I collected “farewell moments with pets” from different pet owners online, and I had a wonderful experience when sorting out the materials: I seemed to be able to feel the temperature, smell, and even breathing of the little animal based on everyone’s words.
The stories between lives are endless. After reading the last message, I also believe: Maybe at some point after “farewell”, you will suddenly find that it has never left.
Here are some of their responses…
1. She just passed away when she slept
This is when I was going to school, dragging my suitcase out of the house, and I saw it crying, definitely not because it was in the cage, it knew the cage was a place to sleep, and sometimes it would go in by itself. Then she passed away when she slept silently.
2. I lost my pet forever
I didn’t protect you in this life, I will continue in the next life
3. He died at a good old age, without any regrets possibly
When I was in college, the dog that grew up with me died. He always slept on the rooftop. The day before he died, he insisted on coming into the house. I, my father, my mother, everyone acted like a spoiled child and asked me to touch him. From his eyes, he didn’t want to leave the house, so I didn’t think much about it and let him sleep on the rooftop. The next day, we found out that he had passed away. The day before, he said goodbye to each of us. Now I regret why I didn’t let him into the house. If you can hear and see, Lulu, we all love you very much, always have, always have.
4. He died of a heart attack when he was ten years old
This golden retriever is my Fatty. He died of a heart attack when he was ten years old. The day before I left, I was going on a business trip. When the driver picked me up, it stopped me from leaving. I didn’t know it was leaving, so I told it that it was still playing tricks at such a big age… Then I asked someone to take it back to the house and lock it up. The next morning at five o’clock, I received a call saying that it was gone… It stopped me from leaving that day to say goodbye to me, but I didn’t know.
It always stares at me like this, very obedient.
5. It was a sad story
I can’t talk about this topic, tears will burst out as soon as I talk about it. My iron hammer (cat) polycystic kidney is about to leave me. I feel that he can accept this reality better than me. He insists on eating three meals a day, sleeping more than 20 hours a day, and sitting and watching me when he is awake. The huge sense of loss makes me feel very powerless. I think it will take me a long time to get over it.
6. He left very hastily because of an accident
My dog left me less than three weeks ago. He left very hastily because of an accident. Such a hasty and tragic farewell left me with a heart-wrenching pain. Whenever I think of her focused eyes when she looked at me, her dependence, her protection, her body temperature, I feel so heartbroken. She was an unprecedented existence for me, an intimate relationship that I had never experienced before, and the feeling of being loved and trusted wholeheartedly and without reservation. Her hasty death caused me to have a deep fear of the fragility of life and death. A lively life can be torn to pieces by the god of death in less than a few seconds, and the love and dependence will evaporate without a trace, leaving me with a huge emptiness and loneliness that is difficult to fill.
When she was alive, I often wondered whether her feelings for me were my self-righteous projection or true. But now, whenever I think of the scene before she got into trouble, looking back at me and running towards me happily, I don’t want to doubt the authenticity of this feeling anymore.
7. My baby hamster, Hua Tuan Tuan, died at the age of 2 years, 4 months and 19 days
My baby hamster, Hua Tuan Tuan, died at the age of 2 years, 4 months and 19 days. Fortunately, when it left, I was there to accompany it through the last moment. I went to his funeral on September 19th, and then I buried it under a tree so that it would grow in the tree and I could visit it later. It was twitching badly on the day of farewell.
It had twitched five days ago and was rescued, but it eventually died because of old age. However, these five days were also the five days for us to say goodbye properly.
We were both prepared in our hearts, and at least I cherished it. It is my baby. It accompanied me on many sad and angry days and nights. Whenever I was unhappy, I would pinch the little ball and it would relax a lot. I would call it every day.
As long as I called the ball, it would run over immediately, like a puppy. I hope my baby is happy on Zhixingxingxing, planting its cheese tree and having endless cheese biscuits.
It has been a timid and cowardly person since it was young. It never wanted to sleep on me and was always very vigilant.
