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Tears for Fido
Dealing With the Loss of a Pet By Teri Brown
Her name was Sassy. She was a small gray rat that had stolen our hearts from the time she was no bigger then my small daughter's thumb. We lived in a small, modern apartment at the time and she was often allowed to roam at will, safe in its airtight confines. She was clever, quick and had a wild sense of humor who knew rats could be so darn fun and intelligent?
No one told us, however, about their notoriously short life span, and we were shocked and saddened when we found her still and cold in her cage after having spent only three wonderful years with her. As my children's first pet, the loss was devastating.
Children and their animals are inseparable. Dogs and cats often sleep with their young owners nightly, and caring for them may be the child's first brush with being responsible for another being.
When Trina Lambert's guinea pig died, it was nothing short of traumatic for her daughter, Christiana. Lambert, mother of two from Englewood, Colo., knew the average life span for a guinea pig was five to seven years and figured her daughter wouldn't have to deal with her losing a pet for quite some time. Instead, the guinea pig, Chocolate, began failing after a mere 13 months. After taking her to the vet, she was told that Chocolate was a very sick little animal.
"I was shocked," says Lambert. "Then the vet proceeded to tell me that most likely she wouldn't make it through the night."
Telling her 12-year-old daughter about Chocolate was one of the hardest things Lambert has ever had to do. "My daughter was so attached to her guinea pig; I was very worried about telling her what was going on," says Lambert. "I then had to tell Christiana that it looked like she wasn't going to last for many more hours."
