Disclaimer: This article contains themes of animal abuse and neglect.
When Ryan was 22, his beloved 4-year-old dog, Mini, unexpectedly passed away due to suspected food poisoning. Now aged 24, Ryan recalled how he struggled with processing the emotional and logistical aspects of this sudden loss.
“When my family adopted Mini from her previous owner, she wasn’t staying in a friendly environment. There was a lack of care and love, and she had her tail inhumanely removed (aka tail docking). As a result, she had a lot of trust issues and a fear of interacting with humans,” Ryan remarked sombrely.
Understandably, it took Mini some time to warm up to her new owners.
“We brought her out for walks to interact with other humans and dogs, and spend time with her so that she could get some human interaction,” reminiscenced the young man. “Having Wawa around [Ryan’s other dog] helped Mini come out of her shell the most. She started hanging around Wawa most of the time. They always went everywhere in pairs and were closely bonded.”
Unfortunately, Mini passed on after four short years with her adopted family.
“One day, Mini wasn’t feeling well. She couldn’t eat anything and started vomiting and having diarrhoea. So my family took her to the vet. They gave her medication and asked us to monitor the situation, but there didn’t seem to be any improvements.”
“At that time, I was still in National Service. That dreadful day, I woke up early to go to camp only to find Mini at her usual spot in front of my house door, lying motionless in her pool of blood. She had sadly passed away, and her body was stiff and cold.”
Given the unexpected departure of his family’s pet, Ryan had a tough time processing his loss and subsequent grief.
“I was taken aback at the situation and couldn’t believe that Mini had passed on, just as she was warming up to us and we enjoyed having her around,” lamented Ryan. “When I came home, I wasn’t greeted by her presence and I missed that. Wawa, my other dog, became very quiet and wasn’t his usual self anymore.”
Looking back on the situation, Ryan wished he could have had the pawsums app to handhold him through the pet cremation process and be emotionally supported afterward.
“I didn’t have anyone to share it with as my family is more closed off and don’t usually talk about things like grief and loss…”
— Ryan
I think that’s why it took me about a month to fully come to terms with the situation. I wish I had someone to talk to, like a friend,” the 24-year-old confided.
“Logistically, I wish there had been a go-to service for pet cremation from start to finish. From the moment I call them, the pet cremation service will pick up my pet and assist me till the end when I collect my pet’s ashes in an urn. The Loss feature in the pawsums app would have been a godsend then.”
