Testimonials

We had to say goodbye to our beloved Bruin this week, and making the decision was absolutely heartbreaking. He had been a best friend and family member for 16 years, and his loss would leave an enormous hole.

We contacted Dr. Vollaire, who was able to accommodate our schedule, despite just having had surgery herself. She was so compassionate and handled a brutally emotional situation with such grace, we just can’t say enough for what a caring and calming force she was. But the most important thing was how gentle and respectful she was with Bruin. We knew without a doubt that we made the right decision by contacting her to handle what was one of the most difficult moments a person can endure. We will absolutely recommend her to friends and family that find themselves having to make this difficult decision.

Thank you, Dr. Vollaire, for making an awful day just a little easier.

We had to say goodbye to our precious Katie last week. We knew it was the right thing to do for her as the quality of her life had diminished. Dr. Melissa Vollaire came to our home; she explained all of the steps in detail, making sure that we fully understood what was going on. Dr. Vollaire was very knowledgeable, compassionate, gentle, and patient as we said goodbye. She was so caring for Katie! It still wasn't easy to say goodbye, but it was as peaceful as one could hope for as Dr. Vollaire had prepared Katie and she was very relaxed and comfortable. We would highly recommend Dr. Vollaire to anyone that has to say goodbye to their precious pet. Thank you Dr. Vollaire for making such a difficult decision and event much easier!

Dear Dr. Vollaire,

We just wanted to drop a quick note for you, telling you thank you so very much for helping our Katie cross the Rainbow Bridge.  It was the best experience we could have asked for considering the situation.  So grateful for you and the service you provide.  I hope not to need your service anytime soon, but when the time comes you will be the call that we make.

We had to say goodbye and it was not easy. We knew it was time to let go but still a very hard decision to make. Dr. Melissa Vollaire came to our home and was so compassionate and loving to our Tidus. The level of care she gave our dog Tidus was amazing to say the least. Dr. Melissa Vollaire was very informative and patience with us as we said goodbye. She explained everything in great detail and made sure we understood what was going on. I would recommend Dr. Melissa Vollaire to anyone who needs to say goodbye to there loved one. Thank you Dr. Melissa Vollaire for making this easier and being so understanding with us.

Our little Zoey, a 14 year old Pomeranian, was the light of our life--our precious little princess. She was diagnosed with cancer in late January of 2015, sailed through chemotherapy with no side effects, and was declared cancer free in September, 2015. But she wasn't cancer free. Her specialists only looked at her lungs since that was almost certainly where the cancer would spread. But nobody explained the rules to her cancer; it spread instead to her liver and took it over so completely that by the time she was diagnosed, surgery was not an option and chemo considered marginally useful at best. She grew lethargic and stopped eating, and I did an online search to see about in-home euthanasia. I looked at Transitions, saw all the wonderful reviews of Melissa, and filled out the Quality of Life Calculator on her site to determine if it was time to let our baby go. There was no doubt that it was in fact time to let her go. I received a personal enote from Melissa just minutes after filling out the form.

Melissa came the next morning, explained the process exactly, and we said good-bye to our little princess. Zoey laid her little head on my lap and I stroked her throughout the process. My husband was right there, too. Zoey was a daddy's girl--no question about it. We were and are heartbroken and are in agony now over this loss. Zoey was a rescue and we had her for only four years, but we made sure they were the very best four years they could be for her. And having her with us gave us four of the very best years of our own lives.

We cannot thank Melissa enough for her compassion and her expediency on coming over with such short notice. Years ago I had to have a kitty put to sleep. It was done in a vet's office, and even though the staff was highly compassionate, it was very quick and I was traumatized by the experience. There was no sedation first. My kitty let out a huge final breath which I was warned would happen, but it was still awful and I can still hear it.

It wasn't like that this time. Zoey was deeply anesthetized when the final dose came. I had one hand on her tummy and felt her heart stop, but she never moved. She looked no different than before her heart stopped. She just looked peacefully asleep.

We of course cried and continue to mourn her loss, but the point to all this is that this was as serene a passing as anyone could wish for==dying while sleeping. We would have had to let her suffer to let her die on her own. Having control over the situation is an almost miraculous thing to take advantage of. Although our own suffering has just begun with her loss, we are left with the knowledge that we gave her a peaceful sendoff. We were able to create a situation where she could in fact die in her sleep without having to suffer for days or weeks first.

Melissa took our baby with her, wrapped in a special blanket Melissa provided, and was later picked up by Paradise Passages, the crematory mentioned on Melissa's site. All this happened on Thursday, November 5, 2015. November 7th, just two days later, little Zoey's ashes were returned to us in a tasteful, carved cedar box. The crematory delivered the box to our house.

