Duke part III

After I dropped Duke off, the vet asked if we wanted his ashes. I immediately said no. A lot of people do this - get their pet's ashes and keep them in an urn, or spread them out in his/her favorite places. That's just fine. Personally, I am not like that. Duke was gone, so let's let him go. No need to prolong the pain.

Sensing I might be a heartless bastard (or sensing one last chance at revenue-yes, I said it), once I left, the vet called my wife and asked her if she wanted the ashes. She was a bit too distraught to make her decision just then, so they told her they would keep them around, in case she wanted them at a later date.

Fast forward two weeks. I went back in to return his unused medicine - which they took. I asked if they still had his ashes as Jana was going to make a decision soon. Shockingly, their answer was no. Even more shockingly, they said he had NOT been cremated, but was still in the back in a cooler. Ummmm...OK.

Actually, I found this kind of funny for some reason. Not really sure why.

I immediately called Jana to tell her she could still have Duke's ashes - and being the idiot that I am, I told her he was still in a cooler. Well, this news had the predictable effect of a whole new round of sobbing. I really am an idiot.

After she calmed down, we debated about whether or not to keep the ashes - again. I told her instead of keeping the ashes, they would do a paw print in one of those clay mold things you get at a craft store.

She was happy about that idea, so that's what we decided to do.

Fast forward another two weeks (yes, Duke is still in the cooler-I hope they don't charge storage fees), and Jana finally went in to the vet to drop off the clay mold kit - I think she took in four of them.

While she was there, they asked her to wait to make sure they could still get a decent mold of his paw(s). When the nurse(?) returned, she not only informed Jana that they would be able to get a good print, she also gave Jana a little ziplock baggie.

It seems that while back there, this wonderful lady had taken it upon herself to shave a bit of Duke's fur, bag it up and give it to Jana as one last keepsake. I am not kidding.

Once again, this had the predictable effect of causing a new round of sobbing. When she calmed down enough to call and tell me about it, she had found a way to think this was kind of funny - or maybe so out there that it couldn't be anything but funny.

So now, one of the other ladies from the vet office has taken the clay molds of our dead dog's paw prints home, to glaze them and make them really nice.

We get them back this week - I can't wait.