FallDownGoBump... I hear ya... Loud and clear... Sounds as if we're both in the same boat... Hubby has 3 sisters and 2 brothers left and not one of them even bothered to send a card or call on his birthday, let alone any other time. Even if I did ask for help not one of them would... But the real kicker is that hubby has helped EVERYONE in his family and everyone has screwed him in some way... Six of his nine siblings and his father has lived with us at one time or another... When we first married we took in his father and youngest sister with the stipulation that 4 of the other brothers and sisters chip in a lousy $7. a week... The first week we got $21. the next week we got $14. then not another cent or even a crust of bread... I could go on for hours about them but I won't... It only upsets me more... My story: Three years ago hubby broke his hip and two days after the surgery they sent him home with me with no additional help... Three days after that something happened and he didn't know who he was, where he was or who I was... After a two week stay in the hospital, so they could perform every test known to man, they told me he had 2 strokes and a little stiff from the partial hip replacement but otherwise he was in good health and they sent him to a rehab facility ( nursing home )... BTW, while he was there, recovering, his youngest sister got it in her head that since the nursing home offered hospice services that was all they did and turned around and told hubby that's why he was there! Sorry for getting off on another rant... Anyway, after two months the rehab facility sent him home... For about a month and a half the visiting nurse and a physical therapist came over twice a week... By then I had to find a doctor because hubby's meds were running out. After reviewing all his medical records the doctor says hubby had SEVERAL strokes and a heart attack!!!! Ok, sorry, that's yet another rant... Right now I have a 67 year old hubby who moves as if he's 100 and, at times, has the brain of a 2 year old... Hugs, Rita

I am so sorry for your loss. We have a 11 year old poodle that has been our "baby", we got him the year we found out we couldn't have kids so he became our world. Five years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes at the time the vet misdiagnosed him and gave him steroids which pushed the diabetes into overdrive so by the time we figured it out he had lost his eye sight. They told us at the time to take him home and make him comfortable. Well me being his "mom" there was no way I was giving up that easily. He's been on insulin for 5 years now and is doing great. But I know the time is going to come sooner than I would like and we will lose our little boy. The thought of that is more than I can bare. I don't know what we will ever do with out him. I made the decision about a two months ago to adopt a little Dorkie, hale doxie, half yorkie. His name is Cooper and he has been such a light in our home. He's even made Buster a little more spry. I knew we would NEVER be able to replace Buster, he's just way to special but I also knew I couldn't live with out a dog in the house. To me having Cooper will make it a little easier when the time comes to tell Buster goodbye. I know in my heart that Buster is loved and has had the best life possible. We have been so blessed to have him in our lives.

Just wanted to update, we lost our Peanut on Tuesday, at the age of 20 years and 2 months. He was doing really well on the fluids, but he came down with what appeared to be an eye infection in December. It improved a little with triple antibio cream and lysine, but never fully cleared up. Over the last few weeks, he lost a lot of weight though he was eating very, very well. Last week, his eye swelled up tremendously and did not respond to any treatment. The vet felt a tumor behind his eye and said nothing could be done at his age and in his condition. We miss him so much, I can't look at his favorite chair because I expect to see him in it. Hubby is the one who gave him fluids every night and he is having a really hard time too. He was doing so well on the fluids, if it had not been for the tumor we probably would have had him for quite a while longer.

This may or may not be relevant, but it's a decent story. Several years ago, we had a litter of 3 groundhogs on our property. Since our groundhogs tend to be reasonably well behaved (at least since we fenced in the vegetable garden) we just watched them and thought they were cute. One day, we went out, and in the middle of the lawn was one of the babies. It was maybe half grown, so not exactly a small animal, but noticeably smaller than the mother. It was dead, but in an oddly flattened way. After giving the matter some thought, we came to the conclusion that is looked like it had been dropped from a great height. After giving the matter more thought, we realized this actually made sense. We have a lot of raptors around, mostly red tailed hawks, but a few golden eagles, ospreys, bald eagles, and other usual suspects. It was entirely possible that one of the red tailed hawks overestimated their hauling ability, or underestimated the size of the groundhog. They picked it up, tried to fly off with it, but ended up having to drop it. I can easily imagine something similar happening with rabbits. BTW, even more years ago, we found a rabbit that had probably been hit by a car. When I found it, I was on my way somewhere and didn't have time to deal with it. I also thought if I put it off, my DH could come home from work and handle it. By the time I came home, more than half of it had disappeared, and by the time my DH came home, almost all of it was gone.