your kids understanding.

[Sam Yerardi]

I'm very sorry Jason. I too had to bury my dog Emma this past Sunday. I was with her as she passed on and it was hard.