admin
Mkhululi Ncube, Chronicle Reporter
THE phone call I received was heart-breaking, it dramatically changed my day in seconds, forcing me to rush to the clinic to attend to my best friend.
You probably pictured a clinic serving patients – and you think my best friend is human – that is not the case.
After a month-long struggle to get my beloved dog, Gaddafi treated for his swollen leg, a veterinarian in the city advised me to take him to the only private vet clinic in Bulawayo — for a scan.
He warned that just like any private health care, the clinic would cost me an arm and a leg, but seeing the pain he was going through and being curious to establish the reason for his pain, I was willing to fork out anything for my best friend.
I parked outside the busy vet office – other pet lovers, mostly white, were also parking and joining the queue to have their pets attended to.
Our turn came and we were ushered to the consultation room where I found one assistant to the surgeon on duty. We had a chat and I asked if any dogs had the same sickness as my dog and he answered in the affirmative which gave me some hope even though I could tell his condition was bad.
The surgeon – a white old man came and caressed Gaddafi and had a look at his swollen leg – something which all other vet doctors I had consulted did not do (no offence to them).
“Leave him here, I will have a look at him and give you a call at around 3-4PM. But should I not call you by then please get in touch,” he said. I left the clinic and headed for work with the hope that once he is diagnosed, he will get the much-needed help.
The call came at 1:18PM and the news was bad.
“Mr Ncube, I am afraid I do not have good news for you. Gaddafi has bone cancer and it is quite advanced, I am afraid there is little we can do. Please rush to the clinic if you can,” he said before hanging up. That call drained me emotionally and left me in tears. I was shattered.
I met a white lady who had received the same bad news, we verbally comforted each other.
The surgeon took me to the X-ray room and showed me a picture showing how cancer had ravaged him. There was no other way – I knew he had to be euthanised. I was taken to the room where he was and found him on the table due to the drugs that had been administered to him, he was drowsy but lifted his head when I called his name.
In tears, I hugged and kissed him, bidding him farewell. The euthanising process was fast and peaceful and, in a minute, or so the doctor declared, “he is gone”.
I had to choose between having a private “funeral parlour” to handle his burial or doing it myself and I chose the latter as I had to make sure my family members, who had received his death with great shock and pain, had a chance to bid him farewell.
With my departed dog loaded in my car boot, I passed through work to finish a few things and my car which had turned into a hearse transported him to our home. When I arrived home, my six-year-old son came straight to me in tears. He was shattered.
I opened the boot of the car and they had a look at him sleeping peacefully, my wife shed tears while my other two children stood there motionless.
My son chose to accompany me to the burial, which we did a few kilometres from the house. After digging the pit where he could fit in well, we laid him there and that picture still plays in my mind.
A counsellor and host of a Christian TV Programme – Painful Good-byes – Dr Sikhumbuzo Dube says the pain of losing one’s pet is real.
“Grief is love that is searching for a place of residence after the beloved has departed. It doesn’t matter whether the beloved is an object or a person, love still does the hunting.
“The pain of losing a dog is complicated by the love these canines display to the human family. They create a bond that can sometimes be greater than human friendship. This calls for counselling of those affected by the loss.”
A veterinary surgeon at a private clinic in Bulawayo, who preferred anonymity for professional reasons, said while there is a lot of research being done worldwide on pet cancer, not much was being done locally.
“We do see pets with cancer and not only bone cancer but other types basically of all organs in the body and they are very similar to cancers that affect human beings like the cancers of the brain, bowel, liver, heart and skin cancer among others.
Treatment-wise, we can surgically remove them and for certain cancers, we can do chemotherapy after careful analysis,” said the expert.
The doctor said dealing with people whose pets have been diagnosed with cancer was the “worst part of their job”. He said people handled the pain of losing pets differently hence there was no formula for dealing with them.
“Some people can handle it better than others, some due to the shock walk away and return later to talk about it. Others prefer to keep their dogs going as long as possible rather than that we have it put down later which may not be the best decision considering the pain the pet will be in.” -@themkhust
Online Reporter
Colletta Dube