Care for Dogs staying in Vets overnight

bluecherry74

So sorry ryanf1.

Oscar15

So sorry to read this.

I've just joined so don't know your story - I read this thread because before we lost our boy in June he was at the vets a lot and I had the same concerns as you about him staying overnight, turned out the vets were there a few times checking through the night.

Lovely photo of your boy. It sounds like he had a long and happy life. Mind yourself

Gael23

I'll post some other photos sometime soon. The past 3 days have been a sense of nowhere because Tuesday morning when he got sick we took him to the vets thinking they would give him an injection as happened a few times recently and although we soon knew it was a little more serious than that, he did brighten that night into yesterday morning but then last night and this morning the bloods started coming in with one being worse than the next.
I'm also glad that it was out of our hands and he went in his own time, but I wish it was at home with his family.

Does anyone have an idea how much individual cremation costs?

DBB

I would think you're looking at around about €250 for individual cremation, that's just based on somewhere in between what I paid for one small dog, and one very large dog.
There is a pet crematorium in Trim, Co. Meath, that you can travel to with your dog's remains, and wait there for them to return the ashes. There's another such place in the north, but both of these may be too far from you.. are you in Waterford?
Or you can leave your dog's remains with your vet for collection by the cremation companies, in which case you'll get the ashes back 1-3 weeks later.
Horrible conversation to be having

Link to the crematorium in Trim... I only discovered recently that I know the owner of the premises where this is, and the whole process is genuinely very respectful.
http://www.pawprintscremationireland.ie/

Gael23

Yes I am in Waterford, I'm assuming the vet deals with it but I cant take those details in just now.
Also another pic in this link https://dayone.me/1er2zsZ

Gael23

Today it feels real, life hasn't been normal since Monday and yesterday was just pure craziness and its really happening. Its impossible to understand for anyone not been through this to appreciate but the emptiness hurts most of all, the feeling that you just lost a limb. Particularly at certain times when he always done things usually around the same time each day.

What period of time is appropriate to think of getting another one?

Deenie123

ryan, I'm so sorry for your loss. Went through the same with my dog about 15 months ago. His kennel is still standing outside, with his bowl and toys in it. We've yet to get another (have a cat who's nearly 10 so it would be a bit much expecting her to adapt to a new dog).

I'd say wait til the sting of the loss is gone before getting a new dog. There'll probably always be moments that catch you unaware - like just before Christmas I was carrying a load of stuff heading out the back garden and I thought "ugh how am I going to avoid being tripped up here?" because he always bounded around and got all excited and ended up under your feet. But that made me laugh a little and think "poor auld bubbles" and remember him fondly... Whereas in the immediate aftermath of letting him go, 6 o'clock would come around and I'd start to head into the utility room to feed him and it would just hurt. It didn't bring back fond memories, just sadness at his absence. Wait til you can look back and feel like the memories are bittersweet, rather than just painful because he's gone. Your future dog deserves to be loved and cherished in his/her own right without serving as a painful reminder.

Gael23

Deenie123 wrote: »

ryan, I'm so sorry for your loss. Went through the same with my dog about 15 months ago. His kennel is still standing outside, with his bowl and toys in it. We've yet to get another (have a cat who's nearly 10 so it would be a bit much expecting her to adapt to a new dog).

We cleared away most of his things during the night- none of us slept that much. All is left is food things and his medicines that are have to be thrown away.

I'd say wait til the sting of the loss is gone before getting a new dog. There'll probably always be moments that catch you unaware Wait til you can look back and feel like the memories are bittersweet, rather than just painful because he's gone. Your future dog deserves to be loved and cherished in his/her own right without serving as a painful reminder.

I do feel that I couldn't love another one the way you should do just now. Those moments that catch you are happening almost every minute. Stuff like I went out to get some shopping and realised I forgot bags and ran back in to get them, but I didn't need to close the door behind me any more.

Oscar15

We lost our boy in June, he was 14 and we had him from 8 weeks. I was in bits, still miss him terribly but at least can talk about him now without crying (well, most of the time anyway!)

We are thinking of getting another dog in the summer because we really miss having a dog. In no way is this trying to replace the dog we have lost - he is irreplaceable. We are going for a totally different breed as well to avoid comparisons.

Gael23

Oscar15 wrote: »

We are thinking of getting another dog in the summer because we really miss having a dog. In no way is this trying to replace the dog we have lost - he is irreplaceable. We are going for a totally different breed as well to avoid comparisons.

