This section of the website is for clients to leave pet memorials. Well chosen words to remember our departed friends.
If you would like to like to leave a memorial for your pet please email it to thevets@vikingvets.com.
Bob
Many (MANY) years ago I went to Bristol
Dogs Home on a whim. I was feeling very sad and down in the dumps. I had always
loved dogs, and had looked after my sister’s border collie for a few months
when she had gone traveling, but I had never had my own. I had absolutely no
intention of adopting a dog when I went for this visit, but as I walked around
the pens I spotted a beautiful tri-colour border collie. He was sitting quietly
in his pen, and as I crouched by the gate he walked over, sat down, and then
wiggled on his bottom so his fur poked through the bars and I could stroke
him. It was love at first sight and 2 weeks later went to pick up
BOB and off we went to our new life together.
During those first years it was just me and Bob and
we did everything together – rugby tour, football tour, holidays, and so
on.
After he had been with me for a couple of weeks, I
went away to play in a rugby tournament. It was in June and was being
run over a weekend. I was camping and decided that there was no way Bob was
ever going to kennels, so he would just have to come with me. I will never
forget the first night we camped. I only had a small tent, so I made up his bed
in the outer tent. When I woke the next morning he was fast asleep where I had
left him. I hooked him up to his lead and took him for a morning walk. As we went
around, people started to shout things such as “there’s Bob!” or “hello Bob!” I
asked how they knew his name, and was told he had gone for a wander round the
site that night, stopping off at various camp fires and barbeques for a
sausage!!! The following night was a bit more cramped in my little tent!
From the day I had him I hardly ever had to put Bob
on a lead. He walked perfectly to heel, and always came back when a called him.
If you took him into a field of sheep, it was as though they were fluffy white
clouds – he barely noticed them and seemed slightly confused as to why they
were gathering together…..they knew he was a sheep dog of course!
Seven years on, I met my partner Jo
and we moved to a new house. He never batted an eye, and settled into
his new life with 2 cats. Indeed, he soon realised he was onto a real
winner. He had double the love (if that is possible!) and his new neighbours
absolutely adored him….they had him to stay when we were at work, or
chatted to him over the garden fence and pushed treats through for
him. Bob was such a good boy so there was always a steady stream of people
volunteering to take him for walks.
His favourite game was ready, steady…….GO. He would
sit waiting for the GO shaking with anticipation, before running as fast as his
legs would carry him. I remember being out with him on our bikes once and I
told him to GO. It was as though he had put his after burners on – his feet
barely touched the ground as he barked and yelped with joy.
His big party trick was “dancing”. His favourite
tunes were “Hawaii 5-0 and “when the saints”. Every time you started singing
those tunes he would jump and twirl and bark. The moment you stopped he would
be stock stilltill you went again….it was like musical statues!
He loved going to get his collar when it was time
to go for a walk, and adored his time exploring Blaise Castle and Ashton Court.
Of course there was the odd moment of naughtiness.
If you left the door open to where the cats had their food, he would magically
wake from his deep sleep and, given the opportunity, tip toe to the
dishes, help himself, and make it back to his bed before we returned. His
other more famous thefts include chocolate coins off the Christmas tree (how he
unwrapped them I will never know!), a bag of very posh coconut ice, a packet of
Easter biscuits, and an ice cream (photographic evidence!)….he couldn’t believe
his luck – eyes out on stalks – down in one gulp.
When Bob was about 10, he jumped a style and caught
his back leg on the top of it, and as he twisted to free himself he snapped the
ligaments in his knee. I was distraught. We took him straight to the vet, and
the next day he went off to have his operation. It wasn’t long before he was
all healed up….he was never QUITE as speedy as before, but he still gave it a
go.
As Bob entered his old age, he eventually started
to slow down, and enjoyed his sleep a lot more. He got arthritis in his back,
but he never complained – he was so brave.
For our annual leave this year we were meant to be
going abroad in June but couldn’t bear the thought of a holiday without him. We
had the most fantastic and special time together in Devon sitting in
fields watching the sun go down, and lying on deserted beaches with him
under his umbrella. I will treasure these special memories along with all the
others that I have of our wonderful life together.
