Death in the family

[Honolulu Blue]

This was inspired by a post on John Heald's Facebook page and the resulting discussion.

 

For those that can't read the poll, the question is: If your pet were to die while you were on a cruise, would you want to know about it mid-cruise?

 

My opinion... I don't have a pet, but I would put this in the same category as critical information about those closest to me. I want to know so I can possibly react, or not react, as appropriate. But that's just one opinion. What's yours?

 

As always, thank you for reading and responding.

[Clarea]

Happened to us about a year ago, and we were glad to have been informed while still on the cruise.

[Pyrate13]

I love our pets but there is nothing I can do about it while on the cruise so, no. Why ruin the trip at that point when it won't do you or them any good? I'll be sad and grieving enough when we get home. Just my opinion and don't expect others to agree.

[agabbymama]

I have always had pets. While you care for them, and they are like a member of the family, there would be absolutely nothing you could do. Why ruin your cruise with the information of their death. Enough time for mourning them upon your return.

 

My father-in-law died just before our cruise, but the decision was made to postpone his funeral the week. We did go on our cruise, and was able to attend his funeral after our return.

 

This is really a personal choice, but I can't believe people would cancel mid-cruise and return home when there is absolutely nothing that could be done at that point.

[klfrodo]

I wouldn't want to be told if it was a "Real" family member, let alone an animal.

Unless I was on a 14 day or longer cruise.

[Piggeldy]

I would. It would be horrible to come back home to one cat instead of two :eek:

 

I was abroad when my grandma died. Nobody knew how to tell me and I only learned by accident. Now, I'd rather have a family member tell my that granny passed instead of somebody who lives in a different city and who just read an obituary in the newspaper. I would have loved them to tell me before they had burried her...

[NurseDave]

Different stroke for difference folks. Nothing you can do I personally don't understand why it would make someone glad that they knew right away. Receiving the same information a few days later doesn't change the information.

 

On our honeymoon with my first wife her Grandfather died. They didn't tell us because everyone wanted us to enjoy our trip and we were still in the country. We thought it was thoughtful, grieving still happened, but so did the trip.

[calliopecruiser]

I would want to know, even though there is nothing I could do for my pet of course.......I could (and would) contact the friend looking after her with condolences and assurances that I didn't blame her for anything. I imagine it would be devastating to be looking after someone else's pet when it died, and I would want to support them, at least by email.

[NLH Arizona]

When I was on a Celebrity Mediterranean cruise some years back and my dog, Simone, passed away. I found out when I landed at JFK airport and I was devastated and cried the whole flight home. If I would have heard on my cruise, I would have probably cried the rest of the cruise. When I cruise now and my dog, Sadie, is at the petsitter, she emails me updates, but knows not to send any bad news.

[Treven]

I love our pets but there is nothing I can do about it while on the cruise so, no. Why ruin the trip at that point when it won't do you or them any good? I'll be sad and grieving enough when we get home. Just my opinion and don't expect others to agree.

Totally agree. What can I do about that out in the middle of an ocean? I'd deal with it once I returned home.

[spookwife]

I said no but really I would not have the option anyway. all my cruises are 7 or under and we leave the cats alone in the house with an extra litter pan and extra food/water dispensers

 

if anything did happen, we would know it as soon as we walked in the house.

[TheOldBear]

We just inherited an elderly Akita, after a friend's unexpected death. [Look for 'Sneaky' on Facebook for pictures of her fuzzyness]

 

As a result, we canceled our planned transatlantic round trip [18 days] for this summer, and will not be planning any prolonged trips for the foreseeable future. For this breed of dog, kennels are entirely out of the question, and even overnight house/puppy sitters are only suitable for long weekend trips.

[SuiteTraveler]

We had a Guinea Pig who was elderly, frail and obviously dying when we went on a cruise. I explained the situation to the pet sitter and told her what to do in case he passed (give his remains to the vet for cremation) and gave the vet my credit card number, just in case. We went and somehow the Guinea Pig hung on and passed away peacefully about an hour after we got home while we were holding him. I've always thought his dying wish was to see us one last time.

[sail7seas]

I was in the hospital recovering from surgery when my dear furry four legged passed the rainbow bridge. No one in my family would tell me until after I got home.

 

I always left instructions when we traveled, to please not let us know if anything happened to our pup of the moment while we were gone. They knew our Vet and what we would want done should such happen.

 

[ger_77]

I'm in the "don't tell me" camp - I get so attached to our furbabies that if I knew one of them crossed the rainbow bridge while I was at sea, I would be so sad. We cruised when our kitty was 16 years old and I told our neighbour (who was taking care of her) if anything happened, do what needed to be done, but in emails, just keep telling me everything's fine. It's like being an ostrich with it's head in the sand, but I'm an easy weeper and wouldn't want to do it on a cruise.

 

On the other hand, DH had an elderly bachelor uncle who had been threatening to die for some time, and when he found out we were going to be on a cruise at one of the times he thought he was going to die, he told us he had given the nursing home and funeral home explicit instructions to "put me on ice until they get back." He lasted another 3 years and finally died in his sleep at 97 - when he wasn't planning to. :rolleyes: LOL

 

Smooth Sailing ! :) :) :)

[donaldsc]

I will add to that. If a relative of mine died mid cruise and they were not a really close relative such as mother, father, brother, sister or child - I would not want to be told about it. If I were on a short 7 day cruise, I am not even sure about the close relatives. After all, they are dead and there is nothing you can do about it. Funerals can be postponed a week and the object of the funeral will not care.

