FinnishLapphund
There's no cow on the ice
I cried myself to sleep so have woken up a bit headachey.
I’m trying to dwell on the whole situation but the vet said yesterday, that after they saw her liver it was 50/50 whether she would make it. I’m still very annoyed that I wasn’t given the option to call it a day while she was on the table, because we could have saved the last few days of distress for Tia. I’m so sad at how it’s ended, but Tia isn’t suffering anymore so that’s something.
I kept looking at her picture last night and bawling my eyes out. She had the most perfect little face and expression. God I miss her so much
I didn’t cry this much when my beloved Nan died. Whats wrong with me??
Yes, they should've called you, and of course in hindsight knowing the outcome, it's easy to think that if only they had called, you could've saved her from going through the last few days. But now that things happened the way they did, don't forget that they also thought that it was a 50% chance that she could've made it. If she had started to improve, and recovered, both she and you presumably would've been very happy the vet didn't call you until after surgery.
Also, considering how slow, torturous, and uncomfortable a natural death can sometimes be out in the wild, spending a few extra days not feeling well, but being warm, and having you lovingly trying to nurture her back to health, doesn't sound to me like a too bad way for anyone to spend their last days.
As others have already said, there's nothing wrong or strange with crying more after having lost your young tortoise, than after having lost your beloved Nan.
Grief can be so many things, but it's not a competition, and there's absolutely no correlation between the amount of tears you cry, and neither the amount of love, nor heartache you feel. Sometimes sorrow is intense, or bittersweet, or even gloomy, sometimes it makes you cry a lot, sometimes not at all, or anything in between. None of it makes one or the other kind of grief more noble or "right" than the other, it's just grief. It comes as it comes, and feels as it feels.
{{{{{{Hugs}}}}}}