Last week, Bob decided that he’d had enough and
went to sleep for ever. My heart is completely broken. My gorgeous, gentle,
kind, funny Bob the Dog….I will think of you running on the beaches,
chasing balls, and dancing, somewhere beautiful. I miss you more than words
can ever say. Goodbye my friend, my BESTEST boy ….ready, steady,
GO!
When it is too hard to look back, and you are too
afraid to look ahead, look right beside you and I’ll be there. Miss you. Love
you my Bob XXXXX.
When I first got Bob, I took him to Viking Vets and
they have been so wonderful with him throughout his life. Unlike many animals,
Bob LOVED going to the vets – he used to pull me up the path to the front
door…..it might have had something to do with the special liver treats he used
to get from Carolyn!
I cannot even begin to express my gratitude
to Bob’s favourite vet Vicki, and favourite
nurses Lisa, Carolyn – indeed everyone at Viking Vets for the
love they have shown to Bob over the years, and the love, kindness, and
compassion they had for him during his last moments. These times are always
unbelievably hard, but they helped so much and his passing
was so beautiful and peaceful. Thank you.
The Good,The Bad and The Ugly (Maddie, Fern and
George)
This photo was taken ten years ago, at
the time we had three dogs. Being a vet, I have to help people make very
difficult decisions, having been through this myself as a dog and cat owner
mean that I understand the emotion we all are struggling with when it comes to
making a decision to put a beloved pet to sleep.
The Good a Chocolate Labrador, called Maddie which was
the only dog we ever bought. We picked her up at eight weeks from a family
breeder in Wales, we were living on a farm in the Cotswolds, and I was still at
University. She was a great dog, she spent every day with Andrew on the farm.
She was scavenger and had a very bad habit of eating afterbirths after the cows
had calved, bearing in mind a calf weights as much as 50 kg the after birth is
substantial, and you can’t stop half way. Andrew ended up having to pull it out
of her mouth more than once. She joined us before we had children, and was very
much a child replacement. When the children came a long she had some
readjusting to do but managed very well. We moved to Bristol in 2000, and her
life became less adventurous. No more rat catching, afterbirth and sheep poo
eating, but she was getting older and happy to spend her time at Andrews’s feet
in the office, or bossing the other dogs in the practice around. We had to put
her to sleep when she was 13 years old, it was a Saturday afternoon, she had
started to fit and we were unable to stop it. The boys were eight and nine
years old, Maddie had been a presence in their entire life and they loved her very
much. She had always been extremely patient and kind towards them even if the
attention given to her had dropped a bit after they came along. We all huddled
together around her, and felt a sense of relief as she passed away, and her
tired body relaxed.
The Bad was a young Irish Wolfhound, called Fern who
due to changing family circumstances was looking for a new home. I thought it
was going to be difficult to persuade Andrew to take on such a large dog, as it
happened it turned out that Andrew had always wanted to have one. She was
rather destructive in the early days, we later found out that she had more or
less eaten the previous dog owner’s kitchen. She was very charming in her
naughtiness, she would very much think about being obedient and generally decided
not to listen. She was a picnic thief, and we had to apologise on more than one
occasion when she was stealing food at Blaise. I am very fond of a Norwegian
chees called Jarlsberg. I had put 1 kg on the side while I went to answer the
phone, when I came back the cheese was gone, the dog was laying on the carpet
in the same position as when I left. The next day I finally realised that it
was not me going mad when I found some plastic in her poo. Giant breeds are not
long lived, most do not get over ten years old. Ferns started to have mobility
issues when she got to ten, we had her on join supplements and painkiller, but
she started to find it a real struggle to go up and down the stairs. We live on
the first floor so stairs was unavoidable, she started to refuse to come
upstairs, and weighing 60 kg, we could not carry her. During her last months,
she became very tired and fed up, it was a very gradual decline, which made the
decision to put her to sleep very hard since each day was only marginally worse
than the day before. When she could no longer get up on her own, we decided
that it was best to let her go. Again it was a family huddle, many tears were
shed, but we knew it was best for her.
