ePetDrugs Blog

By Sherril Steele-Carlin

Families today own more pets than ever before in our nation’s history, and those pets occupy very special places in our hearts and homes. They are an important part of many families, and that is why losing a beloved pet is now an occasion for mourning and loving memorials.

Last year, I lost my favorite cat, Sagebrush. Only 18 months old, he suffered from a heart condition. To remember this very special kitty, we buried him with his favorite toy in our backyard, and planted a sagebrush bush over his grave.

The pain of losing him is very real, but remembering him is a special way to celebrate his life. I think this is why so many people now memorialize their pets, because they hold such particular places in our lives. They love us unconditionally, without judgment or betrayal, and are always constant with their affection. Remembering them shows just how much they mean to us, and how much we miss them.

Memorials can take many forms, from cremation to a special photo of your favorite pet. Many vets now offer cremation services so you can keep your pet’s memory alive, and many cremation services offer mementos like paw prints that add another element to your pet memorial. There are also pet cemeteries in many areas, where your pet can have a permanent resting place that you can visit whenever you would like.

Some Ideas for Memorials

· Hold a memorial service in your backyard for your pet.

· Donate to a veterinary school or animal shelter in your pet’s name.

· Remember your pet forever by planting a tree, bush, or favorite flower in your yard in memory of your pet.

· Keep or frame a special toy or collar of your favorite pet.

· Volunteer at a shelter or rescue organization in memory of your pet.

· Participate in online pet memorials or chats to discuss your memories and your grief.

· Create a scrapbook about your pet’s life.

· Keep an urn with your pet’s ashes in your home.

It is never easy to lose a loving pet. However, you choose to remember your pet, make sure you follow your state or county’s regulations regarding burial. Many states do not allow pet burial in your yard, but a nearby pet cemetery is a great alternative.

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I’m a sucker for needy animals, so I founded an animal shelter for dogs and cats and find them loving new parents. As much as I would love to I can’t take all the shelter pets home with me, but I can bathe and groom them, play with them, and give them a lot of love, which includes seeing that they are flea and tick free and receive the pet medications they need to become and stay healthy.

My inspiration for founding the animal shelter was my little Shih Tzu, Thor, and Sophie, a beautiful black and white longhaired cat. Both of our four-footed babies are pets that my fiancé and I rescued. Daniel is an architect, and four years ago he found a tiny, mange-ridden puppy that was nearly blind from cataracts and had been abandoned at the construction site. A week later, Sophie Kitty-Girl showed up on our back deck and decided to adopt us. She was about four months old, and starved to nothing but bones.

Thor and Sophie were both infested with parasites, and needed immediate medical attention. Between the treatments for Thor’s mange and eye problems and treatment for the conditions caused by Sophie being nearly starved to death, our personal vet and pet medications bills went sky high! That’s when we went on the Internet and found ePetDrugs.com where we could buy flea and tick prevention pet medications at discount prices.

At the shelter, it is especially important that consistently use pet medications to prevent flea and tick infestations. We want our pet guests to be comfortable and safe from diseases carried by ticks, such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever and Lyme disease and other diseases and parasites that can be transmitted to both other animals and humans, including tapeworm infestations transmitted through flea bites. With careful attention to the regular administration of flea and tick medications to our pets, we have taken control of parasite infestations at our pet shelter.

Each new pet that comes to live at the shelter is immediately bathed, groomed and treated with pet medications for fleas and ticks. Their ear flaps are trimmed and their ears are cleaned and treated with ear wash and topical ear medication, if needed. We keep them isolated from the other pets for the first 48 hours they are with us for observation and so the pet medications have time to take effect. Once the pet medications have taken effect, the new cat or dog is released to join the general pet population.