 

We almost had to deal w this for our cat a few years ago. Whenever we traveled, a neighbor whom we trusted took care of out cat. We also gave the neighbor medical power of attorney so they could deal with medical issues as necessary. Our car had been suffering w kidney issues for several years that were being controlled by diet and occasional vet visits. About 4 days after we returned, he crashed and had to be put down. If they problem had occurred a few days earlier, our neighbor would have had to make the same hard decision that we made. You just can't let your pets control your travel plans.

 

DON

Edited March 21, 2016 by donaldsc

[OCruisers]

Since there would be nothing we could do ... NO.

[babyher]

To answer the question , No I would not want to know until i got back.

 

 

An old story

 

 

A man is on vacation and his brother is watching his beloved cat Fluffy. Every day the man calls his brother and asks how is Fluffy.

 

Halfway through his trip he calls and the brother tells him Fluffy is dead .

 

The man is hysterical , but he is also angry at his brother for just blurting out such terrible news when he is so far away.

 

The brother asks what should he have done.

 

 

The man says "You could have said Fluffy was chasing a squirrel on the roof and he fell off. We rushed him to the Vet and he is doing everything he can"

 

The next day I would call and you could tell me that Fluffy had surgery, he pulled through but the next 24 hours are crucial."

 

The third day I would call and you could say "I'm sorry , the vet did everything he could , but Fluffy didn't make it." Of course I would be upset , but I would have been braced for the news , not just shocked by being told all at once.

 

The brother apologized for not thinking.

 

"Well , whats done is done " The man says . "So how is Mom ?"

 

The brother says "Mom was on the roof chasing a squirrel...........:)

[SPacificbound]

We had retired greyhounds, 7 of them over an 18 year period. They were our four legged kids and lived an extremely comfortable life of plushy soft, with orthopedic foam, really big beds. They lived in the house and slept in our bedroom, and had all of the love they deserved.

 

They had lots of toys and healthy treats, and everything they could possibly need, including their faithful servant, me.

 

There were always at least twice as many beds in the house as there were greyhounds. They could pick from those in the bedroom or the family room. And there were four more beds on the covered deck.

 

Their grocery bill was way bigger than ours. :)

 

The first long trip DH and I took was in 2008, seven weeks in Europe. Our friend and dog sitter came and lived at our house with them.

 

Our long time veterinarian had instructions from us that our friend was authorized to make decisions with her on their care, including euthanasia if their quality of life was negative.

 

We gave our friend a credit card in his name for anything they needed.

 

We told him that if something happened, and one of them was terminal while we were gone, we did not want to know until we came home. There would be nothing we could do. And he understood that.

 

We had a really great time on our trip, but after that we kept our trips down to a week or two and the greyhounds would go to his place, which was just like home to them also.

 

This is such a personal decision, each of us are different, there is no right or wrong answer.

 

We lost our last greyhound October 15, 2012.

Edited March 22, 2016 by SPacificbound

[MicCanberra]

Yes, as they would be a part of my immediate family, anyone else can wait til I get home.

[Hflors]

No I wouldn't want to know. I just went thru this last month with our beloved "baby" after 11 years of devotion to us he got sick. I took him to the vet's and they kept him to run some test. The vet called me on my cell phone and had us come to her office right away. They had to "put him to sleep as he was suffering. When we arrived they had him on a comfee bed and we sat with him for his last minutes. He drifted off to "sleep' very peacefully. I am glad we were with him, but it broke my and my dh's heart. I cried for a week and I still feel weepy when I talk about it.

 

We had him cremated and the box of his ashes sits on the nightstand above where he use to lay in our bedroom each night.

 

We still look for him and think about him every day.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is to know while I was in the middle of the ocean would have made it so much worse.

 

BTW - when we drew us our wills a couple of years ago we left extra money to which ever of our children would take and care for our "baby". We felt it was fair because it's expensive and that expense should not have to be passed on to who ever is good enough to take care of our baby.

[NoobCruise]

I said no because if it's dead, then there's nothing I can do about anyway. Knowing would just ruin the cruise.

 

Now if one of them got sick, that would be a whole different story.

[Bonnie J.]

I would not want to know while on a cruise. I can't do anything about it so why ruin a cruise crying over a lost pet? I can cry when I get home.

[SadieN]

Don't want to know.

 

In high school three friends of DD's were killed in a horrific multicar accident. Her friends tried to keep it from her but she found out thru social media. Ruined the trip for her.

We were on a different trip and we were contacted bc of DD finding out.

Edited March 22, 2016 by SadieN

[Treven]

Actually in my "family" it's going to be a toss-up as to which one goes first. Me going on 71 with a bad heart, and my fur-child going on 11 (guess that would be 77 in our age). Fortunately he hasn't had any health issues; wish I could say the same. When I go on a cruise he is boarded at his vet's business.

Edited March 22, 2016 by Treven