In Memoriam
"Zigzag," by Josefine Spenke.
I recently commissioned this portrait of my dear departed Zigzag from the same artist who painted Shadow five years ago. I'm so pleased with the result. She really did an amazing job of bringing both dogs back to life for me!
I forget about LJ sometimes and apparently I didn't tell the rest of Zigzag's story here. After he died, I reported the adverse drug reaction to Zoetis: the pharmaceutical company that makes Librela. Obviously, they don't want their products harming or killing pets, so they asked if they could do a necropsy on Zigzag to try and find out what physiological or pathological factors might have contributed to the adverse reaction that crippled him. And of course, being a biologist who's conducted numerous necropsies, myself, I consented. Additionally, I'd taken extensive notes during Zigzag's decline and gave those to the company, which they found to be very helpful in trying to get to the bottom of what happened to my dog.
Unfortunately, it turned out not to be logistically possible to get Zigzag's body down to U.C. Davis where Zoetis has their pathology lab. So, there was no necropsy, after all. Still, there were a couple of positive outcomes. As a gesture of compassion and goodwill, the people at Zoetis offered to compensate me fully for Zigzag's final expenses, which at least lifted the financial burden of his loss off my shoulders. The company also paid for several sessions of pet loss grief counseling, which were very much appreciated. So I can't say enough good things about the staff at Zoetis. They really were amazingly supportive and truly sympathetic over the tragedy which befell my dog, and me.
It's been 15 years since I've had to live without canine companionship, and its been rough, I tell you. I have no one to come home to anymore; no one to live for. It doesn't help that I'm 70 now, and wondering if it's even practical to get another dog. And yet, I can't imagine what remains of my life without one. It's awful being in canine limbo like this, with no way to know for certain if it's only temporary, or a lonely reality I'm doomed to endure from this point on.
I recently commissioned this portrait of my dear departed Zigzag from the same artist who painted Shadow five years ago. I'm so pleased with the result. She really did an amazing job of bringing both dogs back to life for me!
I forget about LJ sometimes and apparently I didn't tell the rest of Zigzag's story here. After he died, I reported the adverse drug reaction to Zoetis: the pharmaceutical company that makes Librela. Obviously, they don't want their products harming or killing pets, so they asked if they could do a necropsy on Zigzag to try and find out what physiological or pathological factors might have contributed to the adverse reaction that crippled him. And of course, being a biologist who's conducted numerous necropsies, myself, I consented. Additionally, I'd taken extensive notes during Zigzag's decline and gave those to the company, which they found to be very helpful in trying to get to the bottom of what happened to my dog.
Unfortunately, it turned out not to be logistically possible to get Zigzag's body down to U.C. Davis where Zoetis has their pathology lab. So, there was no necropsy, after all. Still, there were a couple of positive outcomes. As a gesture of compassion and goodwill, the people at Zoetis offered to compensate me fully for Zigzag's final expenses, which at least lifted the financial burden of his loss off my shoulders. The company also paid for several sessions of pet loss grief counseling, which were very much appreciated. So I can't say enough good things about the staff at Zoetis. They really were amazingly supportive and truly sympathetic over the tragedy which befell my dog, and me.
It's been 15 years since I've had to live without canine companionship, and its been rough, I tell you. I have no one to come home to anymore; no one to live for. It doesn't help that I'm 70 now, and wondering if it's even practical to get another dog. And yet, I can't imagine what remains of my life without one. It's awful being in canine limbo like this, with no way to know for certain if it's only temporary, or a lonely reality I'm doomed to endure from this point on.