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?

[Pamela]

You would do like I did and prepare ahead of time, you have a vet, like one has a doctor and then when lightning strikes you you have a doctor.
If you haven't prepared and you wanted to put them in your refridgiator, or put them in the garbage, or take pictures and blow them up into posters, that would be your own buisness.
I am sencing an underlying malice in your posting?...I dont know maybe I'm wrong...Pamela

[Romeo's_daddy]

You know what, I'm sick of this crap. My post is of a legitimate concern that I have. You sense malice? Then keep your reply to yourself. Once again someone has made a judgement about me. Well I am sincere in my post and if you have nothing useful to offer then keep your sarcasm to yourself. Understood?!? I know people on this site have had to deal with such a thing. I know for a fact that Ann H.'s dog died over the Christmas holiday, but I wouldn't expect her to reply because I hurt her feelings and that's ok, that's my fault. But you, take pictures and blow them up? Throw them in the trash? For someone who claims to be so spiritual with a such a strong belief in God, shame on you. Your words are insensitive, cruel, and ignorant. You can save the apology because your only purpose in replying was to take a dig at me. Well at least when I posted what I did my intent was to help, even if I did a poor job doing it.

[encouragingangel]

Dear Romeo's Daddy,
First, i'm so sorry that you may be in this situation.
in my city, there are 24 hour vet offices that have a freezer for just this occasion. if you aren't near a 24 hour vet, i'm not sure what to offer, except that i hope you're not faced with this. someone else may have a better suggestion/idea.
it's a practical and good question to ask.

[Romeo's_daddy]

I'm not currently in this situation but it is still something I worry about and I'd rather have some ideas ahead of time rather than trying to find them if I ever am confronted with the situation. I ask the question under the assumption that there is no 24 hr vet and that I don't have the forwarning that my pet is about to pass away. I know I could always take him/her to the emergency vet's office but they charge outrageous prices and I want my vet to handle the cremation procedures because I was very impressed with what was returned to me when my cat Romeo died. So essentially my question assumes there are no pre arranged plans and keeping the pet with me is the only option. Thank you for your reply EncouragingAngel.

[Kathleen032]

My main profession is as a teacher, but I work for a pet sitting business to make a little extra cash during the school year and during the summer. Your question is a valid one, and one that is actually on the paper work I give new clients. Most of my clients with small pets opt for wrapping them in a towel and then a plastic bag and putting them in the freezer. Clients that have larger animals opt for me to take the animal to their vet, but if their vet is closed, then I would take it to a 24/7 vet clinic where the body can be stored until the owner returns.

[LS Support]

please keep it kind guys

deep freeze is best, either at your house or at a vet. from experience, in the winter, graves are difficult
to dig in the northern regions. if it is below freezing, prepare the animal as suggested above, but keep
in an animal-proof container outdoors untill your vet or crematorium is able to accept the body. plastic
bags are standard for sanitary protection, upon death people often end up in them as well.

[Jazzygirl]

I understand about the outrageous prices at the emergency vet, but I know for myself, I had no choice. When I noticed Jasmine wasn't "right" I called the emergency vet that my vet had as a referral. They told me straight up that it would $100 just to have her looked at. As much as that sucks, when it comes down to it, it's only money and she's worth more than that. So I rushed her up there and she died as they as rushed her into the ER. I regret she wasn't in MY arms when her soul passed on but it was out of my control. When all was said and done, I paid over $400 and walked out empty handed. But I don't care. I charged it and I'll pay it off. But they kept her body until the crematory could come (a week later) to get her. I'm sure they put her in a freezer, as much as I hate to invision that. But at least it ensured I'll get her ashes back from her whole body.
So I guess what I'm saying is that if you do have an emergency vet and you don't want to handle the preservation process yourself (and I wouldn't blame you), in the end, you'll probably get over the money issue to know that your pet was handled properly after death.
All we can do is make the best decisions we can under hard cir%%stances.

[FurBabyMom]

I understand your concerns. The other posters are right that you need to freeze the animal. Both my daughter and my daughter-in-law work for my vet. I know your pet is not trash but you should find something plastic to wrap them in. Then you can transport them to the vet during normal working hours and have the animal cremated if that's what you'd like. Of course, I'm assuming it's a smaller animal. If it's a larger animal then you'd probably want to seek professional assistance and pay the price. Also a lot of vets are open at least one day of the weekend.

Hope you never have to deal with this.

Hugs,
Dawn

[Romeo's_daddy]

So essentially my options would be very limited. Actually, the only option would be to take him/her to the emergency vet because I know I couldn't handle having them in my own freezer. For future reference, and god I hope I don't upset anyone by posting this (Jazzygirl), to ensure that you are receiving your pets ashes and only your pets ashes, you need to request a private cremation. Again, I am not saying that if you don't do so you are going to get 92% of your pet and 8% of someone else's, I'm just saying it is the only way to be 100% sure. And of course it costs extra unless the crematorium only does private ceremonies, which was the case with mine.