The Ugly was an obese British Bulldog, called George
that needed a new home when he was four years old. He weighed 42 kg when he
came to us, the previous owner had found it impossible to slim him. We were
told he did not eat dog food, they were right for the first three days he ate
nothing, then he realised that dog food, and the diet version was all he was
going to get. Over the next 5 months his weight dropped to 28 kg and he became
a very happy active Bulldog. My only previous contact with bulldogs was family
holidays in Finland, where my uncle had a very grumpy and aggressive male
called Gusti, he attacked my brother and me more than once. Having been a bit
uncertain about the breed and already having two other dogs, he managed to
charm us to his smelly, noisy ways. He was a very sociable dog, carpet time was
very important for him, but he would sacrifice this to come and find us because
it was more important for him to be with people rather than lie on a soft
favourite carpet. He had an intense hatred towards traffic cones, and would try
to kill them. He was very fond of me, and would always greet me at the bottom
of the stairs in the morning. He developed a very malignant tumour of the jaw,
we did try treatment but sadly it did not work for George and he was put to
sleep in November 2014 , 11 years old.
Looking at the photo, fills me with
good memories. They were all different and they enriched our life and they have
given us memories to treasure for the rest of our lives. I am very happy that
we did not just give them good lives but also let them have a very peaceful end
when the time was right
Wilfred
They say that if you ever get the
perfect dog, you've hit gold. If that's the case we were minted and had change
for a donar kebab and taxi home!
Wilfred was a 25th birthday pressie ,
Alan , my husband, gave into my Mariah Carey emotional blackmail of throwing an
engagement ring at him saying 'it's a dog or no engagement'. Alan toddled off
to Exmoor after a tip off about an advert in shooting times and here was
Wilfred, so called because my grandfather always called all his...
grandchildren Wilf (saved learning our names).
Wilfred ,with reflection, was like a
child to us, I'm talking one step from Paris Hilton handbag stuff. Packing up
his stuff today I realised we gave him the best of everything, In return we got
this larger than life character who taught us about responsibility ,about
unconditional love, patience (yes really) going to dog shows and always coming
last as he would leg it past the judge when I called him and do a massive pooh,
that took patience. Even in death he has taught me you can run but you can't
hide , sometimes you just got to grow some balls.
Today was very emotional and quite
frankly like ripping a plaster off . Alan and I sat in the garden at 6am ,just
with Wilfred, gutted that we had to say goodbye but knowing the only one thing
he asked from us was dignity and to be set free. A lovely friend who I nick
named Paul Mcartney (singing words of wisdom) said 'it's the circle of life'.
That resonates to us as he left us as our family was completed.
Wilfred died peacefully in our house,
prior to his injection he rested his head on my arm and looked right into my
eyes, it was what he wanted. He had a sausage and he was gone.
Farewell my fella, I hope like my
friend Gwena says, your in the big sausage shop in the sky. You're always been
in our lives and thanks for all those happy memories.
RIP Wilfred 13th May 2001 - 2nd May
2014.
We would like to thank Maria and all
the nurses and vets who have provided Wilfred with such amazing care over the
years.
Maria, thank you making sense of a very
hard decision and for providing a beautiful end at home ( I actually find it
comforting that he was at home and it doesn't leave a horrible image like I
thought it would ) thank you x
Gabriel Stretch
Dear Maria, Thank you So much for the
lovely card that you sent. It really meant a lot. Also, thank you for making
Gabriel’s last moments so gentle and peaceful. It helped us a lot to come to
terms with it.
Being able to say goodbye to him in
your garden was lovely and we are very grateful to you for giving us that
opportunity. The sunny garden definitely helped relax him.
I
will always remember seeing his eyes closing peacefully.
He was a very special dog to us. He was
a really lovely, sweet natured little puppy. He was a brilliant fun loving
young dog that did everything with gusto. He had a great sense of humour and
frequently had us in stitches. He got up to mischief. He once went up to a
disabled child in a wheel chair and stole his sandwich. Luckily the people
involved were very understanding.
He was also a very sensitive and loving
dog who always had time for a cuddle especially if my Sister or I felt ill.
It was a privilege to know him and
spend time with him. It was ultimately a privilege to be with him as he passed
away.
Thank you Maria. Thank you so much for
making his Vet visits so positive. Before we came to your practice, our
previous Vet was not as popular with our dogs and there was a lot of kerfuffle
and anxiety experienced. It all changed when we came to you. You have a lovely
calming way with dogs. All your staff have been lovely through the years to all
of our dogs, but I think Gabriel had a soft spot for you in particular.
Many thanks again,
Love Georgia & Leila xxx