I just lost my dog, my baby and best friend. Will we see our precious pets in the afterlife?

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Dee

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I recently put my dog down, my baby and best friend. She was diagnosed with bone cancer a year and a half ago and the tumor was in her nasal area and there was no way to treat it. My Jelly Bean was 9 and my sweet baby and best friend. I am a dog groomer so my sweet baby has always been able to go to work with me. We have literally been together 24/7, even my extended family let me bring her to family get togethers. She also helped me keep going after losing my big brother and only sibling.she saved my life. When she was diagnosed with bone cancer I took her to my church and had her blessed and I believe that is why I was given 17 months when the doctor only gave her 4-6 months. I’m so thankful for the time God gave us! A couple weeks back she started falling over, she was disoriented and would walk in a corner and just stay there, she had a moment in my lap in the car and just started scratching at the window in a panic. I took her to my vet to see if she would be ok or if she was suffering. Our vet looke d very sad and said this is not at all the Jelly I know. I asked if she was suffering, how do I know, I didn’t want her to suffer because I didn’t want to lose her. She told me to think of 5 things she loved and if she responded to any. She just wasn’t. I wasn’t ready then, I just wanted one night to be sure. She just kept toppling over, I was afraid she was suffering and didn’t want her to suffer because I selfishly wanted to keep her so the next day I had her euthanized and it was horrible, she was freaking out when they tried to put the iv in, she was always so good for her vet, she would stay perfectly still for anything, I don’t know if the cancer was making her panic like she did with me the day before or did she know and didn’t want to go. They gave her a sedative and then I held her until she calmed down enough and then I held her as they gave her the shot that took her life and I feel like I killed my baby. I’m also scared to death of never seeing her again. I’ve heard different opinions about whether or not we will be reunited with our pets. Being able to be with her in the afterlife is what keeps me going. I’m so scared of never seeing her again. Please if anyone can give me hope I’m so lost without my Jelly
 
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AlNg said:
Will the New Heaven be a home for all animals and all living things?
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I don’t see why not.

2 Corinthians 5:17

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”

Isaiah 11:6

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them.”
 
Their is a New Earth.

The phrase a New Earth is great, but the posters pet died in the old earth.
 
I don’t know. I ought to embrace that Humble part of my username here. My apologies if I took the attitude of debate.
 
The following song is relevant because of its usage of the song, It is Well, which is a great song following immense lose.

“Through it all, through it all, my eyes are on you. It is well with me.
Far dear from me when I believe, even when my eyes can’t see, and this mountain that’s in front of me, will be thrown into the midst of sea.
Through it all, through it all, my eyes are on you, and through it all, through it all, it is well.
And through it all, through it all my eyes are on you.
It is well, it is well.
SO let it go my soul and trust in him, the waves and winds still know his name.”
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Another relevant talk for those dealing with great loss, also includes background to it is well. (20:40 to end)

 
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I am sorry about your dog, Dee.
I will pray for you and ask San Roque , Patron Saint of animals ,to intercede so that you find peace in your heart about Jelly.
 
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i am so sorry you have lost your dog. It is heartbreaking. Please remember the last good thing we can do for an animal that is suffering is to end its suffering in a humane way.

You are in my prayers.

I have flagged the off topic posts.
 

“One morning Rocco woke up very ill. In his armpits and the groin, he found the tell-tale black swellings of the Black Death. Rather than infect anyone else he dragged himself outside the city and into the woods where he could die alone. Rocco had just made himself a bed of leaves when a dog trotted up to him with a large loaf of bread in its mouth. Every day the dog returned with a fresh loaf. Incredibly, Rocco recovered. He went back to Piacenza and took up his work in the hospital again.

“Thanks to the dog that kept Rocco from starving, all dogs have St. Rocco as their patron. The dog with the loaf of bread in its mouth has become St. Rocco’s emblem, appearing beside him in virtually every picture or statue of the saint.”
 
I am sorry for your loss, and pray that God will console you and wipe away every year.

People talk of a new heaven and new earth as though the afterlife will merely be version 2.0 of our current one - basically the same but a bit whiter, brighter and shinier.

It will not - St Paul has said that human eyes, ears and tongues cannot even conceive of what wonders lie in store for us. So whatever Heaven may be, firstly you can rest assured that it will be radically different from anything we can imagine, let alone anything we can currently experience. And secondly that whatever it is will be absolutely wonderful however it is, and that we will not feel any need or lack there.

God cares for all His creatures, I am sure, but that does not mean that He plans for all of them to continue existing in the afterlife. And that is not something to be upset about, whatever is there in heaven will be perfect and perfectly satisfy our every need.
 
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Dear Dee,
I’m so very sorry for your pain at losing your dearly loved Jelly. I too had to put to sleep my dearly loved pet dog almost 14 years ago now. It broke my heart - she meant so very much to me. She was 11 and those years were just the hardest in my life and she came into my life and filled a need that couldn’t be filled by anyone else. For which I truly thank God. I am a retired vet nurse. So I guess you could say I am coming at the subject from both sides - personal experience as well as professional.
Whilst it seems impossible now because your grief is so raw, time does heal the wound. I have no “pain” now, and even though I haven’t forgotten all her illness and all the veterinary care that involved, the main memories that came to mind first are the joyful ones.
Dee said:
the tumor was in her nasal area
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from this and that fact that you say she was disoriented and falling over, sounds to me like it possibly could have spread to her inner ear where the balance (similar to humans) is located, and it may have been affecting her balance as a result.

The disorientation you mention can be caused by various things, and not knowing what if any medication eg pain relief or how far the tumour had spread or what nerves it was compressing or etc etc. Whilst being 9 is generally not considered old, another cause for the disorientation may be canine dementia, considering you say she would walk in a corner and just stay there - they are disorientated and cannot find “their way out” so to speak, so may be another possibility.

Perhaps you could make an appointment with your vet and raise these questions with her - I’m sure she’ll understand where you’re coming from, and answer your questions as helpfully as possible.

Sometimes dogs will react to pain by running away, which may have been why she panicked in the car. The tumour must have been causing some pain within her face/head. I can’t say for sure not having seen x-rays etc of the tumour. Your vet may be able to explain this to you which may also give you consolation regarding your decision.
 
If our pet does not have quality of life, and dogs will hide their pain as its a self defense/survival mechanism, until they can’t - then the responsible, kind, loving thing to do is to let them go gently and humanely.

Some dogs will “freak out” when you try to restrain them e.g putting in the catheter simply because they are fearful because they don’t know what’s happening, why are they being restrained and will “fight it”. It can also be a result of the tumour depending where it had spread. You already mentioned how she was disoriented - so possibly was a factor here too. It wasn’t because she realised they were going to euthanise her - they don’t think that way.

When I was nursing, dogs were always given a sedative to keep them calm, to prevent them panicking, to make it easy as possible to insert the catheter without causing the pet any undue distress and as a result causing the owner undue distress.

Please try and look at it in that you did your baby a final kindness, in that you were able to spare her any further suffering, even though doing so caused you immense grief. You put her welfare ahead of your own needs, which is what we owners do for our pets. Also as a Catholic, if we accept the gift which our pets are, then we also have the duty to care for them responsibly and do the right thing by them.

Others have made comments regarding your last 5 sentences, so I will leave that to others.

I’ve said a prayer for you for your healing and to be at peace.
 
I’m so sorry for your loss. It sounds as if you did the right thing, at exactly the right time.

I believe you will see her again: what heaven could exclude this & how could our merciful and loving God allow such love to be lost?
 
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