Until the last month, it finally relaxed completely, let down its guard, and slept on my legs for an afternoon. I will never forget it. It was a very happy and unforgettable afternoon.
After it turned one year old, I kissed it and hugged it almost every day, telling Tuanzi that I loved it very much. Maybe the little baby also felt the warmth, so he was willing to trust me in the end. In short, I am very grateful to it for healing me. I will always love Tuantuan!
8. She just disappeared, I never had a chance to say goodbye
Before I could say goodbye properly, she disappeared. It was on New Year’s Eve of the second year of the Chinese New Year.
That day, I gave her a bath early, put on new clothes, and prepared for the whole family to spend the reunion night together.
But in the evening, she was taken out by her family, who irresponsibly asked her to wait at the door of the pharmacy.
When her family came out of the pharmacy, she had been taken away. After returning home, her family didn’t say anything, and only said that she was lost when I asked…
Although it’s not necessary to wear a thick cotton-padded jacket in the south in winter, it was only a dozen degrees that day.
I ran out of the door in my pajamas and shouted in every street, but I couldn’t find her no matter what. She has always been very obedient and never left people too far.
When she first came to my house, she was already old enough to be a dog mother. She was obedient and timid. She hid under the sofa at her feet on rainy days, but she would respond to you if you called her.
I really didn’t think that I would be separated from her so hastily and without saying goodbye.
During that period, I was looking for her every day. I hoped that she would appear the next time I called her name, but she didn’t.
I also hated my family. I didn’t understand why he told me without any apology that he had lost her, but it was useless to hate her.
After she disappeared, I didn’t dare to keep any pets anymore. I was afraid of separation, and I didn’t want her to get hurt because I couldn’t protect her well. This feeling was too uncomfortable.
9. I didn’t know veterinary medicine. I was shocked by the pet hospital
When I was in the first grade of junior high school, my family adopted a big white cat with mandarin duck eyes, named Xiaobai.
At that time, I cried and made a fuss to let my mother keep him. I raised him for three years. Later, my family had a change. Xiaobai was scared by a foreign dog and got icteric hepatitis.
At that time, I didn’t know veterinary medicine. I was shocked by the pet hospital.
The doctor told me that I might not survive even if I was hospitalized for 200 yuan a day. At that time, I only had 700 yuan of New Year’s money saved for the Chinese New Year.
That year was 2009. I still remember the scene clearly. I looked at my mother silently. My mother also thought that the cost of treatment was too high. I didn’t say anything either.
I told the doctor that we should take the cat home and treat it ourselves. I treated the cat the way I treated people, but I don’t know if it worked. Anyway, I still feel sorry for him because I didn’t have the money to save him at that time.
I took him back to another home and raised him for a summer vacation. When school started, I had to go back to school and leave Xiaobai to my mother to help me take care of him.
Later, I clamored for Xiaobai’s photo, but my mother always dragged it out and said next week. Later, on November 1st, she told me that Xiaobai was released back to the mountains. I knew Xiaobai was gone at that time, but I didn’t ask my mother again and again because I was afraid of getting confirmation.
On the day of farewell, I told Xiaobai that you have to work hard to get better. Okay, sister will take you home. Later, he never came back.
Now I have five cats, and I plan to continue raising them. I feed them the best cat food, and I go to various pet hospitals to investigate the medical level and advanced equipment. I give them regular physical examinations, deworming and vaccinations.
I chose veterinary medicine in college, and I read domestic and foreign literature to see if there are more research articles about cats. I can now better keep them by my side through professional scientific knowledge.
Now I have many cats. I love them very much. They are healthy and they love me very much.
But my Xiaobai will never come back. It was an afternoon that day. I didn’t expect it would be the last time I saw him.
10. After 12 years’ accompany, I lost my beloved puppy
My puppy. Returned to Wangxing on October 8. 18 years old. He has been with me for 12 years.
11. He has severe myocardial hypertrophy
Xixi is my first cat. His temper, personality and appearance are all first-class. But he has severe myocardial hypertrophy. When I found him, I knew he would not live long, but I didn’t think he would go so fast.
