I have been touched by these special beings. These tributes are the words of the humans who loved them. If you would like to leave a comment about any of these sweet ones, please click on the pet's name to go directly to their page.
Boo was my first pet. I saw his picture and knew he was my cat. I said, “That’s my cat.” I went to the Humane Society and I didn’t want to see any other animals. I just wanted to go get him because I already knew he was mine. I still have picture.
It was just me and Boo. We took care of each other.
He wasn’t supposed to get sick like this. He is a really young cat. But he got a growth on his nose. The vets couldn’t tell what was causing it. He was fine with it for years and years, but then it got worse. I took care of him every day to make him as comfortable as possible. It was almost a year after what the vet said it would be.
He will always be here with me.
Ayo definitely was a very special one. He was a part of my family from his first days - we picked him out of the litter and then once he was 9 weeks old we got to take him home. He was with us a long time, I was only 12 when we got him so he was by my side and my partner in crime as I grew up. He had some serious health issues from day one so honestly I’m so grateful that we got 17 years with him, although it definitely took a lot of effort to keep him healthy, happy, and comfortable. It was all worth it though, worth it to hear his loud Siamese yowl every morning and night at dinner time, worth it when he would slowly crawl into your lap and start purring as soon as you looked at him (and usually drooling too, haha), worth it to see him playing papa bear to our other cats and snuggling up with them (I’ve got 3 others and they all miss him too)... He always made my day better, even on days when he did things he shouldn’t have. 😂
He got the nickname Listerine Cat because Ayo, as much as I love him, could be very dumb when it came to eating things. As in, he would literally try to eat everything and anything he could, including a Listerine Strip he yanked straight off my finger. He was begging so I made the dumb choice to hold it out to him so he could smell it, a sort of, “See? It’s nothing you want, stop whining” thing. I overestimated his intelligence because he licked the thing right off my finger before I could even react. He started foaming at the mouth and I called the vet in a panic, naturally. She told me not to worry, the foam was just excessive saliva and that he would be totally fine. Once I realized that he’d be okay, the situation became very funny. Here I had this beautiful cat who was just dribbling foamy saliva everywhere and looking absolutely ridiculous. I took a video of it and posted it to Twitter and from that point onwards, all my Twitter followers started referring to Ayo as Listerine Cat. One of the photos I included in my little memorial post was a screencap from the video - felt only right to include what was one of his most memorable moments.
He was quite the character.
From Jennifer’s Gofundme page: I need to take my dog to the vet for euthanasia because she’s 14 and has spinal stenosis and congestive heart failure or something similar causing weakness and fluid retention.
I’m on a fixed income with a special needs child and I just don’t have the money to give her a proper send off.
shes been my light and my life since I got her in 2006, and it’s a heartbreaking decision but I love her too much to watch her suffer.
PetGoodbyes made a donation directly to the veterinarian to cover the costs of Kashmir’s euthanasia.
When I got Bear he was in a shelter in Georgia. There were many cats online at the shelter site that looked like him closer to me in Tampa but something about him told me he was to be my cat. The shelter could not fly him to me so I had about given up when the shelter called me back and said that they had some people coming up from Gainesville Florida to get a puppy and they could ask them if they would bring him as far as Gainesville if I could meet the people there. I told them yes. The people brought him to me at a hotel in Gainesville. He had been riding for eight hours or more in a car with strangers and a dog. I figured when they took him out of the carrier he would hide under the bed because most cats do that even without that much stress. But they open the carrier and he jumped right up on the bed next to me and he immediately started kneading on my arm.
Then the people left and he got behind my head on the bed and started cleaning my hair and then he laid on my chest and he went to sleep like he had been my cat 400 years… even the people that brought him to me thought it was strange how he just jumped up like that like he already knew me.
My cat teddy bear who I had gotten in 1983 and who died in 2001 at age 18 looked just like Bear. I don’t know if I believe it or not but the people in India believe that if your pet really loves you and you really love your pet when they pass away they will find a way to come back to you in the form of another animal or pet. I don’t know if that’s true but if it ever was it would have been the transition with Teddy Bear and Bear. Even when we got home teddy bear would never eat his food if it was not up on the counter. I put Bears food on the floor and he sniffed it and walked away and I thought well he’s probably not hungry after the long trip so I put his food up on the counter and I turned around and he jumped up there and he was eating it in the exact spot Teddy used to eat. He would only eat up there also just like Teddy. It was very strange.
I loved him for himself though,I never thought that he was a replacement teddy bear.
Cocoa had to be put down on February 21, 2019.
From Rachel’s Gofundme: My baby, Cocoa (8), was diagnosed with feline diabetes almost two years ago. She was on insulin for about 1.5 years and has been eating special diet low carb food since then. She recently has gone into remission and no longer needs insulin. We are so grateful for this!
Recently she has been urinating inappropriately and the vet can’t figure out what’s wrong. After all the expenses of her special food (2x more expensive as regular food) and her recent medical bills, ruining furniture by peeing on it, along with her wellness plan through Banfield, we are quickly running out of options and money to help her. We are hoping an ultrasound may be able to find something that can be treated but cannot afford it.
We don’t want Cocoa to suffer and she is a member of our family. We’ve had her since she was 3 weeks old and found as a stray.