So that's about a year? We want to wait a few weeks or maybe until the summer but that emptiness is setting in and it's horrible. It's not something I have given an ounce of thought but I think I would like another cocker, maybe a different colour but they are co loving and loyal it would be hard to leave that behind.
I know someone that got another one the following day, they love him dearly but it's not something I could have done personally

borderlinemeath

I'm so sorry for your loss Ryan, it's absolutely heartbreaking.

There's no right or wrong time to get another dog, some people can go out the very next day but it takes others a long time to get over the loss of a pet. A good way to ease your way back to having a new pet is to volunteer at a local shelter and walk the resident dogs, it can be very cathartic and you can get your "furry fix" without jumping in too soon and finding it hard to bond with a new dog. Fostering is another option, but the circumstances have to be right in the home for the foster dog.

retro:electro

I'm so sorry to hear about your gorgoeus dog. Reading your post brought it all back for me. I lost my gorgeous charlie almost two years ago now, and let me tell you I've never known heartbreak like it. He was 12 and had both cancer and a bad heart. We knew the end was near but it never prepares you for the heartbreak and loss. I know exactly how you're feeling right now. You find yourself looking around for them and can almost trick yourself into hearing their little noises, to this day I still think I hear the pitter patter of his little nails on the wooden floors.
Like you I didn't want him to die on his own either. I took the week off work when he got bad as I wanted his final moments to be with me. I went to collect my mam from work one day and was gone all of five minutes and when we arrived home he had gone. I was devastated and inconsolable.

I didn't eat right or go anywhere for weeks. I wanted to be there when he died and I couldn't believe the five minutes i left him for was when he went. But I had to realise that's when he chose to go, that was his time and maybe he was waiting to be on his own to slip away quietly. I slept with his blanket for weeks and I sleep now with his picture beside my bed. Get another one when you feel ready, don't deny yourself the chance to be happy again and have another little fellow to look after. It won't be a replacement but it'll lift your heart.

Gael23

One than that comforts me immensely is tht he died at a time of his choosing and it was taken out of our hands.
I wasn't with him when he died and I didn't see him since I brought him in on Tuesday. If I had known that things were going to turn so bad yesterday morning I would have gone in on Wednesday night. But everyone I say that to is telling me I was best not to see him the way he was that night, practically unconscious and hooked up to lots of different things, drips monitors and so on, and that my last memory of being with him is the best one, cradled in my arms with his chin on my shoulder and tail on my lap almost like a baby.

We knew on Wednesday evening that it was going to be a short time and on Thursday morning that timeframe went down to days or hours and he died after 3 hours. I would have liked to taken him home on the drip and let him be in his own bed with us around him, but then there's the earlier point about what's a good last memory.
We took away almost all his stuff this morning, nine of us want it around. All we have left is stuff like food , treats and medicines that you can't give to someone or reuse.
Today was hard. There's no other way of saying that, it comes in waves at certain moments. Things like we have family that come to visit every Friday and we always eat cheese when they do, which was his one of his (many) favourite foods and he would do whatever it took to get some so not having that today wasn't easy. Also at one stage the wind banged our letterbox but I thought the sound was his nails scratching off the floor.

retro:electro

You nearly have to take yourself out of the equation when you're thinking about how they died and say to yourself well I know I would have loved him here with me but really all that moving of him about would only have added to his discomfort. I'd say he passed in his sleep with no pain as he was on meds and drip. I know for yourself you wanted to be there but he went when he was ready, if he saw you he probably wouldn't have been able to control his reaction and try greet you and then not be able and get more distressed. He lived a good life and by the sounds of it was well loved and spoilt. You did the best thing for him so take comfort in that.

Zapperzy

So sorry to hear about your dog ryan. You did your best for him and he lived a long and I'm sure a happy life.

I lost my cat who I was very close to in november, she had to be put down after a very short and sudden illness, I had her 9 years. The first milestones are very difficult, first day, week and month. It's been just over 2 months now and I still hear certain noises that remind me of her like her pawing at the door, or I do forget sometimes for a split second that she's gone and expect to see her running down the stairs or sitting on the windowsill. Or going to close a door and realising that it doesn't need to be shut anymore. It's an individual thing but I don't feel ready to get another one, I'd draw too many comparisons and expect it to be exactly like her. I am considering short term fostering though, just to fill the gap and feel like I'm doing something worthwhile for other cats less fortunate.

I also picked an animal charity and set up a standing order every month in her name, I figured it's about what I'd have spent on food every month for her so it's no loss to me and sort of helps.