On the day he left, I was planning to take him to another hospital for treatment the next day. Seeing that he was in a bad condition, I didn’t hug him or talk to him that night. It is my lifelong regret. Xixi left us in the middle of the night.
From the discovery to the cremation, I didn’t cry or feel sad. I looked at Xixi who was put in a small paper box and just felt that it was not real.
Later, the ashes were kept in my home. Every time I encounter something unhappy, I will hug Xixi’s small porcelain bottle and talk to him. I cried too, as if there were always some moments when I suddenly realized that he had left us…
But it seemed that he had never really left, he was always there.
12. My dog left in a traffic accident
After the dog left in a traffic accident, I didn’t even have time to say goodbye to it. It was pure in my memory, and everything it brought me, happiness, sadness, joy, worry, anger were pure. I would not fall into these emotions and be unable to extricate myself, but automatically immersed in these emotions, and then feel myself, and these were only brought to me by it, so in the few days after it left, there was no other interference, only pure sadness.
This kind of sadness means that I have accepted its departure; for it, it means that it has not really died, and it will always live in my heart.
13. My pet died for diabetic ketoacidosis
My pet apple left me forever on December 28 last year, at the age of 11. After three days of desperate rescue for diabetic ketoacidosis, it was ineffective.
In order to prevent it from suffering again, I made a difficult decision to follow the doctor’s advice and euthanize it. I held it in my arms and cried for the last night, and then let it say goodbye to its family one by one.
I held its paw and accompanied it for the last journey, watching it leave peacefully, feeling its little paw slowly getting cold, and I was very reluctant to let it go.
Eleven years of unswerving companionship, four thousand days and nights of unchanging attachment, it has long been engraved in my life, put on its favorite red clothes for it, and sent it back to the ice and snow that belonged to it.
Before the burial, I whispered in its ear: Baby, you can see the window of our house when you look up, and I can see where you sleep when I look down. Distance is not a problem, you live in my heart. My angel, the world is over, see you in heaven!
14. My happy memories with my dog Maomao was gone
My dog is a Pomeranian mix that my father bought from the market for two hundred yuan. It is called Maomao. That was when I was in elementary school. It has been with me for more than ten years.
It is now an old dog over ninety years old in human terms, and I am now in my early twenties, in the prime of life. Maomao is raised at my grandparents’ house. On the first floor, there is a small yard full of flowers, plants and vegetables. My grandparents are also very kind people.
One of the happiest things for me every week is to go there for a meal on weekends and rub the dog’s head.
Although I sometimes bully it, haha, it is really a paradise that belongs only to me, with many, many beautiful things. Now I am a graduate student and have been away from home for 5 years. I can only video chat with my family every week and check if it is okay.
Many times I can only miss it secretly. I dream about it when I sleep, and I also dream that it is too old and gone. I have shed many tears because of this.
But thinking about it has spent a good life in my family, being loved and cared for by many people, I feel relieved, because we will always have the beauty in each other’s memory, and it is worth meeting in this life.
After all, it is still staying at home now. (My nose is sour and I won’t type anymore.)
15. They threw it to a place where I couldn’t get in and couldn’t find it
At that time, they said they would throw it away. I wanted to keep it, but I couldn’t decide, just like its arrival was not decided by me.
When I came back from school that day, I didn’t see it again. They threw it to a place where I couldn’t get in and couldn’t find it.
I never saw it again after that. After that, I, who loved raising cats and dogs, suddenly didn’t want to raise any animals anymore, especially cats. I can’t forget the cat that couldn’t open its eyes, bit my finger and ran away very fast. I raised it by myself.
It relied on me so much, and I loved it so much, but I couldn’t keep it. Maybe one day, when I am completely independent and capable, I may raise small animals again!
16. I know that some things will eventually pass away
I have rehearsed the farewell to my pet once. My dog got lost on the night of September 28 this year because of my problem. My dog was seven years old when he came to my house, and now he is nine years old.