I called her Toothless because she had that same look in her eyes that Toothless did and acted all sweet until she got annoyed and showed us her teeth.
She loves to sleep in sinks
My shoe-sniffing baby
PetGoodbyes made a $50 donation to help Cocoa’s family with end-of-life services for this little kitty.
Jeff and Rachele said goodbye to Finnegan on January 24, 2018 — less than a month after losing their Lea.
We thought it was just depression from loosing Lea. He started snapping at our puppy when they would wrestle after Lea passed. We thought he was just depressed. Then last Thursday night we felt the lumps in his throat. We made an emergency trip to the vet Friday morning. She suspected cancer. We got a confirmation from pathology yesterday afternoon.
We considered starting prednisone today but he is doing so bad we are not sure we’re not hours from losing him. He’s old and we don’t think that it makes sense to try to save him only to go through this all again soon anyway.
We are devastated.
Emily’s mom had to say goodbye to Buddy on January 8, 2019.
From the GoFundMe page: Buddy has been with our family for 12 years. His kidneys are failing, and we have to put him down on Monday, January 7th. This is very sudden and we dont have the money to get his ashes back. We all know that a GoFundMe is a long shot, but one we are willing to take to keep a piece of him with us. Any help is appreciated.
PetGoodbyes made a donation directly to the veterinarian to cover a private cremation so that Buddy’s ashes could be returned to the family.
Jeff and Rachele said goodbye to Lea on December 28, 2018.
I had always been afraid of dogs and have never had them until 6 years ago. We rescued a golden retriever who we thought was going to be put down, we had totally misunderstood. Two months later we decided to look for a dog to keep our golden retriever company. I saw Lea in the shelter hanging out as far away from the gate as she could get, she just had the soulful eyes. Not being dog owners for very long, we didn’t understand that was hiding and fearful. She must have been beat and was afraid of most men for the first couple years of having her. If a cuss word was spoken around her, she would run and hide in the bed.
Eventually Lea learned to trust and wag her tail, and even to lay on her back for my wife and I, to give belly rubs. She always had the most soulful eyes. She loved to go camping and hiking and get in the trash if it was smelling especially good. Lea loved to sleep with us and cuddle up at night.
For her final day we took her to her favorite park for a short walk, for a drive (her favorite thing to do) to the mountains and a short hike in the snow, and a lunch of chicken nuggets.
Our hearts are broken, but we know that we have her more love than she could have ever imagined.
Pamela said goodbye on December 8, 2018.
Joe, my husband, was a Vietnam Vet. Me & Joe started looking on line for another rottie to rescue, found a dog at the Media Humane society. We got there before they opened, we were both excited. We go in & saw the dog that was on line, def not what we expected, unfortunately. I started walking down the aisle & there HE was!! I fell in love instantly!! It was his 1st day out of quarantine, he was found abandoned. They named him Nero. Ha! Def not a Nero, he was so full of energy, happy, oh I was in love!
They let us take “Nero” for a little walk. What a trip! Sug was all over the place. No containing his enthusiasm! In between both our legs, not listening to any commands. I knew at that moment he was family.
Unfortunately Sug wasn’t neutered so we had to leave him & come get him in a week. My daughter Katie came with us the next week to pick him up. Another love at first sight! They sat in the backseat on the 45 min drive home & were as close as a brother & sister could be by the time we got home.
“Nero” became Sug on the way home, and he made himself at home right away. There was a pile of toys from our previous rottie Romeo in the corner, Sug went right to it, picked up a stuffed robot pull toy & ran into the kitchen. I wish I had my camera because the look on him when he came back with the toy hanging from his mouth & his eyes asking “Can I, can I?” was so precious! Then he jumped up on the sofa. Sug was home. We were a family.
He was a great friend for Joe. Joe used to take him for drives & let him sit in the front, tried to put a seatbelt on him, but Sug just loved hanging out the window. I miss our cruises so much. I have a Honda Civic & the backseat is his. I took him everywhere I could.
Since Sug passed, Pamela has welcomed much new joy into her life in the form of TWINS! Her daughter Katie had two precious babies
Anne and Rob lost Holly on December 4, 2018.
There is so much I could tell about Holly, sturdy, joyful, inquisitive, tender, gentle, utterly faithful. She would sleep close to me for a few hours before going off to her own bed. How many times I’ve thought how impossible it is to describe the sensation of sleeping cuddled up to a dog. It is total trust and symbiosis. I mean, who would sleep so peacefully with someone you don’t trust?
Even when I was ill, Holly simply hopped onto the bed, layed down beside me and didn’t move again. I could just feel her breath on my neck, knew she was there and would stay with me. Whenever life threw something nasty at me, she would sense it and come and comfort me the way doggies do, bless them. She couldn’t solve the problem, but she helped me face it better.
Together my husband and I welcomed Holly into our lives when she was just two months old.
Yesterday [December 4, 2018], just before dawn, my dog Holly died.She had been with me for nearly 16 years. Holly lived a very good life: healthy, active, loved beyond belief.
She was out and about right up to her last few days, much luckier than many dogs who lie there for months before being finally released from pain and suffering.
Now it’s my husband and I who are suffering.
Would you like to see your sweet one memorialized here? Please write up a paragraph or two about how your pet came into your life, or your favorite memory, and send it along with 2 or 3 photos to info@whenitstimeforgoodbye.com