Pet Bereavement

Recently, within our Pet 24 team there has sadly been a couple of pet bereavements. This stirred up some talk about the deep feelings that emerge when we lose our beloved pets with whom we've shared so many days of our lives. We thought it might be helpful for our customers to pass on some helpful tips for when your pet dies.

One of the best authorities on this subject is Moira Anderson Allen, M.Ed. We highly recommend her sensitively written book Coping with Sorrow on the Loss of Your Pet.

Here is a summary of her key points. We hope it helps.

1. Am I crazy to hurt so much?

We spend more time with our pets than anyone else living outside of our homes-including family members, so no wonder it hurts when they've died. 

During the years you spent with your pet it became a significant and constant part of your life. It was a source of comfort and companionship, of unconditional love and acceptance, of fun and joy. So don't be surprised if you feel devastated by the loss of such a relationship. They were your soul mate.

2. What Can I Expect to Feel?

Different people experience grief in different ways. Besides your sorrow and loss, you may also experience the following emotions:

• Guilt It is pointless and often erroneous to burden yourself with guilt for the accident or illness that claimed your pet's life, and only makes it more difficult to resolve your grief.
• Denial makes it difficult to accept that your pet is really gone. It's hard to imagine that your pet won't greet you when you come home, or that it doesn't need its evening meal.
• Anger may be directed at the illness that killed your pet, the driver of the speeding car, the veterinarian who "failed" to save its life. Sometimes it is justified, but when carried to extremes, it distracts you from the important task of resolving your grief.
• Depression is a natural consequence of grief, but can leave you powerless to cope with your feelings. Extreme depression robs you of motivation and energy, causing you to dwell upon your sorrow.

3. What can I do about my feelings?

The most important step you can take is to be honest about your feelings. Don't deny your pain, or your feelings of anger and guilt. Only by examining and coming to terms with your feelings can you begin to work through them.

You have a right to feel pain and grief! Someone you loved has died, and you feel alone and bereaved. You have a right to feel anger and guilt, as well. Acknowledge your feelings first, then ask yourself whether the circumstances actually justify them.

Locking away grief doesn't make it go away. Express it. Cry, scream, pound the floor, talk it out. Do what helps you the most. Don't try to avoid grief by not thinking about your pet; instead, reminisce about the good times. This will help you understand what your pet's loss actually means to you.

Some find it helpful to express their feelings and memories in poems, stories, or letters to the pet. Other strategies including rearranging your schedule to fill in the times you would have spent with your pet; preparing a memorial such as a photo collage; and talking to others about your loss.

4. Who can I talk to?

Working through your feelings with another person is one of the best ways to put them in perspective and find ways to handle them. Find someone you can talk to about how much the pet meant to you and how much you miss it-someone who you feel comfortable crying and grieving with.

If you don't have family or friends who understand, or if you need more help, ask your veterinarian or humane association to recommend a pet loss counselor or support group. Check with your church or hospital for grief counseling. Remember, your grief is genuine and deserving of support.

 5. What should I tell my children?

You are the best judge of how much information your children can handle about death and the loss of their pet. Don't underestimate them, however. You may find that, by being honest with them about your pet's loss, you may be able to address some fears and misperceptions they have about death.

Honesty is important. If you say the pet was "put to sleep," make sure your children understand the difference between death and ordinary sleep. Never say the pet "went away," or your child may wonder what he or she did to make it leave, and wait in anguish for its return. That also makes it harder for a child to accept a new pet. Make it clear that the pet will not come back, but that it is happy and free of pain.

Never assume a child is too young or too old to grieve. Never criticize a child for tears, or tell them to "be strong" or not to feel sad. Be honest about your own sorrow; don't try to hide it, or children may feel required to hide their grief as well. Discuss the issue with the entire family, and give everyone a chance to work through their grief at their own pace.

Another happy ending with Pet 24.....

Poppy was rehomed from Dogs Trust Darlington in March this year. Four weeks ago she escaped from the back garden and her owners, the Dodd family, were beside themselves with worry. Luckily she was wearing her Dogs Trust Pet 24 tag on her collar. Within an hour Pet 24 had called the family to say that Poppy had been found on a nearby street, and 20 minutes later she was back where she belonged. See how happy the boys are to have her safely home again! 'Mrs Poppy' (Mum!) said: 'Thank goodness for Pet 24-it's a great service'. 

Buddy Bosco 'Our Hero!'