How I have been in the past two years is only known to me and her. I have cried and laughed in front of her, and she has always been with me.
From the day she went missing, I spent three days, every morning and after get off work, checking surveillance cameras near where she went missing, crawling through dog holes, handing out flyers, and was scolded by the neighborhood manager. People said she might have been caught, eaten, or carried away.
My mind was completely blank at the time, and I felt that my spiritual support was gone. I didn’t want to go to work or eat.
Wherever I walked, I felt that she might have passed by before me. Her shadow was everywhere.
Her blanket, nest, snacks, food bowl and water bowl at home, the special seat for dogs in the car, and even wanted another dog to love me instead of her…
I cried and felt numb and uncomfortable for the first two days.
On the third day, thinking that she would want me to live well and live with her share, I mustered up the courage to continue looking, but my heart gradually calmed down. But I still had no desire to do anything. Until the third day at noon, someone called and said they saw her.
I rode my bike frantically to where she was, yelling her name. When I saw her rushing out, I collapsed on the ground and cried…
I know that one day I will really lose her, and I know that some things will eventually pass away, but I will remember the beauty between us, I will remember her, smile and cry and continue to live well. Love myself as I love her.
17. My dogs were sick
No farewell. I have had three dogs in total. The first two were sick. When they were dying, they were taken to the mountains and asked to be taken care of by others, and then buried.
The third dog, who has no name, is called Dog. He has been with me for too many years. He will vomit when he eats bones, and he will scream when he sees strangers from a distance, but he will be scared when others approach him. He likes to raise his front legs and bow… He witnessed the family getting better and then getting darker.
When I left, I went to college, and all my family members left, leaving him alone to be entrusted to relatives. Because I was timid, I never went back to see him, and occasionally heard my mother talk about his situation.
Once I asked about his situation, my mother scolded me, saying that you care about dogs when you can’t take care of people. In those years, he became a homeless stray dog, and in the end he was hit by a car.
They said he could run away, but he just lay in the middle of the road. He might have been desperate, so he said goodbye to the world in such a decisive way.
18. He could never wait for us, so he was desperate
It had been a long time since I knew he had passed away. I couldn’t help crying for a few days, crying about my incompetence. My dog was very well behaved, but we gave up on him. He could never wait for us, so he was desperate.
I thought, if one day I was as completely desperate as he was, how great it would be. I have never told anyone about this, but I happened to see this topic, and it gave me a way to speak out. Thank you.
19. My poor furry pet
This is the flower basket that my mother made for my furry child when our whole family went to the mountains to see him on the anniversary of his passing one year ago.
20. It passed away without an injection
At that time, I was still in college. One day, I suddenly felt very flustered and felt that I had to go home once, so I skipped class and went home directly. When I got home and opened the door, I saw it was dying. It was looking up from its nest with difficulty. I still remember its eyes.
It was saying to me, “I finally waited for you to come back…” It turned out that it had canine distemper for more than a week. My mother didn’t want me to delay my studies, so she didn’t tell me.
When my mother saw me back home, she didn’t plan to hide it anymore. She told me that it was a good time for me to go home and make a decision together.
The doctor suggested euthanasia, saying that it was already hopeless. It would take at most two days to delay it, and it was still very uncomfortable. It would be better to let it go easily.
The next day, my mother and I changed it into new clothes, straightened its fur, took it to the hospital, and told the doctor to euthanize it…
I patted it and said to it, “I’m sorry that my sister came back late and made you wait for so many days. We won’t delay it anymore and won’t be so uncomfortable.
Go with peace of mind, dear. You will be my sister’s favorite baby in the next life…” It made a “woo…” sound as if answering me “OK”, and then forced itself to look up at my mother who was talking to the doctor outside the door. I called my mother over, and she came over and patted it, saying goodbye to it.
Then it slowly closed its eyes, and it passed away without an injection.
