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I posted on the Rainbow Bridge sub-forum about losing my Sammie on Monday to an undiagnosed tumor. A burst blood vessel in it caused her to bleed out suddenly. What I didn't share was that my regular Vet is closed on Mondays & I was enroute to a backup Vet I had never used when she arrested and passed away. When I got her to that vet, they tried everything they could to get her back. Once it was certain she was gone, they gave me as much time as I needed with her to say goodbye. I paid the bill right then and left. I opened my mail today to find a card from that vet offering condolences for our losing Sammie so suddenly and unexpectantly. Included was a personal note from the vet thanking us for adopting her and doing all we could for her and giving her a year and a half of quality life and love. The card also included the following:
Grieve not or speak of me with tears,
but laugh and speak of me as
if I were beside you....
I loved you so - 'twas Heaven
here with you.
Yup - I'm crying my eyes out right now because of the thoughtfulness of this vet. He only saw her the one time but did everything in his power to save my little girl. Now ....This card comes in the mail and has touched me. I can see how deeply he cares about the animals entrusted to him by the personal note that was included in the card. Thats the type of vet I want for my fur-kids. I've never seen it before from a vet that was just filling in. Does anyone else have a Vet as thoughtful as this? He so has my business for my other dogs!
I'm so sorry for your loss....it is so difficult to lose a family member....When we had to PTS our Golden Retriever several years ago our regular vet did send a card afterwards which was much appreciated. I have also heard that some vets (ours didn't) put a last paw print on the inside of the card...I do think it is nice to send a card - in your case especially nice since it was not your regular vet....
Our past vet sent us a card and a paw print on a little plaque like a childs handprint.
[We had left our dog with them for cremation]
We move and obviously found another vet but that choked me up.
It does not take much, to show an act of kindness that is meaningul.
His ashes also came back in a nice wooden box - without any extra charge - a lot nicer than my other pets, and even my own father for that matter.
I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. What a wonderful vet; actually a wonderful person.
We had a scary incident with Jack, our black lab, this summer. He was limping pretty badly for about a week or so. We thought nothing of it at first as he is very active and is always rough-housing with his siblings. We decided after about 10 days to take him. I thought it was just a routine visit, get an xray, maybe some meds and we're on our way. Well, their initial diagnois was osteosarcoma. I was absolutely heart-broken. The vet went out of her way to comfort me that day. She took time in between appointments the following day to talk to my wife and me about the next steps. She had 2 other vets review the xrays and they all came to the consensus that it was more likely a virus. She followed up with us weekly for the next month to make sure Jack was recovering nicely.
She will be our vet for as long as we live within the metro Denver area.
Oops, I quoted the wrong post. Sorry again for your loss VA.
I posted on the Rainbow Bridge sub-forum about losing my Sammie on Monday to an undiagnosed tumor. A burst blood vessel in it caused her to bleed out suddenly. What I didn't share was that my regular Vet is closed on Mondays & I was enroute to a backup Vet I had never used when she arrested and passed away. When I got her to that vet, they tried everything they could to get her back. Once it was certain she was gone, they gave me as much time as I needed with her to say goodbye. I paid the bill right then and left. I opened my mail today to find a card from that vet offering condolences for our losing Sammie so suddenly and unexpectantly. Included was a personal note from the vet thanking us for adopting her and doing all we could for her and giving her a year and a half of quality life and love. The card also included the following:
Grieve not or speak of me with tears,
but laugh and speak of me as
if I were beside you....
I loved you so - 'twas Heaven
here with you.
Yup - I'm crying my eyes out right now because of the thoughtfulness of this vet. He only saw her the one time but did everything in his power to save my little girl. Now ....This card comes in the mail and has touched me. I can see how deeply he cares about the animals entrusted to him by the personal note that was included in the card. Thats the type of vet I want for my fur-kids. I've never seen it before from a vet that was just filling in. Does anyone else have a Vet as thoughtful as this? He so has my business for my other dogs!
oh man ..... what a great guy..... does he have a brother vet in the st. louis area??
Thats the type of vet I want for my fur-kids. I've never seen it before from a vet that was just filling in. Does anyone else have a Vet as thoughtful as this? He so has my business for my other dogs!
They're out there, Va-Cat. I got a card from when my beautiful Lulu was put down. Both vets who were there signed it, with personal messages, as did all the front office people who had helped me. And I didn't even pay the bill, I was so upset, I ran out of the office, crying.
In fact, I just got up to go and look at the card they sent (Lulu was cremated and her box is near my bed). Yes, after all these years, it still makes me tear up.
