As pet owners, there’s nothing we wouldn’t do to ensure our furry, fluffy, scaly and creepy critters are cared for correctly. We buy them expensive food, fancy pet beds, countless toys and play with them all the time. That’s because pets are just as important as the humans for most families!

Sadly, there’s one thing many of us fail to do for our pets when they need it the most – and veterinarians are getting the word out. That’s why their emotional messages are going viral online.

We can all take their words to heart and store them away for when the time comes…

The Internet frenzy began when one young woman named Jessi Dietrich took her cat to the vet, as she does regularly. Jessi spoke to Bored Panda about why she’s at the vet’s office so often:

“I just have one pet of my own. His name is Rick, he’s a black and white cat and is about 2 and a half years old. Though he only weighs about 5 pounds, he has the biggest personality to make up for what he may lack in size.

I took him to the vet because about a year and a half ago he nearly died from a UTI blockage. My vet had to perform an emergency surgery which one of the risks of which was an increased risk for infection for the rest of his life if the surgery was successful.

The surgery went wonderfully but since then he gets at least one or two infections a month (the vet said he is not in pain from them). So we’re regulars at our current vet to treat these chronic infections in short.”

Jessi shared what she asked and her vet’s tragic response on Twitter.

“Asked my vet what the hardest part was about his job and he said when he has to put an animal down, 90 percent of owners don’t actually want to be in the room when he injects them. So the animal’s last moments are usually them frantically looking around for their owners, and to be honest, that broke me.”

And for this reason, I’m literally gonna be cradling my [cat] Rick when his time comes with all his favorite toys and endless ear scratches at the ready, regardless of how distraught I am.

Didn’t mean to break everyone’s hearts, just wanted to raise awareness! I’m so sorry.”
In just a few days, more than 100,000 people retweeted her heartbreaking PSA. But Jessi’s vet wasn’t the only one who noticed pets’ panicked search for their owners right before they pass. An employee at the Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital agreed and shared their own feelings on the subject in a now-viral Facebook post.

“When you are a pet owner it is inevitable, the majority of the time, that your pet will die before you do. So if and when you have to take your pet to the vet’s office for a humane pain-free ending I want you all to know something. You have been the center of their world for THEIR ENTIRE LIVES!

They may just be a part of yours, but all they know is you as their family. It is a [hard] decision/day/time/event every time, there is no argument against that, and it is devastating for us, as humans, to lose them. But please, I beg you, DO NOT LEAVE THEM.

Do not make them transition from life to death in a room of strangers in a place they don’t like. The thing you people need to know that most of you don’t is that THEY SEARCH FOR YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THEM BEHIND!”
We’re our pet’s entire world! So when it comes time for their last moment in life, we need to stick by their side. We wouldn’t abandon any other human family member on their deathbed – why should our furry ones be any different?

The love we share with our pets is real. See how dogs show it below!