We thought that it finally waited for the two people it loved the most to accompany it, and finally said goodbye, so it had no regrets. Its name is Tata, and it is a Pekingese dog.
It has been 18 years, and when I see a dog that looks like it, or recall the moment when I sent it away, I still can’t calm down, and tears always burst out at that moment, just like now when I write it down. I think I really love it!
21. Dumpling who doesn’t drink coffee
It has been almost a year since Gou Xiaobao left us… He lived in a cage for the first half of his life, and the second half of his life was the first puppy raised by our family.
He is a Yorkshire terrier, with a golden head and silver back, a stubborn personality, and a lovely appearance. When my mother went out to buy vegetables and came home, Gou Xiaobao would be excited to see his mother and son reunited after ten years.
The few years that Gou Xiaobao lived in our family were the period from middle age to old age. Dogs have a much shorter life than humans, so the aging process of Gou Xiaobao is more visible. For example, he would chew meat bones with relish the year before, but the next year he lost several teeth and was unwilling to eat larger dried meat.
I once thought about what it would be like if Gou Xiaobao was old and paralyzed one day and we took care of him. It might be inconvenient, but I would feel more distressed.
However, Gou Xiaobao’s departure was an accident. He was sent to the hospital but it was too late to save him. Everything happened suddenly. When I got home from get off work, Gou Xiaobao had been placed on his small bed where he usually slept, with a large black garbage bag as a cushion.
At that moment, I felt very lonely. The warm feelings between him and us could no longer continue, just like a book has come to the end and there will be no new content.
But at this moment, I was very calm, because I had thought about how to say goodbye to him: The time we spent together was so beautiful, like a gift in life, making us a better dog and a better person.
However, all good things must come to an end, and the time of parting is often beyond our control.
When parting, let’s move forward and continue drifting in this world with the marks left by each other.
Nowadays, I always have a payment slip in my notebook, which reads 200 yuan, hospital, and collective cremation… If there is a Wangxing, I hope Gou Xiaobao will not be alone on the way to Wangxing. I hope he will continue to live a good life there and occasionally recall the time he spent with us.
22. Say goodbye to my pets
The reason I said goodbye to my pets was that I had a duckling when I was young. It was too smelly, so my parents secretly threw it away. I was very sad when I got home from school and found that the duckling was gone. I didn’t dare to keep any small animals for 30 years, fearing that it would disappear suddenly one day.
Last year, I kept a cat at my husband’s request, and this year I kept a second one. I was determined to take care of them until the end of their lives. Once I accidentally locked the kitten outside the door. I was very worried when I went out to find it.
After I found it, I was very scared, afraid that I would never see it again. Every day after that, I had to make sure that the two kittens were at home before I went out, and I had to see them when I got home. I was very, very afraid to say goodbye to them. I think it might be the influence of the duckling when I was a child. As long as I keep it, I must be responsible for its life.
23. My lovely birds who jumps into a pit and they can’t come back
Let’s talk about the two birds that left me. Although it was only for two short months, it was unforgettable.
At first, they were still fledglings with feathers that hadn’t grown fully yet. I had to feed them five times a day, one mouthful at a time, which made me feel the anxiety of being a parent for the first time.
As they grew more and more mature, one day, their dark and clear eyes were no longer just looking at the food in my hand, but also at me. They began to observe me carefully. I was moved by the feeling of finally being watched and seen.
At that moment, a magical connection was established. They would warmly welcome me when I woke up and returned home, respond excitedly when they heard my movements, and fly onto my shoulders to beg for food and scratch their heads. They would hide in their nests at night and look at me who had no nest to sleep in.
When I called them, they would jump out to see what I was doing. They were so small that they could be easily held in one hand. They were not on guard in front of me, a giant.
However, I failed to live up to their complete trust in me.
That day, I thought it was an ordinary trip, but I was too careless. I didn’t manage to bring them home alive that day. It rained heavily that night. I buried them under the pomegranate tree in the dark. “I’m sorry.” This was the sentence I said the most that day. “Thank you for accompanying me so unreservedly. I will remember it.”
