Dear MylittleCherubs
I have to say that if I was asked to leave my dogs I would simply not be able to do it. I think it would break me and I would be unable to cope.
You are being very good to your daughter having her to stay with you, naturally, because you love her, you would do no less. But she has lost so much. Her terrible husband turning his back on her at the time when her second child is a baby and first a very little child. She may even have post natal depression with all that has happened. I just can’t imagine what losing her dogs might do her. You say she has had them for years, which means she loves them very much, she will have a very close bond with them and they are like children to her. I really do fear it would be a loss too far for her especially at this time.
I would not be worried about your dogs and cat. If you only had cats that weren’t used to dogs it would be different. But dogs don’t know how big they are and your two little ones will almost certainly show the visitors they are the top dogs! I used to have big dogs and they were very easy, quite lazy and docile. Now I have very small dogs and they are very full of beans, on the go, up to mischief and absolutely sure they are the boss! Dogs like company and the more the merrier! Your cat will serenely deal with the dogs in the way she has dealt with yours.
Please don’t ask your daughter to be separated from her dogs. She has suffered enough. After all, she is only staying with you until she gets her own home, so that is another reason for not asking her to lose her dogs. I still cry remembering a dog I had in my thirties, a golden retriever, which died aged eight. We never forget our dogs. If these two are taken from her, your daughter may not recover. She will go into mourning for them and it might be intolerable pain for her. I know non-dog lovers do not comprehend, but the relationship between dog and owner is such a close and special bond. It is unique, not like that between humans and is actually, in some respects, stronger than that between mother and baby because of the dog’s particular characteristics. My dogs are with me all the time. On my few overnight visits to my grandchildren, I secretly miss them very badly.
I am serious, I truly think if I had to give up my dogs I would be suicidal. The closest way of describing it is to say they are like my children. I had three babies, now adults with their own families. My dogs throughout my life have had as important a place in my life as my children. Every dog is different and some are more remarkable than others. I have been exceptionally lucky to have had the most wonderful, loyal, instinctively understanding, amazing dogs. My dogs have kept me going through very hard times. Your daughter will be the same about her dogs, I am sure. She probably needs them very much right now. Please, please let her keep them, I beg you.