Vets Condolences

[Enigma]

Last week I had to have my Golden Ret PTS for health reasons, but today I received a lovely card from the Vet and nurses expressing their condolences over my loss. I really thought it was a lovely gesture and really appreciated it, I dont know if other vets do this

Lynda

[Guest Ams]

A few do. It still is a lovely gesture. When my baby pei died at the surgery they sent me flowers as well. I broke into tears each time I saw the flowers but I think that helped heal my heart.

[WreckitWhippet]

Mine doesn't but they are very understanding and supportive when it's time to make the hard calls.

[fifi]

The clinic where I work sends handwritten personal cards :-)

I know how I've appreciated them when we've lost a dog.

fifi

[laeral]

Our vet did. They also sent a letter with the card saying they understood how difficult it is to lose a loved one and went on about grievng etc. They offered to be there if we ever needed to talk (at no charge) or could recommend a good grief and loss counsellor!

[daisygirl]

Our dog passed away at the specialist and a friend of mine told our normal vet the next day and a card arrived in the mail a few days later. I thought that was lovely considering they werent actually involved in her passing away.

[Cockerlover]

I recieved The most beautiful card & words to match, when I had my heart dog pts .

Makes such a difference to know someone else cares

[GoldenWei]

When I lost Sascha my vet sent a handwritten card as well, a few weeks later a letter arrived from a cancer research institute saying the vets had made a donation in her name. I thought both gestures were very nice if them.

[Loving my Oldies]

The clinic where I work sends handwritten personal cards :-)

I know how I've appreciated them when we've lost a dog.

fifi

Yes, I've had a few

It's amazing really when you consider how many different sorts of pets and people they'd see in any one day.

[Poodle Mum]

At the Vet Hospital where I worked in Sydney we always sent a condolence card the next day & also a donation was made in the pets name to various medical research organisations for animals. A certificate stating this is sent a couple of weeks later. The feedback from owners was lovely & they very much appreciated it.

As a business, this is done in order to keep the client. Research shows that when a pet dies or is euthed at the vets, they will then avoid using that vet clinic for any future pets, due to the sad association.

[juice]

when i had me wei pts i got a reminder for his vaccs about a month later

have since changed vets.

[Staranais]

At vet school we get whole lectures on how to help clients deal with euthanasia & the loss of a pet. They do suggest sending at least a card to clients. And not in the same envelope as the bill, either!

It is good business sense, and it does help keep the client. It's also just a nice thing to do. And in my experience it also makes the vets & vet staff involved feel better as well, since we do often feel genuinely sympathetic (and sometimes sad ourselves) when we lose client's animals, it's nice to know you can comfort the owner a little.

[Sagittarian]

Yes, our lovely clinic does and has over many years, and sadly, many losses. As there are not a lot of other clinic in the area (at least not until recently), I don't think it was about keeping clients.

Our vets have gone out of the their way to somehow make it easier, but you know you have a caring person there when they cry with you.

Sags

[tdierikx]

My vets do... and if they are the ones havin g to help my baby take it's wings, they cry while they are doing it... then we have a hug and a cry session together. I've been known to buy my vets flowers after they have helped one of my dogs to the Bridge...

T.

[jadesamara]

when i had me wei pts i got a reminder for his vaccs about a month later ;)

When Mum lost her Shar Pei early this year, her vet sent a beautiful personalised card. Of course she has kept it with Brandy's things. Mum had Brandy cremated, and also bought a pretty name plate, and had it engraved with her name, all from the same Pet Cemetery and Cremation company. We thought the Pet Cremation service did a wonderful job, hand delivering the urn and ashes, HOWEVER they sent Mum a condolence card calling Brandy a "he" and "him" when speaking about her .

Bear in mind this is the same company that "collected" Brandy from the vet after she passed, and did the engraving and everything. Needless to say, Mum threw the card away in disgust

[fiery_di]

At the Vet Hospital where I worked in Sydney we always sent a condolence card the next day & also a donation was made in the pets name to various medical research organisations for animals. A certificate stating this is sent a couple of weeks later. The feedback from owners was lovely & they very much appreciated it.

As a business, this is done in order to keep the client. Research shows that when a pet dies or is euthed at the vets, they will then avoid using that vet clinic for any future pets, due to the sad association.

Gosh that is so true. I struggled for some time going back to the vet where Ruby passed. I HATED the thought of going in there, but I had other pets with issues that this vet still had on file so I had to do the right thing by them otherwise I dont think I would have returned due to the traumatising memory. They were the loveliest people tho.

I really love the idea of a donation. Very special & so sweet after losing a loved one.

[whiskedaway]

My cat had to be PTS at the end of 2008 and we had just moved house, so we took her to the nearest vet we could find, even though we'd never been there before. A few days later we got a personalised condolence card from the vet. We thought it was so nice of them, especially because we had never been there before.

[Erny]

When I lost my avatar girl, I shortly after took off to stay with a friend in Queensland for a week. When I got back, there was a lovely condolences card and an azalea plant in a pot waiting for me on the veranda of my home, from our Vet. I felt very moved for the thought and it somehow took a slight edge off the harshness of coming home knowing that Kal would not be there.

Edited July 6, 2010 by Erny

[Darien]

Last week I had to have my Golden Ret PTS for health reasons, but today I received a lovely card from the Vet and nurses expressing their condolences over my loss. I really thought it was a lovely gesture and really appreciated it, I dont know if other vets do this

Lynda

My vet does and he is wonderful at the time as well.

I'm so sorry for your loss

[Primedogs]

I don't think we got a card from the vet when our dog got put to sleep due to health reasons but what was a nice suprise was recieving a lovley condonlence card from the dog kennels where we had to cancell a booking due to his sudden passing.