What Do You Do If... Options

[Romeo's_daddy]

...your pet dies and your vet isn't open? I mean say your pet dies on a Friday night and the vet won't be open untill Monday? Do you wrap him/her in a towel and put them in the refridgerator to retard the decomposition process? I know when people die lots of gases and human waste are released, but I don't know how long it takes those things to happen. The idea of having to keep a dead animal, a pet no less, in my apartment for a couple days is something that freaks me out but the possibility exists that it can happen. I know some on this site have just gone out back and dug a grave but I can't do that because I will not be staying here forever. I know this is somewhat morbid but it is a real concern I have. I can't put them in a trash bag because it's my pet, not trash, and I feel they should be handled with more dignity than that. So what do you if that happens?

[Ann H]

When my sweet Chili Bean was put to sleep in Nov. I got home after dark because I had to drive 80 miles one way from the vet. We put her in a container and put her body in the shed until we could dig the grave the next morning. It was so cold out that we knew it would perserve her body. The vet said they begin to decompose in 24 hours or less. My husband and son dug the grave the next morning as soon as it was day light and we buried Chili Bean then.

When Snookie left this world it was even more cold out and the vet was not open until the next day. After the family came to see her we put our darling in a container and laid her out in the shed too. It broke my heart to do that to her but there was no other choice.

I would not have been able to put her precious body in the freezer if I had wanted to. It was bad enough to put her in the shed. I would not have been able to eat anything from the freezer ever again if I had used it. When we took her the next day to be cremated it was only 0 out. We do not have a 24/7 vet here either so we did the best we could using the shed. With each one we wrapped them in a blanket before we put them in the shed.
Ann