If you're reading this then you are probably in the same difficult situation my wife and I were in the last couple of weeks. Our cat, Homer, had a large tumor where his hind leg met his body and cancer. Due to the size, type, and place of the tumor operation and radioactivity would be very expensive and ineffective. And unfortunately due to the nature of tumors it's almost impossible to tell when they will grow, how fast, and how big. This was the news we received about two months ago.
Homer was good for about a month and a half afterwards though we did notice the tumor growing and his appetite steadily decreasing. Things started getting really bad when Homer began spending 90% of his days and nights hiding under the bed, coming out once in a while to eat some food. My wife and I made the decision that it was time to release Homer's energy back into the universe.
We were pleased to learn that our vet would come and perform the euthanizing at the comfort of our home so that we wouldn't have to put our weak companion through the stress and trauma of getting in his cage and going to the vet. Unfortunately, they did want him to come in for a final exam... Ok, so this could go one of two ways. You tell us he's ready and we put him through all that stress for nothing, or you tell us he's not (we knew 100% that he was) and then we feel terrible that we thought it was time?!? Lose-Lose.
Enter Gentle Pet Passings and Dr. Gayle Burrell. I looked through her website and gave her a call. She was sweet and understanding from the beginning. She came to our house as soon as she could the next morning. She actually looked at her schedule and told us she could be there later this afternoon, but we wanted one more night with our sweet boy.
When she arrived at our house she was prepared, friendly, and consoling. The paperwork was already filled out, just had to look everything over, choose an option for his ashes and sign. She sedated Homer inside as she fed him treats (the most we'd seen him eat in months! Some sort of magic treats!) As Homer became sleepy we placed him in my wife's arms and went outside to Homer's favorite spot. Dr. Burrell made us a plaster footprint in a shadow box to remember Homer and she administered the final dose and left us alone for some last moments with our friend. She wrapped him in a blanket and put him in a blanket to be taken away.
The whole experience was peaceful and as nice as something like this could have been, especially after the stress we received from our local vet. The rest of the day my wife and I celebrated his life and shared our favorite "Homie Stories".
Long story short, Gentle Pet Passings and Dr. Burrell are accommodating, friendly, consoling, and kind. She is exactly who you want to be there at the time of a pet's passing. read more
