Kai and the Pet Trust Program
Posted: 23 Oct 2007 10:22 pm
I was going to post this in RL AATOW, but it's not really -my- achievement, just something I am very, very happy and proud about, and I wanted to share it with everyone.
As many of you know, my beloved rat Kai passed away last Monday. She was my first rat, and was incredibly special to me - the most special rat in the world, and there'll never be another like her. When we had her put to sleep last week, I didn't really get a chance to speak to my vet, and when I picked up her ashes on Friday, I couldn't catch him either. This didn't bother me, but I've been kind of 'waiting' for the card he always sends out when a pet dies that has a little note from him in it and all that.
Today, I got a letter, but it wasn't from my vet - and it was a lot more than just that card.
It was from the Kansas State University Pet Trust Program. For those that don't know, K-State is one of the top veterinary medicine schools in the world. My vet is always calling the small animal specialists at K-State for advice on rats for me (since the hospital itself is about 2 hours away, and uh, very expensive). So I was a bit confused when I saw I had a letter from K-State's vet program. Inside was a pamphlet about the Pet Trust Program, and a letter.
I won't bore you with the details of the pamphlet, but here's a bit of what the letter says:
"Dear Jessica,
The Pet Trust at the College of Veterinary Medicine at KSU recently received a generous monetary contribution from Bradley Animal Hospital in honor of your special friend, Kai.
The Pet Trust honors the human-animal bond by supporting veterinary medicine at KSU. Through this donation, Kai will live on through perpetuity and the gift will make a difference in the lives of countless other animals.
The name "Kai", along with yours, will be recorded in a memorial book which is displayed in the Veterinary Medical Library so that your friendship will be forever celebrated and to recognize one of life's greatest pleasures: animal companionship.
We would like to express our deepest sympathy for your recent loss and hope that the thoughtfulness of Drs. Bradley and Gibbs will somehow help you during this difficult time."
I know I'm probably making a bigger deal of this than it is, but I really think it's the most touching thing - that Dr. Bradley did such a thing in memory of a little rat. Granted, he always tells me that I have the best rats he's ever worked with - and in fact, the most rats he's ever worked with, as most of the procedures he's done on my girls have been a first for him! But he's never failed to go out of his way for me, or the rats (or Wyn for that matter), and I just thought this was beautiful. And since it's such a big deal to me, I wanted to share it with all of you.
As many of you know, my beloved rat Kai passed away last Monday. She was my first rat, and was incredibly special to me - the most special rat in the world, and there'll never be another like her. When we had her put to sleep last week, I didn't really get a chance to speak to my vet, and when I picked up her ashes on Friday, I couldn't catch him either. This didn't bother me, but I've been kind of 'waiting' for the card he always sends out when a pet dies that has a little note from him in it and all that.
Today, I got a letter, but it wasn't from my vet - and it was a lot more than just that card.
It was from the Kansas State University Pet Trust Program. For those that don't know, K-State is one of the top veterinary medicine schools in the world. My vet is always calling the small animal specialists at K-State for advice on rats for me (since the hospital itself is about 2 hours away, and uh, very expensive). So I was a bit confused when I saw I had a letter from K-State's vet program. Inside was a pamphlet about the Pet Trust Program, and a letter.
I won't bore you with the details of the pamphlet, but here's a bit of what the letter says:
"Dear Jessica,
The Pet Trust at the College of Veterinary Medicine at KSU recently received a generous monetary contribution from Bradley Animal Hospital in honor of your special friend, Kai.
The Pet Trust honors the human-animal bond by supporting veterinary medicine at KSU. Through this donation, Kai will live on through perpetuity and the gift will make a difference in the lives of countless other animals.
The name "Kai", along with yours, will be recorded in a memorial book which is displayed in the Veterinary Medical Library so that your friendship will be forever celebrated and to recognize one of life's greatest pleasures: animal companionship.
We would like to express our deepest sympathy for your recent loss and hope that the thoughtfulness of Drs. Bradley and Gibbs will somehow help you during this difficult time."
I know I'm probably making a bigger deal of this than it is, but I really think it's the most touching thing - that Dr. Bradley did such a thing in memory of a little rat. Granted, he always tells me that I have the best rats he's ever worked with - and in fact, the most rats he's ever worked with, as most of the procedures he's done on my girls have been a first for him! But he's never failed to go out of his way for me, or the rats (or Wyn for that matter), and I just thought this was beautiful. And since it's such a big deal to me, I wanted to share it with all of you.