HOUNDED BY HURT OVER DOG
A woman in Texas was so heartbroken over losing her little dog that she suffered a broken heart. And it almost killed her.
The New England Journal of Medicine reports that Joanie Simpson woke up suffering what seemed to be a heart attack, including chest pain and shortness of breath.
But it wasn’t a heart attack. It was a broken heart, or, technically, takotsubo cardiomyopathy.
Did you know that animals can also die of broken hearts? My husband once raised two dogs together. One died of cancer, and the other grieved so badly that she dropped dead a few days later. The vet said the dog had literally died of a broken heart.
So next time someone tells you that you are putting human emotions on your pet when they look sad, upset, scared or lonely, tell them to take a hike. Animals suffer the way we do — up to and including having their hearts broken.