[FurBabyMom]

We can only hope you never have to deal with that situation.

As for your concern over the ashes.... I had the same concern when Friskie was cremated and my vet assured me that each pet was done in a separate container.

I hope this helps.

Dawn

[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

[Snickster]

You know, Steve... you brought up a question that I actually never thought of! I would have had absolutely no idea what to do should one of my babies die unexpectedly when the vet wasn't open.

I guess that I'd probably have no other choice but to go to one of the emergency vet clinics, as I live in an apartment and my freezer would never accomodate. Hopefully they'd be willing to kind of "hold" the remains until my vet re-opened.

Good topic and thanks for making my light bulb go on with that unexpected situation!!

[LS Support]

as far as receiving 100% of the cremains, check your local laws. here in ohio, unless they are cremating strays, all
animals are done one at a time.

[deedee]

Ann's suggestion is a good one if it is cold out. If there is an outdoor building, then the remains can be put in there until you can get them to the vet. I wouldn't be able to use the freezer because I would have to get rid of it after. Like Ann, I could never eat anything out of the freezer again.

A more economical alternative would be to put the remains, wrapped in plastic, into one of those camping coolers with some of those sealed ice packs, then putting the cooler in the coldest spot in the house. That way the remains would keep from decomposing, and you could throw the cooler out after - a much better alternative than buying another freezer.

Dee Dee

[QorquisDad]

I don't think I could put the body in anything to "store" it until I could get it to my vet. I'd spring for the cost of having an emergency vet keep her until my regular vet could take care of things. I probably wouldn't even be able to transport her to my regular vet after having been at the emergency vet because I don't think I could handle the sight of a dead AND frozen "baby puppy".

I'd find the money to pay for it even if I had to pan-handle for it.

I'm in tears now just thinking about it...

Tim

[Jazzygirl]

Yes I did pay for the private cremation. I wanted only her ashes. I honestly don't know if my own vet does cremations because Jasmine died at the emergency vet. I had to call the crematory place which is about 45 min away from here and arrange for the pick up. They pick up on Mondays and since she died on a Monday night, the emergency vet held her until the following week. That actually gave me time to fill out the paperwork and send them the money so they could get her on the list to be done privately. And since they are such a popular place, they said it would take 6 weeks.
Well, Jazzy died 6 weeks ago this past Monday so I should be getting them next week some time. I keep waiting for the call to warn me when they're coming. They told me I'd have to be home to sign for them from UPS. Ugh..I hate the waiting.
Like others have said, the extra money was worth it. Jasmine gave me all of herself for almost 10 yrs. I can certainly deal with a bill for a few months.

[Romeo's_daddy]

I'm glad (glad really isn't the right word but I can't think of another) to see that so many people have responded to this topic. Obviously if something like that happens in the dead of winter your options are somewhat more than if it happens in above freezing months. Like Qorgi's(sorry if I spelled it wrong) dad, I would have to bring it to the emergency vet. Also I don't know if I could pick up my frozen baby to transport it to my vet. If I was in a situation like Ann where it was winter and the body had to be stored for a little bit outside in the freezing cold, I could force myself to do the transporting, but for some reason the thought of picking up my frozen baby from a vet to transport it to another vet just seems much more difficult emotionally. My vet doesn't handle the cremations, she contracts with a former professor of hers from the Univ. of Penn. who retired and now runs his own crematory. Because of the cir%%stances of Romeo's death, I didn't have to pay for the cremation at all. I would rather have had Romeo alive and well then to have a free cremation

[Romeo's_daddy]

No, neither is sick thankfully. Elvis is very old and I worry that when the end comes it may come quickly. His overall health is good but little things are starting to happen. Eye problems, growths on the skin. A number of years ago I almost lost Juliet over the Thanksgiving holiday. My vet is only open untill 8:00pm 1 night a week and her hours on Saturday are only untill 12 or 1 pm. It's just something that if I was faced with and I didn't know what to do ahead of time, would cause me a great amount of stress and panic if I was unprepared. Thank you for your concern.

[KayKay]

There's a 24-hour emergency vet clinic in our area too. That's where we took Sonnie when we made our decision last Christmas to end his pain and suffering. If there hadn't been, my vet would have opened his office to see us - 3:00 a.m. Christmas morning or not. If your vet isn't available for that, check around your area to see who does pet cremations. Because it's usually a local funeral home, you know they're open 24/7/365. The yellow pages in your phone book might be of help.