It has been long enough now since the death of my very old pony Tiffany, that I feel I can talk about this. I want to share with those interested my experience with Tiffany's death and our options after we decided to end her suffering. I had this mare in my life for all of her 30 plus years. I had been planning for the day for about 15 years. During the last 10 years our family has had to relocate a few times because of jobs and such. I was always quick to form a new plan for burial for Tiffany, as I did not want to be left wondering "what do I do", when the time came. We have only lived in Wisconsin a very short time, and while we have made good ties within our community none of them are "horsey" people. I had not formed a plan. Tiffany was very healthy, fat and feeling great....and then one day she wasn't. She had colic and we could not get her comfortable so the decision was made to let her go. I did not feel right burying her here, as this has not been "home" for very long and I fear that with the economy we will have to move again wothin the next 5 years. My vet advised us that there was a rendering service availabe - that was not the right decision for us - and a private cremation service that would come and pick her up. We chose the cremation service. My vet suggested that we take her outside first to make it easier for pick up. I was not able to agree to that. Again I was not prepared with a plan and not thinking logically - I simply could not bear her body being outside all night alone. We kept her in the stall for the euthanasia, we covered her with blankets for the night. Our vet gave us the number to call the cremation service in the morning. My husband called very early and left a message. They returned our call before they were even open for business. This is a family business, they have a very nice website that I checked out, it is a very nice place, clean and modern - I just needed to know. They came right away from about 125 miles away. They were here in under 3 hours. All of the details and payment were arranged on the phone call. I was terrified to see what and who would arrive to pick her up. I was very surprised when a very nice man in a uniform arrived n a truck pulling an enclosed trailer. He was very respectful and professional. I did not feel that I could be present and I was unable to actually speak to the man because of my emotions, but I am very thankful for the way he handled everything. My husband did tell me later that it was quite difficult to get her body out of the stall, but that it was very respectfully done. Tiffany left here with dignity. In the mail the next day was a sympathy card from the company (they had asked my husband for the correct spelling of her name and her last name, if she had one.) I received her ashes back in a very pretty oak urn with a picture frame on it, in less than 36 hours. The ashes were shipped UPS with a signature required. I hope that this helps ease the fears of anyone who has considered a private cremation for a pet. If you would like the name of the company we used or have any questions, please p.m. me
One more thing I should add is that this was somewhat costly - I have had money put aside for some time to handle this - something I encourage anyone with an elderly animal to prepare for if possible.
One more thing I should add is that this was somewhat costly - I have had money put aside for some time to handle this - something I encourage anyone with an elderly animal to prepare for if possible.
