I am only now able to talk about it - I mean, that awful day (27th June 2014) when, with advice from the nice vet lady, we decide to have Spud "put to sleep" (a topical euphemism for murder?); We are told he has a tumour in his brain and are at the surgery, having carried him up in a basket, when our vet tells us this news and that all other treatments - the pain relief pills for what was previously thought to have been Arthritis in his neck - fail.
Decision made: I hold him in my arms whilst the anesthetic injection is applied. I struggle to ask for some paper roll for the tears that freely flow. Just a minor complaint from Spud. He soon relaxes and sleeps like a baby; a clever tourniquet gadget around his right front leg followed by the killer injection and our friend of fourteen happy years is finally at peace.
Euthanasia is what it is called - and we are, in a sense, relieved that he is free of pain. Latterly he became blind, stone deaf and very unsteady, but we shed tears of genuine sadness at losing a quarter part of the family. Spud was son of Puck, our previous and much loved Jack Russell, who we "put down" at the age of sixteen. It is the end of a line - call it what you like.
We agree to have him cremated and sign documents to this affect. The nice lady vet says that they don't charge for the euthanasia. We choose the cardboard container rather than the solid oak alternative.... We are to be phoned when the ashes are returned from the doggy crematorium. A gift of a flower pot from Grant and Moira (which lights up in the dark!) is planted with rosemary in his memory and so far we have not been phoned by the vet, nor have we paid the 165E !
So now we've acquired Coco, a sweet stray kitten of the same colour as Spud....and an absolute clown ......Rather like this very funny video.
How naff are we? (Click on the links below and above for lovely pictures.)
Just a few family photos recently received:
The green flower pot behind is for Spud's ashes, planted with rosemary. It lights up in the dark! No...really!?
Below: The Bassins of St Malo into which we will be craned in May2015
Spot the cranes? It could all go terribly wrong!