Gael23

DBB wrote: »

So sorry to hear about this ryanf1.:(
But now's not the time to be holding onto him for your own sake... it's a horrible, horrible thing to have to do but it is the last great selfless act we can carry out for our pets.
F(

aonb wrote: »

Agree with DBB, the time has come & your last loving act is to let him go before he starts to deteriorate and be in pain etc.

ShaShaBear wrote: »

So, so, so sorry to hear this. It's such a heartbreaking time but to echo what DBB said, don't delay for selfish reason. It's such a relief to know you've taken away their pain and set them free, and the last thing they know is that you are right beside them, giving them all the love and adoration they have come to expect as they drift off.

I never got to reply to these posts. In the end he died in his own time before we could decide anything. We found out at midday that we were dealing with end stage kidney failure, which I suspected without wanting to the previous day. The vet,who was so compassionate and caring to us and him those last 3 days, said at this point we are talking hours to days. All of us were scattered in different places so it took about 2 hours before everyone knew, and he died in his sleep at 4:15.

The fact that he went in his sleep means a lot to me, because I know that his body told him it was time to go and we didn't need to decide that for him, I know thats mostly nonsense but thats really how I feel.I had an appointment in Dublin that day which I couldn't change at such short notice so I wasn't home until later that evening but even though he died the way I wanted I wish he had been at home in his own bed, surrounded by people that loved him.

Lia_lia

Aw Ryan very sorry to hear that.

Sounds so similar to when my cocker spaniel Holly passed away a few years ago. She was also 15 and was very disorientated, so we brought her to the vets. Turned out she had a stroke wasn't going to recover so we had to decide when to get her put down. And then she died in her own time. So similar!

It's very sad when you lose a pet, especially when you've had them for that long. Hope you are okay!

Gael23

Lia_lia wrote: »

It's very sad when you lose a pet, especially when you've had them for that long. Hope you are okay!

To be honest its just getting worse today because its real now. Life since Tuesday has not been real but now things have begun to return to normality as much as possible.
Also the reminders are absolutely endless. Things like I woke up in the middle of the night last night and I thought I heard his nails on the wooden floor in my parents room where he slept, but it was just the wind banging the letterbox.
Then there was a period today where I was in the house on my own, which I couldn't bear, luckily I had things to do in town.
And above all, I just want a hug:(

shamrock55

So sorry to hear about your pal op, he looked like a lovely dog, cockers are great in fairness, i cant believe our little black cocker bailey is gone about 6 yrs, we still havent replaced him:(

Gael23

We're getting his ashes back tomorrow.
Part of it fills us with dread because with every day you learn to deal with it a bit better and this is inevitably going to set us back. The past 3 weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster, one minute your fine and the next something happens where it hits you with a bang.

ShaShaBear

ryanf1 wrote: »

We're getting his ashes back tomorrow.
Part of it fills us with dread because with every day you learn to deal with it a bit better and this is inevitably going to set us back. The past 3 weeks have been a bit of a roller coaster, one minute your fine and the next something happens where it hits you with a bang.

It does get easier, but you'll always have those moments. Shadow's been gone almost 5 months and just last night my OH had to hold me while I utterly sobbed after Opie found Shadow's missing Kong that he had buried in the garden before he died. And we're talking hysterical sobbing here - I'm actually tearing up just thinking about it!
This is going to sound so odd but having lost a parent young and losing a family dog, I can honestly say losing Shadow has been harder in the early days. Granted things like having a baby and booking my wedding make me really miss my dad, but I was around Shadow every single day, sometimes 24 hours on end as he slept in bed with us and I was house-bound at the end of my pregnancy. He was part of my life, daily routine and everything I know for 11 years and while I loved my dad to bits, I obviously didn't see him nearly as much as I grew up and moved out - I never lost that with Shadow

Gael23

Sorry only getting back to this now. We did get them yesterday because we are just not ready yet and we've got a big family occasion this weekend so we felt getting them yesterday would spoil things so we'll get them on Tuesday.
Those moments happen all the time, and a few of them are starting to turn into happy memories but some still do catch your breath- like last night when i found a bag of rice that we had bought specially for him because sometimes if he wasn't so well he couldn't eat dog for so we'd give him cheapish rice and chicken.
A few years ago my mum was off sick from work for 9 months and he would have spent most of the day beside her bed, at the time you would have felt a bit protected by him as he would hear any sound well before you do so she came really attached to him, and for the last few years since he slept in my parents bedroom at night.
I was 8 when we got him and my sister was 5 so she has no memory of life without him being around, which is not something that struck me for a while. I know everything we have experienced is natural and it is getting easier but fortunately I suppose, its my first ever experience of loss close to me which has been an unusual feeling.