How about "Hello in There" by John Prine? It's especially poignant if you've ever watched loved ones through their elderly years and see the loneliness that sometimes lies behind their eyes.

Ian Tyson did one called "Barney" around 1970 about having to put down his old horse because he probably couldn't survive another Canadian winter. Unfortunately, Tyson chose to shoot him rather than use an injection like the vets use for euthanasia and the horse didn't die quickly. Heck, I tear-up just thinking about the grief Tyson poured into that song.

SC