Crematorium Helps Pet Owners Past Grief
December 28th, 2008 Posted in Pet PicturesLosing one of two cats to cancer last February was a trying time for Loveland resident Gayle Hoebermann.
Hoebermann adopted five more cats to fill the hole Bushka, a female calico cat, had left and began wearing a silver cat pendant to keep her companion of 17 years close to her heart.
Losing Bushka would have been even harder if it were not for Rainbow Bridge Pet Crematorium, a Loveland business founded two years ago in November by two pet lovers.
Lori Hiatt, founder and co-owner, and Pam Gale, co-owner, provide pet owners who lose a cat, dog or other pet with pet cremation services, personalized memorial items and grief counseling to deal with their loss.
“Once I got there with Bushka, Pam comforted me through one of the most difficult times in my life,” said Hoebermann, who wears the pendant with some of Bushka’s ashes in it and keeps an urn with more of Bushka inside next to her picture on the fireplace mantel.
“I was really, really upset. It was really hard for me to let her go,” Hoebermann said. “They let me take my time to say goodbye.”
In April, Hoebermann adopted a female tortoise shell cat she named Wilhelminia, who reminded her of Bushka, but lost her to fatty liver disease six months later and had her cremated by Rainbow Bridge. She put Wilhelminia’s remains next to Bushka’s.
“I can always look up and see Bushka and Wilhelminia side by side,” she said. “They’re there, and they’re still with me.”
Hiatt and Gale, both of Loveland, understand the difficult, painful and often misunderstood experience of losing a pet, both having gone through it themselves.
“It’s not just about cremation for us,” Hiatt said. “Our philosophy is where the cremation starts is where we start.”
Hiatt and Gale counsel almost everyone who brings in a pet for cremation services to help them through the loss.
“We try to help address the emotional part of losing an animal,” said Gale, who provides the formal counseling sessions for both adults and children. “We try to help them before, during and after a pet loss. Grief is not selected to the loss of the animal. It brings up other losses in their lives.”
The loss of a pet can become one difficult situation among many, Gale said.
“Many people don’t realize how related their losses are,” she said.
One of Gale’s standard lines is, “love is love.” ”It doesn’t matter if it is a person or a pet,” she said.
Their love of animals and experience in the medical field brought Gale and Hiatt together in the business.
Hiatt, who has a background in business administration, in both the business and medical fields, owned animals both as a child and with her husband Kelly Hiatt, managing partner at Rainbow Bridge, and three grown children. In November 2006, the Hiatts had to euthanize Jesse, their 6-year-old Jack Russell rat terrier.
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Tags: 17 years, calico cat, co owner, difficult times, fatty liver disease, fireplace mantel, gale co, grief counseling, hiatt, losing a pet, loveland business, pet cremation services, pet lovers, pet owners, rainbow bridge, silver cat, time to say goodbye, tortoise, tortoise shell cat