In terms of price, they are extremely ordinary pets, and their value is not worth a hearty lunch, but I always feel that they appear in those not-so-pleasant days, probably like elves from heaven. If death can’t cut off their wings, I hope they can still fly.
24. I lost my cat
I was woken up by my youngest daughter Mi Ya in the morning, saying that she was going to take our cat with lung cancer to the veterinarian.
The cat stopped eating since Monday, and her breathing, which had been getting more and more rapid over the past few months, suddenly slowed down. Most of the time, she lay quietly on one of us.
We parked the car in front of the clinic and put on masks. Dad took the cat from Mi Ya and held it carefully. She was silent and suddenly began to meow weakly.
It’s been a long time since I heard her cry. It sounds weird. The veterinarian stroked the sick cat and whispered: It’s time for her to go.
My eldest daughter Mulan burst into tears. The veterinarian and the nurse put her on the operating table, pulled up her front paws, shaved her hair and gave her an injection. She lay softly, and it seemed that she could no longer feel anything.
From beginning to end, her dark eyes kept looking at us. The nurse touched her head and said: This is her telling you that she loves you. A few minutes later, she twitched slightly twice, and then she was completely silent.
Kitty is a very small cat. People who don’t know her would think she is still a minor. She is gentle and friendly, smart and agile, can climb walls and open doors and windows. In the summer of 2011, we met her with a limp downstairs in our home in Guangzhou. She couldn’t tell us how old she was, why she was wandering, and why she was injured.
She is a good cat with a story. Mi Ya, who loves her deeply, didn’t cry. After returning home, closing the door and being quiet for half an hour, she started playing again. I think, maybe because the child took care of Kitty wholeheartedly, there is no regret, right? (Auckland, New Zealand, September 2020)
25. I Love You Forever
The dog is called Qiqi, a golden retriever, adopted in the fourth grade of elementary school. She has big round and bright eyes and thick chest hair that is comfortable to bury. She is the only friend and comfort of a child who has been subjected to violence and abuse for a long time.
It is not an exaggeration to say that she is a spiritual pillar. When I heard the news of her death in my sophomore year, I seemed to become a bag full of tears. I would only cry constantly in the evening class classroom and on the narrow bed in the dormitory.
There is a place in my heart that slept with her and will never wake up again. I’m sorry, I ran away from that home to protect myself, but I have always loved you.
Maybe my farewell to Benben is that I will never listen to a song again – “Silent Sky” by the band Haya: “Moon, you light it up, fire, you warm it” When I first heard this song, I just thought it was very nice, but a few days later, my dog Benben was drugged by the dog catcher and died of poisoning. It snowed heavily that day, and the fields were covered in white.
Our family went to bury Benben. Dad held his body, I dragged the shovel and paper money, and Mom carried the cardboard box. We walked step by step to the river, and then chose a good place for him under the willow tree. Dad dug a pit while cursing the poisoner, and then burned paper money for him. The firelight was warm, but it couldn’t warm his stiff body.
After everything was over, I walked back and only remembered the moonlight shining on the white snow, and the vastness between heaven and earth.
From then on, every time I heard this song and this sentence, the silent scene of that night would emerge in my mind, and the feeling of heartbreak.
I once read a book about life and death, “I Love You Forever”, which tells the story of Aya, who is a dog.
Aya is old.
I tell Aya every day, I love you.
Aya is dead.
I miss her very much.
Life is such a process, meeting, then losing, accompanied by sadness.
But sadness is an extremely important part. When we complete a sad mourning process, we will be stronger than before and have a new perspective on life.
Mourning will generate strength.
Since the world is not perfect, why should we be hypocritical? Fortunately, love can always ease the separation and pain brought by death.
After reading everyone’s comments, I remembered a sentence said by a friend of mine. She has raised 8 cats and experienced accidents, adoptions and death of pets:
Many people think that as long as they are gone, it is a farewell, but as long as I don’t forget them, it is not a real farewell.
