Who Will Take Care of Your Pet If Something Happens to You?

Think of the overwhelming sadness felt when a beloved pet passes away. The grieving process can be rough and overwhelming. 

Imagine the loss and confusion an animal must feel when it loses an owner. This is the animal's surrogate parent, the person depended on to feed, walk, cuddle and love the dog.

Little Spritzer fell into this very predicament.

Spritzer is 16 years old, and his owner passed away before he did. To make matters worse, the owner's family did not want him, so they left  him at a shelter. How hopeless is that?

It is one thing to be a young dog in a shelter, where the care is not the best, but to be an older guy and have to go through it, is tough and scary.

While there, he became infested with fleas, developed a painful abscess in his tooth, got sores on his tail and his fur started falling out. 

When an area dog rescue group saw Spritzer's picture and learned of his story, the staff galvanized to get him out of there. The group rescued Spritzer to see if anyone might be willing to give the older guy a chance, his well-earned retirement home.

Spritzer went to a great foster home. They gave him a bath — actually two baths (as he was so infested that fleas they were coming out of his ears). They gave him good food, love and glucosamine for joints. They took him to the vet and the rescue group paid to have his abscessed tooth removed. His health began to improve and he started doing great.

Some people showed interest in adopting him — mainly because of his heartbreaking story — but they eventually decided that he was too old.

They didn't want a dog that would die so quickly, as he is 112 in doggie years.

Seeing this all the time was too heartbreaking to his foster family. They didn't feel that it was fair to take him to all the rescue group events, which to a 16-year-old dog, is a bunch of commotion and turmoil.

The foster family felt he'd be better off resting comfortably and peacefully at home. Lucky for Spritzer, the foster family adopted him because they felt that he was a super sweet guy who deserved to live out the rest of his days comfortably. 

“I would rather outlive my pets so they do not have to end up in a rescue because no one wanted them," Spritzer's adopted mom said. "I would rather know how they lived out their lives, and know it was a good life.”

Spritizer's situation speaks to the importance of planning for the care of your pets should you pass away before them. You probably have contingency plans for your estate, your spouse, children or grandchildren should you die, but do you have someone you trust to care for your beloved pet?

We may assume our family would take in our pet if we die. But as Spritzer's circumstance demonstrates, that's not always the case.

Maybe the animal would serve as a constant reminder of your loss, or maybe your family wouldn't be financially able to assume responsibility for an older pet. It may be a morbid subject to bring up, but if a person — a "dogfather" or "dogmother" — is established early on, it could save a lot of heartache for your family and your pet.

If you haven't made postmortem plans for you pet, I challenge you not to put it off any longer. Designate your pet's "dog-parent" before it's too late.