Because we allow many of our pets daily time to play and exercise together, we keep meticulous records for each pet that tell us when they are due for another application of flea and tick pet medications. This is particularly important for our pet residents who are allergic to flea bites or have skin conditions that are exacerbated by flea bites and need to take medications for their skin problems. For our dogs whose skin conditions preclude the use of topical flea and tick pet medications, we administer the medicine in chewable tablets that can be given to the dog whole or crumbled into his or her food. Cats with similar skin conditions are given the liquid form of pet medications.

Many of the dogs and cats that come to the shelter are strays or abandoned pets that are found and brought to us by local citizens, but it’s not unusual for us to get pets whose human companions have died or can no longer take care of them. In addition to needing medications for parasite infestation, many of these dogs are overweight and stiff-jointed from cartilage loss because they are kept indoors and have little or no opportunity for exercise. The pain experienced by pets suffering from stiff joints can be alleviated by pet medications that prevent further cartilage breakdown while a healthy diet and exercise do their work in restoring lost cartilage.

There are several pets at the shelter that, like Thor and Sophie at home, are unlikely to be adopted because of severe medical conditions or deformities. Some of these dogs and cats are fostered by caring people in our area, and others have a permanent home at the shelter. We will continue to give them the love, care and pet medicines they need to keep them healthy and happy and we will continue to order all of our Pet Med’s from ePetDrugs.com

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August 31, 2003 was a day that changed the lives of my husband, the kids and me. That was the day we found 6-month-old Chloe. We found her trying to get off a highway after she had been hit by a car. We stopped to help and little did we know just what we were getting ourselves into. After rushing her to a Veterinary Hospital; we found that we had a difficult choice to make. We could either take on full responsibility of the dog (which would include an estimated veterinary bill of somewhere between $2,000 - $3,000) or we could relinquish her to animal control. With tears in our eyes we, unfortunately, had to let the local animal control take over. But, the story didn’t stop there.Over the next few days, I stayed in contact with animal control to find out the status of this beautiful little dog that had stolen my heart out on that highway. I ended up finding out that the only injury she had from her accident was a broken front leg. Still, the veterinary bills were being estimated at far more money than my husband and I could afford, because on top of the broken leg she was found to be suffering from kennel cough, intestinal worms and Lyme disease. That was when I started looking at my other options.

I quickly learned the undeniable truth that many “no-kill” organizations just don’t have the funding to take on the responsibility of an injured animal. There are thousands of animals a year that get put down and can’t be saved that are completely healthy. Most organizations just can’t realistically pass over a bunch of healthy animals in order to fund the care of a sick one. Likewise, when most people decide to adopt a new pet, they don’t want to take on the responsibilities associated with a sick or injured animal, when they have many other healthy animals to choose from. This poor dog was quickly put on the unadoptable list at the animal control facility and was slated to be put down.

I knew that if I didn’t do something, she was going to die. I had looked at many options and had not yet found an answer when it came down to the last 48 hours before Chloe was to be put down. It was then that a co-worker suggested I send out an office-wide e-mail telling the story of this dog and asking for any help that I could get. I was desperate enough to save Chloe, so I did just that. Within a few hours of having sent out the e-mail, I had more than enough money to take care of her bills and ultimately save her life. Just days before she was going to be put down, my husband and I went into animal control with the money and paperwork needed to adopt this beautiful dog. At the time, we were just planning on adopting her in order to save her from being put down and then we would look for apermanent home for her when she was healthier. We never thought we would keep her.

On September 18, 2003, nearly 3 weeks after we found Chloe on the highway, my husband and I brought her home. That day was also the day that hurricane Isabel came through where we live, and “hurricane” Chloe stepped into our lives for good.

Before all of this happened, I was never really one to want a dog. I actually never had one in my life before and now I can’t imagine life without her. I never thought that I could feel such intense love for a dog, but adopting Chloe has changed my husband, our kids and me. She has a brought a light into our home that is indescribable. The joy that she brings us is immeasurable; and we would go through everything all over again just to even have a moment with her. How lucky we are to have her for her lifetime.

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