It’s a nice gesture made an appropriate time after the death.
Reading the ‘WTF?’ in the thread title I assumed the memento was going to be a dismembered piece of the pet or something.
I love animals, but I am tremendously unsentimental when it comes to things like this. I’d consider it a nice gesture, but mostly a waste of time in my case. It might be nice if clients were asked if they wished to have a memento of this sort.
I too was expecting something like a rabbit’s foot.
I think it’s a lovely thought and not creepy or WTF at all. I know many people complain that their grief at a beloved pet’s death is not taken seriously - I know people say that about how much I grieved over a little bird I had. Love strikes where you don’t expect it. and grief, too. I think this is a marvelous memento.
Wow. Perspective people, perspective.
Sure, it’s tough to lose a pet, but if a card in the mail a month later is going to greatly upset you, then you have bigger issues.
We got one of these too when our last dog had to get put down. I can’t remember if there was a paw print or not. We smiled and thought it was a nice gesture.
I had to put my dog down in January and the emergency vet gave me a little ‘dog wearing a halo’ pin and a very complete medical record including her xrays and ultrasounds. I also got a card/poem and personal note from the regular vet about 2 weeks later. I was offered her ashes, but declined. I appreciated these things. (Well, the pin, not so much. I don’t want to walk around advertising that my dog died and have to talk about it.)
So, I think it was a thoughtful gesture. If your friend doesn’t care for it, she can just throw it away. If she is the sentimental type, she can keep it.
I think that would decrease the value for those who would want it. Part of what I would love about it is that I would not expect it, and I imagine some people would appreciate it despite turning it down due to social obligation or clouded thinking due to the immediacy of the grief when asked. I know that, when I lose a pet (or even a family member), I’m really sad and don’t want to be reminded of it for a little while, but, after that, I actually enjoy remembering the good times.
My vet had a tree planted as a memorial. We got a very nice letter from the Arbor Day folks. When our neighbor’s dog was put down, we mentioned the tree somehow, but he had no idea what we were talking about. Later we found out our vet does a tree just for “good” clients.
We got the clay paw print (we asked for it), and also, a few days after we had her put down, we got flowers and a card. It was a very nice gesture.
My vet asks if you want the memorial paw print. Since I already had one for Shane, I did not need when when I had her put down. If I hadn’t already done one myself, I probably would have asked for a memorial.
They do send a condolence card later as a matter of course which is appreciated. But they ask before doing the possibly creepy paw print.
We got a clay pawprint from the vet the last time we had a dog put to sleep. It was definitely done after death, as the vet and vet tech came to the house for the procedure and then took his body away, so it would have been done some time after that. They gave me the paw print when I came to pick up his ashes. At the time I really didn’t feel one way or another about it - the dog in question had had bone cancer and was in pain and had to leave us much sooner than what I thought was fair, so there were a lot of emotions going on at the time and I guess I didn’t have room for any more.
I could see some people not feeling positive about it. That same vet also made a donation in our pup’s memory to the charity of our choice, which was most definitely appreciated.
In the past we’ve gotten notes from the vet clinic after we’ve lost a dog. I always appreciate those.
When a friend’s pet dies, I’ll make a memorial donation to either a pet health research fund or to have a tree planted. Everyone has always been touched by that and thanked me profusely.
Ugh, what’s making me feel bad is thinking right now how many times we’ve had to go through this. 
It’s a very nice gesture.
I’ve never gotten anything like that from the vet after having a terminally ill dog put to sleep. The last time, there was a sympathy card signed by everybody in the vet’s office, which was appreciated.
Shipping a stuffed dog head mounted on a plaque would probably be a bit over the top.
We got one of those, too, and someone had taken the trouble to draw a little daisy into the clay (Daisy was her name). It was unsolicited and took me by surprise and I admit I had a very brief WTF moment before I burst into tears. I knew it was a dead doggie print – no way did they stop to make the impression while she was expiring on the table – but after the momentary weirdness and sadness passed, I decided that I love the thing and very much appreciated the thought and gesture.
I’m with you. The vet should have asked first, not just sprung it on the friend like that, totally unexpected.
I don’t think it’s creepy. When my beloved 5-year-old Russian Blue was put to sleep after an 8-month fight with lymphoma, both my regular vet (who did it) and my cat’s oncologist sent us sympathy cards. I thought it was very sweet and it made me cry. I still have them in her little memory book, and they still make me cry even though it’s coming up on 6 years.
No pawprint, but I would have thought that was sweet too. We have the best and most caring vet I could ever hope for, and she’d never do anything that she’d think had the potential to be hurtful.
I think it’s a nice gesture that the vet didn’t necessarily think through.
Some people might appreciate it, some might not. Without knowing specifically case-by-case what a particular pet-owner thinks, sending them out pro forma to everyone who’s had a pet put to sleep is just wrong.
You don’t have to understand it, but it would be civilized of you to respect it.
Anyone else read this thread backwards?
When my cat Annie died last November, the vet clinic offered a paw print, and I accepted. So it wasn’t a surprise. But they also sent a condolence card, which I didn’t expect. I thought it was a nice gesture.
I was in the WTF?? contingent too as I’d never heard of any such thing, but upon reading the responses in this thread have somewhat mellowed.
Personally, I would NOT appreciate it, but I understand that others might. The old YMMV thingumajig.