This is such an unusual story about one of our Pet 24 members, Buddy, that we thought we just had to publish! His owners kindly adopted him from the Dogs Trust Centre in Kenilworth. Buddy's had many issues to deal with, probably from being mistreated in the past, but now thankfully he is with a loving family who are giving him a caring home-and he's earning his keep.... what a smart dog!

Buddy Bosco aged three, was homed with us on September 12th, 2013 and to bed him

in and get him into a routine in we walked him a lot. Unfortunately we found this

made him so tired he became very snappy and was falling asleep from a sitting

position. We were advised to ease back a little and we did so.

Buddy had many other problems, doorbells, church bells, ice cream vans, emergency

vehicles and running horses amongst many others. This was just from the television

and he was much more nervous outside on walks. As time passed he did improve but

not significantly. We did notice that he enjoyed jumping up into our camper so we

thought that a holiday trip to France would help us all bond together.

In August 2014,after obtaining his passport, we set off for a trip to France via Eurotunnel.

Buddy took it all in his stride and really enjoy his walks at the camp sites and

seaside towns that we visited. Sadly the weather was not kind to us and we decided

to return home earlier than scheduled.

This involved a trip to the Pet Passport Centre at Euro-tunnel. on a windy stormy day.

Due to the 24 hour waiting period after the visit to the French veterinarian we had

to occupy ourselves for 2 hours. The inclement weather forced us to sit tight in the

car park and a bit of buffeting, we thought from the wind, told us that it was better

to be here than on the open road.

After one and a half hours the weather broke, the sun came out and encouraged my

wife Jeannie to take Buddy for a short walk. I remained in the camper mentally

adding up the cost of taking Buddy abroad.

Upon his return Buddy would not approach the camper and kept gruffing like a grumpy old man! I got down from the

camper and remarked that his behaviour was not normal for him. Jeannie replied that he was agitated at something under the camper. Looking underneath I was taken aback to see two big white, wide open eyes of a young

man hanging to the underside of the camper.

An agitated barking Buddy, me banging on the side of the vehicle and an extremely agitated Jeannie quickly persuaded the

unwelcome hitch hiker to clamber from under the camper and walk away. In relief, a swift recalculation told me that Buddy had more than paid his dues.

Buddy? He quickly realised his hero status and milked it for all it was worth.

Since his return he has made steady progress but has some way to go! Buddy is an

intelligent, loving dog who still has a few hang ups after one year with us but he is

loving life. Our little hero!

Dogs Trust Kenilworth, Warwickshire

Did you know about Vet 24 emergency vet fee cover? FREE with Pet 24 membership!

Here's a fab pic of Scoob and Sam. Sam did 'a runner' ....he was thankfully found safe and unhurt, then taken to a local vet's practise where the call was made to our 24/7 Pet 24 team in Cambridge-they then notified a very relieved owner, who picked Sam up shortly after the call. 

It's so important that missing dogs are reunited with their owners as quickly as possible, in order to minimise the stress they will feel-not to mention that of the owner. One of our fantastic partners, Dogs Trust, knows only too well the importance of keeping their rescue dogs' stress levels at a minimum where possible, which is why all dogs they re-home leave their centres wearing a LIVE lost-and-found yellow Dogs Trust tag, which is serviced by Pet 24.

Thankfully, on this occasion Sam was found uninjured. 

Did you know that as part of the Pet 24 membership (£15 a year or £40 for 5 years) your dog will also be covered by Vet 24? 

Vet 24 gives emergency vet fee cover of up to £750 should your dog be found injured.

It's fantastic value for money, bringing great peace of mind to our dog owners and is one of the main reasons that people stay with Pet 24 year after year, including of course the knowledge that their dog's tag ensures a quick reunion with their owner, should their beloved dog go missing- just a phone call away!

Our customers also love the extra information that they can give Pet 24, including other family members' or neighbours' phone numbers and information about their holidays, when many dogs go missing.

Many thanks for the great picture Jackie...and the whole team wish both doggies a long and happy life.

Pet 24 and Agria Insurance provide a speedy return for the intrepid Archie!

Pet 24 works in partnership with many different types of organisations. As well as working with established animal charities such as Dogs Trust and Wood Green Animal Shelter, we also work with Agria Insurance who offer our service to their many customers. We couldn't resist telling you about this particular little chap 'Archie' as he's so adorable and we believe should be starring in a Walt Disney film! Here's his lost and found story as brilliantly written to us by one of his relieved owners:

Archie, our 6 month old border is happy to go along with my husband when he is out and about working. In fact he has built up a team of admirers who take turns in supervising him as well as supplying a steady stream of treats! 

