This is one of those instances in which you do not want to write an update, ever. Sadly, earlier…read morethis month we lost our chihuahua/terrier/Aussie mix, Monica, to cancer. She died just weeks before her ninth birthday. The week leading up to that final hospital visit was indeed an excruciatingly emotional one. We decided not to use the hospital's crematory and instead used this one, as this location helped us memorialize our first baby Mikey and, whenever the time comes (and I hope that time will be later as opposed to sooner), will likely help us memorialize Monica's little sister, Phoebe, who we adopted almost three years ago.
Unlike Mikey, with Monica we saw this coming... we just didn't think it would be so soon. Our little girl's condition worsened quite rapidly, however, and in the end not much more could be done for her. The day she passed away, we took her here. Again, this is not an instance in which you want to say, "Yes, this is a place I'm becoming more familiar with," just due to the fact that the business centers around pet loss and it's a painful thing for customers to deal with, as pets really do become members of the family. Having said that, Paws Whiskers & Wags once again went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable and relaxed, and that everything went smoothly for us (and being that we had just come from the hospital with our little one just a few minutes earlier, we were both still quite raw from having cried our eyes out). For us, they even arranged a viewing by wrapping Monica in a blanket, then placing her in a basket and putting it in a room so we could have some private time to mourn, reminisce and give her some last scratches behind the ears, and kisses on her little head.
Once again, we paid for the leather-bound plaster cast of her paw print, poem, "lock of love" and beautiful Celtic canister (this one being a little bit bigger for her size).
Ultimately, we are happy to have Paws Whiskers & Wags as the place to go when we need to make arrangements to put a much-loved family member to rest and, most importantly, have understanding, kind people help us with all of that. It is wonderful to see that kind of consistency in service at such difficult times. And, we will always miss our little baby Harmonica.
Monica Lilith
(February 28, 2010 -- February 9, 2019)