Unless we are aware of an alternative, it is all too easy to put
off the inevitable out of fear of our own loss and grief and let
our pets suffer a fraction longer than they need or should. Our
old friend is asking us "please help me", but all we
can think of is that last trip in the car, and the return journey
with an empty crate.
This is very understandable but it need not be like this. When
the time comes, any vet will be more than willing (for additional
cost but what does that matter at a time like this) to come to
the house. This is true, not only in my own country but in most
others.
There is a world of difference between taking our old darling
in the motor car to a place of (perhaps) unhappy memories like
jabs and leaving him or her alone and possibly frightened, and
having the vet come to us, allowing the family to say good bye,
cuddling our pet at the moment of departure and sitting at ease
with our thoughts, perhaps surrounded by other pets.
No need to brave the traffic home through our tears. No need just
to leave the body there. The vet will arrange to take the body
away and perform an autopsy, should one be indicated. The body
may even be returned for burial.
I have suggested this course of action to quite a few Basenji
families I have met on the 'web'. In the stress of the moment,
they hadn't thought of it and were not even aware that it could
be arranged. However, they discovered that it was not only possible
but desirable, gave them comfort and eased them through a painful
experience.
We have been this road several times over the years - recently
I spent a morning with a friend until the Vet came to despatch
her eleven year old Dobe. He did it there where she was standing
and helped us carry her outside. He even offered to help us dig
- but we refused. It was so easy and such a relief for the lovely
old lady.
As an additional comfort, our local vets will have at least an
idea of the cost and accept payment there and then, obviating
any plain brown envelopes through the post to revive grief at
the end of the month. We have lost two ancient Basenjis in the
past year and their names have never shown up on any veterinary
bill or statement of account. Somehow that made their passing
more acceptable.
Our own animals, cats, dogs, even a child's pony, lie in our pets'
'cemetery' along the far edge of our tennis court. 'Memorial Avenue'
is decorated with magnificent flowering bushes and each animal
has a headstone, laid flat to the ground, with the name on it.
We found tiny pebbles etching the name were flicked out when we
tended the lawns so Marvin writes the name in the concrete.
It is a pleasant, peaceful place - I think I will take a walk
in the sunshine among old friends...
It is never the right time to say goodbye to an old friend and
we are indeed lucky if they take that decision for us and enjoy
a peaceful passing. All too often though, a stroke, general deterioration
in health, loss of that indefinable 'quality of life' we wish
for them, means that we have to help them on their way. We should
look upon this assistance as the last act of love we can do for
a faithful friend - letting them go with dignity and without suffering.
