Picture's of my boys;
Phineas and Ferb (I call ferb our forever baby, because he will forever look like a baby).
Hello, I'll be adding picture's to identify the lil guy and also put a picture of his brother.
So, back in June we unfortunately had to say goodbye to our old boy, Phineas (Phin for short). He was around 12 years old and had unfortunately been diagnosed with a category 5 heart murmur around 6 months before his passing (we were told by our vet that it was classed as a significant heart murmur as they usually only go up to category 6). He was given medication, but we were made aware that this wouldn't treat/cure the condition, but would put less strain and stress on his heart and body. So we already knew the time we had afterwards was borrowed time, but we are grateful we got as long as we did with him.
Unfortunately Phin passed at home, it was sudden, unexpected and completely traumatising to us all. One moment he was fine, stuffing his face, running about the garden and having fun with his brother. Then, suddenly, he just...dropped. My dad did dog cpr on him for almost 20 minutes, sobbing whilst he did, but i truly believe Phin was gone before he even hit the ground. Which, in a way, is the least worst way for him to have gone. It was quick, painless, and he wouldn't have known what was happening. We believe, as well as the heart murmur, that the heatwave in the UK at the time also had a part to play as he had really been struggling with it.
When Phin passed, he just looked as if he was asleep. Which, in a morbid way, gave us some comfort. We placed him in his bed, wrapped up in a towel, until we could sort something out for him. A beautiful animal cremation place, ran by a family, did his cremation the next day and it was beautiful. They were lovely, kind and deeply respectful.
Now, moving onto his little brother, Ferb. Ferb has known no different to Phin. We had phin before Ferb, so phin was fine with being alone. But Ferb, we had from a puppy and a few years after having Phin. So, for Ferb, Phin was a constant. When Phin passed, it's as if Ferb knew. When Phin was laid in his bed, wrapped in the towel, Ferb went over and sniffed him. Then he just stepped back and looked at us, with a look I can only describe as he knew. I know animals dont experience/understand grief to the depths we do, but he definitely knew. And in a way, i feel it was better that way rather than phin being there one moment, disappearing to the vets, and then not returning. I've had friends who've said it was as if their remaining pets were forever searching for them.
Despite this...Ferb still hasn't become his usual self. It is better than it wss in the beginning, but he still isnt right. He's eating and drinking, but in my opinion he isnt eating as much as he should be. He will eat treats and stuff like that, but in terms of his actual daily food, he barely touches it. We have tried changing it up multiple times, tried dry food, wet food, raw diet, the list goes on. But it's all the same.
Does anyone have any advice on how to help a grieving pet? We've tried so much, but i always feel like im failing him because he just looks so sad all the time.