Problems at a difficult time

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Sandstone1

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Dont know if anyone else has experienced this? Very sadly a frieind had to have her horse pts. It was not pre arranged but due to a sudden illness.


In my experience the vet has always been able to arrange collection of the body afterwards, but now the vet said they are not allowed to do this anymore. This left my friend having to ring round trying to arrange this when she was very upset. Is this normal now?
 
The vets surely must have some contact numbers for her to call?

She could also phone the hunt (which would actually be my first port of call).
 
That's not nice.
After confirming what the owner wants to do with the remains, our vets are always happy to make the call even though they don't take remains themselves. They often have arrangements with specific places as well - our main "mass" cremation/rendering/WHATEVER THEY DO I DON'T WANT TO KNOW (!) place is happy to be paid via the vet, for example, and even for new yards they are easy to get hold of and as long as they have seen ID with name and address + a verbal agreement to pay they will take the horse and sort out the details later. This place will also hold onto a fallen horse for the vet's post mortem for 48 hours at no extra cost.
 
They gave one number but said they were not really allowed even to give numbers anymore, The number they did give was no good as there was no one avalible to do it til the next day. It made a distressing time a lot worse. Just asking really if this is the normal thing now? If so I would advise people to have a plan ahead of time in case this happens to them
 
MissTyc said:
That's not nice.
After confirming what the owner wants to do with the remains, our vets are always happy to make the call even though they don't take remains themselves. They often have arrangements with specific places as well - our main "mass" cremation/rendering/WHATEVER THEY DO I DON'T WANT TO KNOW (!) place is happy to be paid via the vet, for example, and even for new yards they are easy to get hold of and as long as they have seen ID with name and address + a verbal agreement to pay they will take the horse and sort out the details later. This place will also hold onto a fallen horse for the vet's post mortem for 48 hours at no extra cost.
Click to expand...

Yes that has been my experience in the past, but was thinking maybe things have changed.
 
My vets have never done this and actually, having been involved a few times, actually disposing (sorry I can't think of another word) of the body can take time. I had my boy cremated but had the relevant numbers to hand as he was old BUT still took the removal 24 hours. Not having a pop at them at all, its just how it is.

Unpleasant thought it may be, all horse owners should know a: how they want their horse to be PTS b: check what the vets policy is (as some vets will only inject etc) c, have the number for the collection and disposal d, a long hard look at the sheer cost of it. It is really expensive to have a horse PTS, collected and cremated (even if you don't want the ashes back so don't cremate separately). If that is not an option then it is a good idea to maybe think about something like the hunt, understand the costs and how they manage the process ( I don't know).

Sadly, experience has taught me, that even when I was prepared and knew it would happen at some point, I was completely devastated and absolutely useless so it was good that it was sort of set up before hand. Meant others could step in with the process I had started.

Very sorry for your friend. Its so awful to lose our much loved animals.
 
When my daughters beloved pony had to be PTS, the vet did not give me any choices regarding method. She used the injection, then had to go back to the surgery to ask for numbers for disposal. Not her fault as she was new to the practice. The number she gave me I tried constantly, but no answer until the next morning which led to a sleepless night (not that I could sleep anyway!).
Once I got hold of the company though, the service was excellent and they collected her withi two hours.
Since then, I have their number on my phone and we have pinned it up at the yard as it is better to be prepared.
Sorry for your friend, it's a traumatic time xx
 
itsmylife said:
Yes that has been my experience in the past, but was thinking maybe things have changed.
Click to expand...

We had an old livery down (very old boy, colic) just 3 weeks ago and vet was called - nothing could be done, but vet called the collection for the owner. Generally with our vets, if you book in to pts and have no specific disposal wishes then they will organise the collector to come 30 min after the pts appointment (usually he waits around the corner so owner can leave if they want to). If specific wishes (individual. etc) then they can recommend numbers but won't make the call.

It sounds very traumatic for your friend :( We've had downers in the past and luckily the collector had always been able to come within a few hours.
 
so sad, I lost my old boy last year and my vet arranged collection, i didnt have to do anything so i cannot understand why they didn't do this for your friend or like others have said atleast provide some contacts
 
There is a link in this thread
http://www.horseandhound.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=414375
to a WHW page which gives advice how to plan ahead - it's something everyone should consider as none of us ever know what's around the corner, & especially where horses are concerned.
Feel very sorry for your friend as it must have been horrendous for her to have to deal with that on top of everything else.
I am just so glad that should the need arise for any of mine our local hunt provide an excellent service at a reasonable cost.
 
Shame on the vets involved! A very stressful time if nothing else they should have provided her with the number of a recommended disposal company. Your poor friend.
 
My vet arranged it for me and she also arranged it for my friend last week.

think it must be a policy in her particular vets practise.
 
Ours vets arrange it for us.
(obviously you can do it yourself you want)
The bill goes directly to owner though not through vets.

Maybe the vets involved think its too much work.
Why should they do it, they don't get paid for it.
Although it is really only a phone call.
The vets surely will give out numbers.
 
My daughter found her horse dead in his field. Vet said it must have been heart attack. She couldn't get anyone to remove the body for 2 days, as everyone was tied up at race meetings. She covered the body in tarpaulin, worried sick about foxes and birds starting to feast. In the end, someone came from over 80 miles away with his trailer, got stuck in the field and the local farmer had to pull him out by tractor. The service was great though, and the ashes were returned very quickly by courier. A very traumatic few days...
 
A few years ago I had to leave one of my mares covered up in our field overnight when she broke her leg and was pts when it was not planned.

It was so sad a little boy knocked at the door next morning to tell me my pony was ill in the field and his friend was with it telling it not to die. What was even worse these were children from an approved school out for a run and had seen pony from field next door and climbed over wall. I felt awful but there was not really anything else I could do as I was waiting for the collection man.
 
When I booked the vet to PTS they asked if I had made the necessary arrangements (which I had) so I took that to mean they would have done it for me otherwise.
 
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