u/DisneyFanatic85

My giant golden retriever is 13, almost 14. Healthy as a horse… except he has a progressive neurological problem that has been wasting his muscles away for 3+ years, similar to ALS in humans. After a long, slow decline, it’s now a matter of quality vs quantity and we are making the challenging decision to help him cross the rainbow bridge in 2 weeks. My heart breaks. Even harder is trying to help my two children through their grief without thoroughly breaking down myself. I am looking for outdoor memorial ideas we can put in the yard and for ways to have my kids be involved in the process without having them with us when the event occurs. One of the hardest things? Putting a time stamp on his life.

I have a 6 year old tabby male. He’s been an indoor cat his entire life. I also have a 14 year old golden retriever who, unfortunately, is at end of life. There are discussions happening this week about euthanasia. When the pup goes I wanted to try taking my cat out in the yard for play and exploration on a leash. I’m not a believer in allowing cats to free roam (too many dangers in general, but especially where we currently live) but I think my cat would love some outdoors time when the family is out in the yard. How do you recommend I go about doing this and introducing him to the leash?