Dogster has the full text of Fiona Apple's beautiful letter to her fans regarding her dog's illness and her inability to travel for the time being. "She's my best friend and my mother and my daughter, my benefactor, and she's the one who taught me what love is. I can't come to South America. Not now."

  • Don Martin

    I gained new respect for this woman.

  • http://www.facebook.com/matthew.urso Matthew Urso

    i guess its a good thing that the people that listen to her are the type that would understand this

    • EH

      I can’t even count how many dimensions a burn that is. You must be proud.

  • coelacanth

    Get well soon, Janet. This is sad. 

  • http://twitter.com/fractos Adam Christie

    This destroyed me at work today.

  • Finnagain

    Dusty in here..

  • http://celesteagnes.blogspot.com/ Sekino

    I’ll be giving my cat- and buddy of 13 years- and extra-long brushing/petting session tonight…

    • niktemadur

      Oh man, I’ve got two almost-14-year olds, brother and sister from the same litter, as well as two younger rescues.
      The brother got really, really sick early this year, I could sense him slipping away.  The vet said “maybe he’s just lost his will to live”.
      So screw the stupid, ignorant vet, I nursed him round the clock for days, until something inside him went “click!” and he started to eat and drink on his own again.  Now he’s strong as a bull again, just as feisty and obstinate but more affectionate with me.

      • http://boingboing.net/ Jason Weisberger

        Good work and congrats. I’ve found that going to great lengths for a pet you love is always worthwhile. 

      • decoy131

        By your description, sounds like the vet made the correct diagnosis. Not everything can be magically fixed by medicine. Nice job bringing it back to health, btw

  • http://www.facebook.com/dave.maclachlan.3 Dave MacLachlan

    Wonderful article on CNN that mentions Ms. Apple’s decision. Be prepared with Kleenex. http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/21/living/fiona-apple-dog-death/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

  • benenglish

    I always thought of Ms. Apple as an attractive young lady who sang songs and did a good job of it.  There are lots of those in the world and, while each is special in her own way just like every human being, I didn’t consider this particular singer noteworthy enough to follow closely.

    Liked her music but no big deal.

    I just buried my last cat.  He simply gave up after his brother and constant companion had died less than a month before.  I had loved them with all my heart since I watched their birth, just short of 22 years ago.

    When their mom died, more than a decade ago, I took a single vacation day to grieve.  A friend asked why I took a day off on short notice (I wasn’t required to give management a reason) and I stupidly told her.  She told everyone.  My boss made a point of humiliating me publicly for wasting a day’s vacation over the death of “some stupid cat.”

    I think I have a glimmer of understanding or, maybe, I’m just a little more sensitive about it than I should be.  Either way, I think quite a bit more of Ms. Apple than before and wish her the best in the time of sorrow coming to her.

    Some people just don’t understand.  Fiona Apple, it seems, does.  Good for her.

    • Over the River

      I am sorry for all of your losses. Only very special people can earn the love of a cat and love them as much as they loved you.

  • Over the River

    On another site one commentor expressed this beautiful thought:

    I hope I will have a Fiona Apple by my side for the end of my days.

  • Emily Bond

    My cat is, very probably, the only reason my depression hasn’t managed to kill me yet. Every time the depression tries to tell me I’ve failed at everything in my entire life, I can point at this incredibly sweet, absolutely adorable, perfectly healthy cat, who I adopted from a (not no-kill) shelter – and is probably sitting next to me at that very moment – and say “but not this”. Every time it tries to tell me no one would care – or at least, no one would truly be worse off – if I died, I can point at him and say “he would”. He’s certainly the only thing that got me out of the house at some points. Knowing that Fiona Apple has also struggled with mental illness, I suspect it’s probably the same kind of situation for her.

    I love that cat more than anyone or anything else in the entire world – and he loves me back as his mama. I know because he always wants to be near me, sleeps curled up next to me purring, loves to give me kisses, and purposely acts like a goofball when I’m sad.

    I was heartbroken when my family dog died in high school, and I still sometimes miss the dog we got after that one, even though I was living away at college and such for several years before it died… how he would be SO HAPPY to see me at the door, and nap on the couch with me – head on the pillow and blanket up to his chin just like a person. If anything happened to my cat, damn right I’d be taking off work, benenglish. Probably for a lot more than a day. Your boss obviously never had a pet.

    Good on Ms. Apple for choosing to take care of her best friend in the world on his deathbed over going on tour. I like her music anyway, and now I thoroughly approve of her as a person.