Tag Archives: losing a pet

Sympathy Cards for a Lost Pet

It feels like I’ve been signing a lot of sympathy cards at the cats-only boarding facility lately. As much as I hate to think about it, our pets just don’t live as long as we’d like them to. It’s a sad coincidence that we’ve had several guests pass away in relatively quick succession. Sometimes, I don’t know what to say. I do my best to find something to love about each and every cat that comes through our doors. When I’m writing out the card, I try to remember some special moment I shared with the pet — some fond … Continue reading →

From the Mouths of Babes: Why Pets Have Such Short Lives

I’m a big fan of the James Herriot books and stories. You may be most familiar with All Creatures Great and Small — the book, the film, or the series. Herriot referred to them as his “little cat and dog stories”, but they are much more than that. They are glimpses into lives — Herriot’s own, and the lives of his clients and their owners. My favorite story has to be the one about why pets have such short lives. It goes a little something like this: a family needed to have their dog put to sleep. The dog, at … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: the Worst Part of the Job

It feels like this year has been a rough one for some of our favorite clients at the cats-only boarding facility. Some of our long-time visitors succumbed to chronic health issues or old age. It feels like we’ve been sending a lot of condolence cards. I don’t like it. Not one bit. We said goodbye to another dear friend this week — you may remember him as the biggest cat I’d ever seen. When he first came in to board for a weekend, he tipped the scale at almost thirty-four pounds. On his latest visit, he was down to almost … Continue reading →

Protecting Pets against Kidnapping

Any pet can be at risk for kidnapping, but there are things you can do to help reduce that risk. Don’t leave pets alone outside. Supervise them at all times! If your yard is visible from the street, anybody walking by can see that you are there with your pet — and your pet isn’t a good target. If strangers approach you to ask questions about your pet, don’t share details like how much he cost or where you live. Be polite, but don’t be specific. If your pet does go missing, report it to police and/or animal control as … Continue reading →

Pet Kidnapping on the Rise

According to statistics from the American Kennel Club, pet kidnapping is on the rise. It’s a statistic that’s difficult to track, to be sure. Pet theft is categorized with other property theft in official police reports, so the AKC and other groups have to rely on anecdotal evidence. But law enforcement agencies agree that pet theft — especially dog theft — is higher in 2008 than in the past. In the first half of the year, the AKC caught wind of three times as many dog thefts as there were in the first half of 2007. Why steal a pet? … Continue reading →

Puppies Successfully Cloned… For a Price

A story about an American woman who paid fifty thousand dollars to have her dog cloned made headlines this week. The story in short, if you missed it: she lost her dog Booger two years ago. Once dog cloning became available, she sold her home to finance the project to clone her lost pup. About a week ago, two surrogate mothers gave birth to five pit bull puppies — all clones of Booger. I have mixed feelings about this, to be honest. It’s a lot of money to spend, for one thing. That money could have helped a lot of … Continue reading →

Diary of a Cat Care B&B: Sleeping Like the Dead

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Is your pet a deep sleeper? My two dogs tend to be pretty light sleepers. (The exception being when either dog is dreaming and “running” at the same time. That seems to be the deepest sleep for them.) I would think that since pets tend to have far more sensitive ears than humans do, they would sleep very lightly. (At least compared to sleeping humans.) But I guess it really depends on the pet. A coworker at the cats-only boarding facility was telling me a story about a deeply sleeping guest who gave her a scare. The cat in question … Continue reading →

Tough Decisions: Watch the Euthanasia or Not?

April always brings to mind Budly because he was born during this month and died during it too. (Born April 21; Died April 23) Among the many memories I have him, the one that is guaranteed to bring tears to my eyes and which still haunts my heart is his very last moments. The ones right before he was euthanized. We were given the option to be in the room, or to wait outside until it was done and then come in to say our final goodbyes. Wayne and I didn’t even need a moment to discuss it. We wanted … Continue reading →

Looking Forward: Moose

I was driving home from work yesterday, thinking about my mother’s dog Shashi and how she suffered from hip dysplasia. And that got me looking ahead and wondering how long it will be before I’ll have to make a very difficult decision regarding Moose. My imagination went to work, and I started to cry, thinking about what I would feed him for his last meal and what the people at the veterinarian’s office will say and do. I finally understand the people who were jealous after Miko passed away in his sleep. I started attending a pet bereavement group run … Continue reading →

Looking Backward: Shashi

When I was a very little girl, my mother still had her German shepherd dog, Shashi. At least… that’s what we all called her. Her official name was Wildwoods Scheherazade, and she was a purebred, papered, pedigreed shepherd my mom had bought after she graduated college. When my mom was getting ready to get married and move out, my great-grandmother refused to let Shashi leave — so the dog stayed with my grandmother and great-grandmother. Shashi was a beautiful all-black shepherd. We have all sorts of funny family stories about her. She was so scared of thunder and lightning that … Continue reading →