[Dailydrool] At the Bridge

[Elizabeth Lindsey]

Not all vets offer to take a paw print, and you might find yourself,  
as we did, having to go to an ER after hours. ERs can be pretty no- 
frills about providing mementos. In the event you do want to have a  
paw print made (and I sure wish now that we'd done this with our  
late, great Jane Basset), you can buy kits for them at hobby shops.  
They sell them for kids hand prints, but you can use them for paws  
just as easily. Do an internet search for "paw print kit" and you'll  
come up with lots of companies that sell them online. You might also  
want to snip a lock of fur, but all vets' offices should have  
scissors suitable for that so you won't have to remember to bring  
your own.

I hated not being able to let our Jane die at home, especially since  
she loathed being at the vet's office. But the timing of her decline  
didn't coincide with the vet who makes house calls in our area. So we  
took her to the ER with her bed so she could at least die on her own  
bed if not in her own home.

Something I'm very, very glad I did was to find a pet crematorium  
several months before Jane died. We could have arranged with one at  
the ER to come pick up her body from the ER the next day. But I was  
so afraid that the ashes we'd get back wouldn't be Jane's, that a mix- 
up would happen along the way. So we took her body home with us and I  
drove it, still on her bed, to the crematorium the next day and  
watched it be put into the oven. You may not want to do it this way,  
but it was helpful for me and gave me some closure. I'm just glad I  
called the crematorium before Jane died and found out what services  
they offered, their hours, etc. After she died, I wasn't in any shape  
for tracking down that kind of information or making decisions. Your  
vet should be able to give you the names of some pet cemeteries and  
crematoriums and you can do the calling now and choose the one you  
like before you actually need it.

I was happy with the imitation Chinese porcelain urn the crematorium  
put our Jane's ashes in, but if you'd like to have a special  
container, you can start keeping an eye out for something now.

Pw. Sadie and Countess Penny, I hope your question about pre-Bridge  
preparations isn't an indication that your elderly cocker spaniel  
sister isn't doing well these days. Just in case, our Elsinore and  
young Charlie will send some drool her way.

Elizabeth