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36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Give me a break, January 6, 2004
By A Customer
This review is from: Three Cats, Two Dogs: One Journey Through Multiple Pet Loss (Paperback)
First some background--A few years ago some stray and ferel cats started adopting me. Due to the life they led they all came with major medical problems (FIV, FeLk, FIP, kidney failure and more). I loved them all, I cared for them all through very long, painful, illnesses. I had to make agonizing choices, put them through painful proceedures, watch them suffer, and watch them all die. I loss 6 in the course of one year. And others before and after that year. That's why I bought this book. I don't want to discount the author's grief over the loss of his pets, which I can wholeheartedly understand and commiserate with, but his "journey" is so unlike anything that any other pet owner on the face of the earth is ever likely to go through, and he was so blind to the gifts that he received that the rest of will never even come close to, that I found myself incensed at his bad attitude and behavior. I could not in any way relate to this mans "journey." His animals died quietly in their sleep. He didn't have to live with long terminal illnesses, painful treatments, or horrible decisions. I don't want any of my pets to die, but as they have to, I would pray to have them pass as his did rather than suffer through illness. But was he even remotely grateful for such a quick and painless passing? No. He was a public figure so hundreds (no joke!)of people offered their sympathy and support to him. But there were two people who did not...and he was so angred by these two people that he felt it necessary to write about them, by name, in this book. A whole whopping two people were insensitive to his ordeal and this so enraged him that he felt it necessary to lash out at them? Poor baby. If I could find two people who understood what I was going through I'd feel blessed and lucky. He got to stop working, due to his grief. Have any of us ever had that luxury? Or did our bosses not want to hear about it? Again, was he grateful? or annoyed when people hinted it was time to come back to work? He held a public memorial service for his pets in a theater and it was standing room only. He got to talk about it, share it, let it go. How many of us get any opportunity to talk about our dead pets to anyone, least wise hundreds of people? Most of us know that no one wants to hear about it. We have to keep it inside. Again I feel he was blessed and yet he didn't see it. Despite his grief he got twice as many new pets within a very short period of time. But does he enjoy them? No, in fact, he refuses to even celebrate Christmas with new pets. And once again gets irritated when a couple of people don't understand this. This proved to me that he learned nothing from the deaths of the original five....life is short and can be taken at any moment. He should have celebrated joyously that he had new pets...but he "couldn't bring himself" to do so. I barely had time to grieve one death before another was occurring yet I assure you I celebrated Christmas and every other day I could with the new pets. The authors attitude annoyed me. He was given the best of everything and it still wasn't enough for him. If he had seen those five pets through long, painful, illnesses one right after the other, and had to grapple with painful treatments and surgeries, when to euthansize, digging a grave in his backyard one night and getting up and having to go to work the next day, all the while having no one to talk to about this...then he might begin to understand what the average pet owner goes through. I don't think he has a clue what it's like for the rest of us....and I hope he never has to.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Three Cats, Two Dogs, One Wet Pillow, May 16, 2000
This review is from: Three Cats, Two Dogs: One Journey Through Multiple Pet Loss (Paperback)
This is a love story. Too often we skirt around the edges of grief...especially when we feel belittled by a society that doesn't allow for the depth of sadness one feels upon losing an animal companion. Sensing this from his family and many of his acquaintances, the author did his best to stifle the weight of his loss(es) and "act normal." Fortunately, for him and for us, what comes naturally, what is normal, is to pour one's heart out onto the page. A page doesn't judge your feelings. A page absorbs the the grief, the anger, the frustration. It just listens. I encourage you to listen to the pages in Three Cats, Two Dogs. If you are quiet, you will hear the purring, you will see the talking dog-eyes, you will smell the smoke, you will taste the tears shared by this couple when only they could understand how it was to lose five of their best friends, and you feel the not only the weight of that loss, but the celebration of each animal's life as well as the joy in gradually re-opening their scarred hearts to animals in need. I read this book in two parts, and I'm glad I did. It gave me the chance to absorb the feelings of loss, confusion, fear, emptiness and sudden change. It reminded me of how precious each moment is. In the second half, I found myself rejoicing in the healing and the eventual footfalls of new paws, new friends, and a renewed spirit of animal advocacy. An inspirational, honest, and boundless telling of a story certain to touch you for a long time.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A New Genre of Petloss Book, May 28, 2000
This review is from: Three Cats, Two Dogs: One Journey Through Multiple Pet Loss (Paperback)
"Three Cats, Two Dogs" by David Congalton is an important contribution to a new genre of books on pet loss. The author has stepped forth with a deeply moving account of life and death, in his family of many beloved pets. Although most of us do not have multiple companion animals, this book offers us a new awareness and perception. Until now, it has been too easy to pass off anyone with many pets as some sort of benign eccentric. Indeed, there are many pet lovers who do not appreciate what this is really like. David Congalton came home one evening, to find his house in flames, and his five beloved pets dead from smoke inhalation. Most of us know the grief than a single such loss can create, but this was an experience in multiple horror and bereavement, which we can only imagine. These pages honor a loving home life with these pets. Each one was a distinct member of the Congalton family, and through the author's skill we are able to begin to understand what this must have been like for him. When understanding is added to empathy, we have a breakthrough in appreciation. There are many new books coming out on pet loss and bereavement, but this one is different. The author's experience and poignant presentation is reminiscent of the fabled Phoenix, rising from its own ashes. We discover how the tragedy expressed here is overwhelming, but endurable. And through this we also can learn so much about ourselves. The monumental message given is that we all can survive terrible loss, without allowing ourselves to be destroyed. After finishing these pages each reader will be left with a keener love and appreciation for all his/her pets - past, present and future. And because of them, we can become better people, as well. We recommend this book, and are confident that this will be a positive reading experience, as well as an appreciated addition to any pet lover's library.
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