Fur the Broken Hearted

By Nikki Catley

This book is for anyone who understands the immense love and joy a companion animal can bring but who may also be currently crippled by the devastating thought of beginning end of life discussions and processes. For anyone struggling to decide if the time to offer the ultimate gift of peace(euthanasia) to your fur baby is now or impending, this book may assist you in preparing the best way possible. This book contains a quality of life assessment that can assist you in making difficult decisions. You may never be 100% sure of your decision and that's okay but planning is certainly the key for the best outcome for all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Nikki Catley
• Release date: Mar 23, 2022
• ISBN: 9780645432138

Book preview

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Introduction

W

elcome to Fur the Broken-hearted. This is a supportive guide for pet parents navigating the end-of-life chapter of their loved fur baby.

In these pages, you’ll find advice and shared personal experiences from someone who understands your pain. These aren’t just words, I do truly understand.

A quality-of-life assessment guide is included, which may help you in this difficult time.

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About me

M

y name is Nikki Catley. I have a wonderful husband, four beautiful children, a cat named Phil and a chocolate Labrador pup named Charlie. I am lucky in love, with loads of beautiful family and friends.

I am the creator of Paws for Talk, a service designed to support pet parents through their grief and assist in quality-of-life assessments for our fur loved ones.

I have worked in the animal industry all my life and I truly believe animals are the best ‘people’ I know.

Whilst working at a wonderful vet clinic, I found myself being continually selected to assist in euthanasia consultations or conversations around euthanasia. The team would compliment me, saying, ‘You’re just better at knowing what to say.’ So I found my strength and strangely, I enjoyed supporting clients during their darkest times.

Sixteen years ago, I had a newborn human baby and whilst on maternity leave from my vet clinic, I decided it was the perfect time to study (hmmm, yes perfect). I felt it was important to be educated and so began my learning journey.

As a teenager, I suffered one of the greatest losses of my life, my amazing German Shepherd Dog, Gotcha. He had to be put to peace as unfortunately, he attacked some sheep. This is a pain that, to this day, I can barely tolerate. As an only child, I didn’t just lose my dog that day, I lost my ‘brother’ and my best friend.

Twelve years ago, I lost my first-born child, Marty, a Blue Heeler/Kelpie. We’d also lost our dog Molly six months prior and that too was horrible and, as difficult as it is to admit it, it wasn’t as devasting as the loss of our Marty (yes, I feel guilty, but it’s true).

When Marty passed, I felt so very alone in my grief. I had wonderful family and friends who were a great support but I didn’t feel I could be completely honest with them and tell them things like, ‘I don’t think I will ever feel happy ever again’ or that I resented innocent people enjoying their walks with their happy, bouncy healthy dogs. What kind of a terrible human was I? I truly wanted everyone to feel the pain I was experiencing at that moment and honestly wanted the world to stop, but it didn’t.

I struggled with so many aspects of Marty’s death. I struggled with the fact that the people I trusted the most could only say, ‘Don’t cry.’ I know this is because they cared so deeply for me and wanted me