A few years later I had to take my pup to the Vet. I was shown into the same room where Lulu was put down....I mentioned something about it, and the young lady apologized and brought me to another exam room. That's the kind of vet tech everyone needs in their life. As goes the vet so go the techs.
I am just trying to say that it's a great gift that you have found one of those wonderful vets. Maybe it was Sammie leading you there. The good ones understand. And that's certainly worth its weight in gold.
I know you are still grieving over Sammie and Bandit; all good thoughts are sent your way.
We had a horse with some eye issues that eventually took a specialist to discover had small cancerous growths in both eyes. After a long surgery, during which the cancer was discovered to be much larger than previously thought, the specialist never called during surgery (we were on standby with our cell phone just in case) to ask if we'd rather just remove the eye all together, never made any followup calls (even though we left quite a few messages), never spoke with him personally. However, the vet who did the anthesia for the specialist not only sent a note to us about what a good patient our horse was, he actually called and filled us in on everything that happened (without us needing to call him first or repeatedly).
Eventually, that eye did need to be removed (the cancer regrew, and worse), and we ended up using the vet who was kind enough to say something positive about such a sad situation and do followup without even being asked to do so.
And sometimes you find acts of kindness in unexpected places. My best dog ever passed away here at home. I can't tell you how awful it was to have to pick up her now lifeless body, and transport her ourselves to her final resting spot. We had no idea where to go (our previous experiences were all in the vet office). We couldn't bury her up here, as the ground was frozen and covered by snow. Instead of calling the local vet (not big in the compassion department, and I just couldn't be around that kind of attitude at that moment of my best baby's passing), we called the local no kill humane society. There are no words for how gentle they were with us on the phone, and we took my baby there for cremation. They even helped us get her out of the truck back seat, because we were crying too much by then. I had brought her favorite toy, her favorite fido fleece, and my favorite hoodie that I'd owned for almost as long as I had her, that I'd often wear in the evening when we'd snuggle up for popcorn snacks on the bed. I asked if they could be put with her, and nobody even looked askance at my request. It might have sounded silly, but her passing was so unexpected that I just wanted to do one last thing for her, surround her with a few of her favorite things. Couldn't let go of the fact that I wouldn't be able to do anything for her anymore, I guess.
They sent her remains back to us in the most beautiful wooden box made from local juniper, with a wonderful card. They were strangers to us, and they were compassionate when we needed it most. To pay it back, I now take food, cat litter, toys or whatever they are short of at the moment to them for the animals in their care.
I am so sorry for your loss, and esp. the sudden way in which it happened. I know what it is like to try so hard to save them and at the end, something happens about which you could do nothing to prevent Can really tear a person's heart to pieces.
My current and 2 previous vets have all sent cards signed by the office Staff and doctors after one of my fur babies has died. If it's a planned PTS, they put a quilt down on thje floor for the dog and let me stay as long as I want. The previous one, in another state, actually sent a house plant from the florist with the card. So sorry for everyone's losses.
I'm so glad to hear that vets of this caliber aren't as rare as I thought. They are definately not to be taken for granted though. The vet I've used since we moved here has been capable but not warm or caring like I found this one to be. Thats exactly what I'm going to tell them at our current vet when they ask why I'm taking my 2 remaining dogs' records and transferring their care to the new vet.
Thank you everyone for the very kind thoughts and words. We had Bandit with us for almost 8 years. My little Sammie girl was only with us for about a year and 3 months but there is an equally large and definate hole in our household and in our hearts with the passing of each of them.
I'd like to ask that all of you that are reading this do something special for me. Hug your fur-kids tonight and do something special to let them know how much you love them. I can think of no better tribute to my two babies than that.
My vet also sends a nice card that all the vets there and the staff sign and write little messages in. My moms vet actually sent my mom some flowers when one of her dogs died. That office adored my mom and she got a special discount on everything...and it was a big discount. The first time I took one of the animals in there for my dad after my mom had died I ended up comforting all of them as they all brought up her death and were in tears! They all claimed she was their favorite client..of course she always baked them delicious cookies for the major holidays!!!! I think she was the grandma to many of them.
As for the ashes coming back in beautiful wooden boxes, when I put my first dog Maddie down I was planning to scatter her ashes on the beach then they came back in such a beautiful wooden box that she became a book end, Now with Dash's box I have a real bookend set! My plan now is that when I die I want my ashes mixed with all the dogs and all of us scattered at the beach.
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Can really tear a person's heart to pieces.