Unfortunately a minor lapse in supervision resulted in our adventurous young pup making a bid for freedom and he escaped through a partially open gate. Our intrepid explorer made his way across a car park and behind the back of the local shopping centre. 

Following his instincts and no doubt his nose, Archie found his way to the local butcher's shop. The butcher's boy was interrupted from his sausage-making duties to find two doleful eyes looking up at him. Fortunately he resisted the begging looks and phoned the Pet 24 number immediately. Much to my husband's relief, Archie was returned within 20 minutes and the search party called off. 

The 'Cooler King's great escape was at an end with a happy conclusion all round. Really glad we had taken up the option of having Archie tagged. 

  

Another quick reunite for opportunist Scrappy!

Many thanks to Peter Grace for writing about Scrappy's straying adventure!

We acquired Scrappy from Dog’s Trust at Kenilworth.  He is a King Charles Spaniel/Jack Russell cross which has given him a very inquisitive nature and boundless energy.  He is a friendly little character and has recently returned from his second visit to France where he seemed equally at home. 

A few weeks ago while my wife Mary, who is disabled, was home alone when a neighbour called to see her.  When Mary opened the door to speak to her, Scrappy seized the moment and off he went on an unscheduled adventure.  Because of Mary’s restricted mobility she was unable to give chase and Scrappy disappeared around the corner of our cul de sac to inspect neighbouring gardens and properties.  

Fortunately Dog’s Trust had put us in touch with Pet 24 and the runaway was wearing his tag with its vital information.  He was gone for a considerable time and then our home phone rang to pass on the news that someone had found Scrappy and had rung the number on his collar tag of Pet 24.  This meant that with the aid of our son, Scrappy was collected from his final destination and returned safely home.  

Thankfully he had not gone far and had been quite happy to accept the hospitality of his rescuers.  When I arrived home I delivered a small token of our gratitude, taking Scrappy on his lead to apologise.  His rescuers were quite amused, telling me that he didn’t put up any sort of struggle but made himself comfortable on their settee!  

Peter Grace

Buster the Boss! Episode 3 Deafness in Dogs

Hi canine buddies-as part of my litany of 'genolds' ailments (getting old) I hope to be of help to those of you suffering from hearing loss,and particularly your lovely owners-as there are some effective ideas that can really make a difference to us in our new deaf state.

1. Communication through hand-signals.
My family soon picked up that I'm unable to respond in the same way as I used to, and often don't seem to know what's going on around me. This is made much more bearable when they use hand signals which I can work out just as well as looking at their facial expressions. My key hand-signal 'words' are:  stay, come, dinner, good boy, play, sit and my favourite..treat! Before we used these I was really getting quite depressed as I just felt cut off from the world and particularly my family. Now life feels almost back to normal.

2. Safety.
Sadly I can no longer hear my owners calling me across the park (which I felt very liberating at the start and just ran around for ages, until I realised I was getting lost!). Now I'm on an expanding lead all the time unless we go to a secure woodland park where I can't find even the smallest rabbit hole in the fence to escape! I can't hear the traffic any longer either so my owners have to be more mindful of walking me on the inside of the pavement so that I don't get scared by the sudden appearance of a huge truck etc..

3. Dog whistle
If you can get hold of a 'storm' whistle- these can usually be heard by even the most deaf dogs! My owners have used one for a while and I can just about hear it-well enough to follow on when called, tho I must admit to 'not hearing' it sometimes!!

4.Indoor management.
Particularly other dogs! My sister will growl at me if I'm too close to her bowl or treat and as I can't hear her, my Mum has to intervene to save me getting a nasty nip! Sometimes she just makes me aware that sis has her top lip curled up-I can see THAT ok!
Also, due to being deaf we often get in the way of people walking around as we can't tell they're behind us, so PLEASE show extra patience-we don't WANT to be in your way!

I'm sure there are many other tips out there-these are just some of the top-listed ones and I hope this short list is effective for you and hasn't bored your owners too much! I think the biggest improvement for me has been the hand signals that my whole family now use with me-as it really makes me feel included again.
Phew! I'm exhausted after all that writing!

Good luck doggie friends!