When one of my client’s dogs – Pebbles, a
very cute Jack Russell - died in January this year, it was a
heartbreaking time as anyone who has lost an adored pet knows.
Pebbles had a number of neuroendocrine
tumors, but well before discovering this and how ill Pebbles was, her owner had
booked me to look after her for a month over Christmas/New Year. It was during
the interim she found Pebbles had cancer and treatment began.
Her owner was naturally very worried about
going away for such a long period as by then Pebbles was living on borrowed
time. But it was not realistic to cancel a longstanding family trip – and as I
had already lived-in and looked after Pebbles on a number of previous
occasions, Pebbles’ owner knew I would give her every possible care. In what was to be my final month with
Pebbles I barely left her as she had severe anxiety seperataion and got stressed
if alone even for a short time. But overall, other than the fact she got tired
quickly, Pebbles soldiered on and seemed almost normal.
When her owners came back I was so happy to
see Pebbles greet her family - it was joyous reuinion. Pebbles still
seemed well too, especially when you knew she had already out lived, by many
months, the usual life expectancy once her type of cancer was diagnosed.
One afternoon, just three weeks after their
return, Pebbles took a turn for the worse. She was rushed to her specialist vet
– but sadly there was no way back.
Many people with terminal pets ask how they
will know when it is time to stop fighting and accept the inevitable. The fact
is you always know - as did Pebbles owner. It doesn’t stop the guilt of course,
but in your heart you do know when it is time to let you beloved pal move on to
find permanent peace. And as awful as it was, Pebbles' owner was able to have
her wish granted which was to be with her special girl and hold her at the very
end.
During the last few weeks of Pebbles’ life her owner wrote me a wonderful reference which, up to now, I have not had the heart to publish. But I do so many months on as a mark of thanks to her for taking to time to write it. It is also time for me to pay my respects to one smashing little dog.
RIP dear Pebbles – you might have been small,
but you had a giant heart - and those that loved you think about you still.
Testimonial for Maralyn Nash of Perfect Pet
Sitter
We have a 14 year old Jack Russell named
Pebbles. Last year we realised that it wasn't fair to put Pebbles in a kennel
while we were away, and we trawled the Net to find a live in Petsitter. We
located Maralyn Nash of Perfect Petsitter, met her and immediately warmed to
her, and she pet sat for us 3 times in 2014.
Shortly after the first sit in March 2014,
Pebbles was diagnosed with cancer. We were of course devastated as she is like
one of our children, and up until then had seemed a fit and healthy dog who
loved walking long distances and had lots of energy. After investigating a few
options for her treatment, she was put on Palladia, a new cancer medication for
animals and has been on these tablets for 10 months. While her energy levels
are quite low these days, and she is on other medications now to stabilize her
general health, she is still enjoying life, eating everything in sight, loves a
swim at the beach and a sniff at the park, and even picks up her toys and tries
to get us to play a game.
Maralyn looked after Pebbles for 4 weeks from
December 2014. I was very anxious to leave her as her health wasn't great when
we left and she had various Vet visits scheduled, lots of medications to take,
and we didn't really know how she would progress while we were away.
Every day while we were overseas, Maralyn
emailed me with a detailed report of how Pebbles was, what she had eaten, her
bowel movements (important given the meds she is on), what the Vets had said
and any changes to medications, how she seemed generally, along with photos of
her. This meant so much to me as she is such an important part of our family,
and it made me much less anxious knowing she had such consistent, loving care
in her own home. Pebbles sleeps on our bed at home and Maralyn allowed her to
still do this so she felt totally comfortable with her carer.
I cannot recommend Maralyn highly enough
not only for her wonderful, loving care of Pebbles, but also for keeping in
touch so diligently and making sure we knew exactly what was going on. She also
took Pebbles to the Vet whenever needed and looked after our house beautifully
and took care of any suppliers who were scheduled.
Maralyn is a reliable, trustworthy,
compassionate, loving lady who obviously adores animals, and I would have no
hesitation recommending her service to anyone who requires the best petcare
available.
Yours faithfully
Jane J
