Stories From Other Owners: Three Accounts of Saying Goodbye
Last updated: August 10, 2026
This page retells accounts that owners in Japan have published themselves about saying goodbye to a dog or cat, with sources credited throughout. These aren’t interviews — they’re written from pieces the owners posted on note (a Japanese blogging platform), keeping the facts as told and translating them into English with restraint. Direct quotations are marked with quotation marks and translated from the original Japanese; a link to the original piece follows each account.
Caring for a 56kg dog, at home, to the end
A male Great Pyrenees weighed 56kg at his healthiest and lived to 15 — a long life for a breed whose average lifespan is usually put at 8–9 years. His hind legs began to weaken two years before he died. His owner left their job and moved into round-the-clock care at home: treating pressure sores, repositioning him, managing diarrhea. Caring for a dog that size is, in practice, physical labor.
"I couldn’t leave him lying there dirty, so whether it was the middle of the night or early morning, as soon as I noticed I’d clean him up, wash his backside, and dry him with a hair dryer." That one line sums up two years of daily life. Whatever the hour, the moment you notice, you get up and act. Every day, without exception.
On October 18, 2023, his condition suddenly worsened. On the morning of the 22nd, he received an IV at the vet and came home. Not long after, surrounded by family, he passed away.
At the end of the piece, the writer wonders whether this dog loved them more than anyone else in the world ever had. They write that it’s very lonely, too.
Source: note, "The world's most lovable dog, and my story" (by Minami, published 2023) →read the article (in Japanese)
A cat who disliked being touched, at the end, in her arms
The writer, Runa, had just lost her previous cat suddenly, and in her grief took in a cat named Sū-tan from a cat-café rescue. Sū-tan didn’t open up to people easily at first. She only began allowing herself to be touched in her later years. In human-age terms she lived to roughly 84, and died of old age.
As the end drew near, the writer wrote: "She'd had such a hard time, this cat, so I found myself thinking — please let her go without suffering!! — even though I'm not usually someone with much faith."
Someone with no particular faith, still reaching toward something to ask.
The wish seems to have been granted. The writer notes more than once in the piece how peaceful Sū-tan’s face looked after she passed — a quiet ending for a cat who’d had such a difficult road.
In the end, she died at home, in the writer's arms. A cat who wouldn't even let anyone near her at first ended up passing away held close — the writer places that fact at the very close of the piece.
Source: note, "My beloved cat Sū-tan crosses the rainbow bridge 🌈 thank you for our irreplaceable days" (by Runa, published 2025) →read the article (in Japanese)
Three cats, three different endings
Librarian Rakka Tatsutake has said goodbye to three cats. The first, a cat they'd spent 12 years with, had lymphoma. In the final days, this cat reportedly changed which family member it slept beside each night: "Three days before, it was my father; two days before, me; one day before, my mother and the other cats. I think it was saying goodbye to each of us, one by one, by choosing who to sleep next to each night." In the end, this cat died alone, in the night, once the household was asleep — the writer wasn't there for that moment.
The second cat's condition suddenly turned just days after its birthday. The writer found it collapsed and tried to carry it to its usual bed. It died right there, in the writer's arms.
The third was born premature and had been successfully raised to adulthood. One day, without warning, it went into respiratory distress. Even through labored breathing, the writer says, you could tell it was still trying to live. A cat the writer was there for, and one they weren't — both are held in this single piece.
Source: note, "#322 Believing we'll meet again at the rainbow bridge" (by Rakka Tatsutake, published 2026) →read the article (in Japanese)
A note on how these stories are shared here
The three pieces retold above are personal accounts published on note by their original writers. These aren't interviews — they're retellings, in our own words, of publicly posted writing, keeping the facts as told. Where a writer's own words are used directly, they're marked with quotation marks and translated as closely as possible without altering their meaning. If you have any concern about how your piece is featured here, please write to teisei@sonae-shippo.com and we'll respond right away.