Thank you, Melissa. We would recommend you to absolutely anyone who discovers the time has come to say good-bye to their own precious baby.

Dr. Vollaire was caring and compassionate with our Abigail and us through the difficult day of Abigail's departure. Her gentleness and kindness kept us at ease and helped us to get through such a tense time. Thank you again Dr. Melissa Vollaire, you were a blessing.

It has only been a week since we had to say goodbye to our beloved 13ish year old Boston Terrier Bubba and less than 3 months since we first had Melissa come to the house when we had to say goodbye to our precious 14-1/2 year old Boston Lupe. Melissa came very highly recommended by Jerri Carroll (a wonderful animal communicator) and we now see why.

The pain is still too much to write a lot about it since it seems they were both always such a huge part of our lives and we can't believe they are gone but we want everyone to know what a wonderful, sweet person she is and how this is the only way we would ever say goodbye to our precious fur babies. She explains everything ahead of time after assuring you that you have made the right decision after a brief exam which is very helpful later when you feel all the range of emotions when they are gone.

Both times we chose to have our babies outside in the grass on a favorite blanket under a tree with the other dogs nearby. Melissa sat and petted them both with us each time and let us have all the time we needed to say our goodbyes, hold them, cry and sob and we didn't feel uncomfortable doing this in front of her at all.

She has pets of her own and had to say goodbye one of her own dogs the day before she came to help us say goodbye to Bubba last week. She said she not only had appointments already that she felt she couldn't let those people down and then even made room to come out to see us when she was also hurting. As those of you know who have had to do this, when your furry friend is suffering, waiting another day is not something you want to have to do so we very much appreciate her making time for us both times. When Lupe started to have grand mal seizures, we called and she was booked but made time to come out that day, also.

As someone else mentioned, when you see her pull up in the car, it is like a punch in the gut as you know the time is finally here but she could not have made it happen any more peacefully as she explained each step and made sure we were ready at the end of her preparations to administer the medicine to free them from pain and then offering her sincere condolences before gently wrapping them to take them away.

We also got a beautiful sympathy card with heartfelt beautiful and personal messages each time as well as a card saying a donation had been made to the Morris Animal Foundation which is a nonprofit org. that helps animals. That was such a thoughtful thing to do that makes us feel a little better during such emotionally wrenching losses and we greatly appreciated her kindness and generosity.
If we could give her more than 5 stars, we would and highly recommend her to anyone who has to make this heart wrenching decision. I would never take another beloved pet to the vet's office again when they can be in their home in their favorite spot and have someone so kind and gentle help transition them to their next adventure. Thank you again, Melissa and we hope you and your family are beginning the healing process, as well.

Rest in peace precious angels and we hope to meet again. In the meantime, we hope you are free from pain and running happily together like you did on this Oregon beach 7 years ago. What a great day that was.

I just wanted to thank you again for the incredible compassion, sensitivity and discretion that you showed last week. Not to mention re-arranging your schedule to accommodate our needs.
I’m so glad that it worked out that you were the one to do this as you spared Samantha, Kathy and I the stress of having to move and transport her to the vet. I was so relieved that she was able to move on to another place in the comfort of her own bed.
Thank you for making a hard situation easier for all of us. I will certainly recommend your services to the many dog owners that I know in the future.

Our MegBear was a faithful friend, protector and companion for nearly 15 years.
She was the quintessential good dog;….she always listened, barked only when her owners or home were perhaps threatened, loved to play, swim at the beach, run at the park, and enjoyed camping trips with us.
Her health was without issue until the last year or so of her life until congestive heart failure symptoms began to appear, but with medication she maintained very well for over a year.
In the week prior to her passing, other issues arose that told us it was her time to rest, and we called Dr. Vollaire. Her expertise in these issues concurred with what we thought was best for her at that point, and we made arrangements to help our MegBear make her transition.
Dr. Vollaire was right on time, professional, and gracefully helped Meg pass peacefully, quietly, and most of all painlessly. We want to thank Dr. Vollaire for her tremendous compassion and assistance at such a difficult time, and offering a service that allowed Meg to pass peacefully here at home.

Thank you for coming to my home 3 weeks ago and helping me to provide a peaceful death to Maddie.
I am so thankful for Dr Acosta’s recommendation of you and your service. Although I had thought about Maddie’s last days many times before,it still came as a rapid decline and left me making decisions quickly but definitively.
To have you here in order to allow me to have beautiful final moments with her was so comforting. I cannot express how much this experience has affected me….the death of a dog of course, but also the beauty and peace that came along with it– which is thanks to you.
Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
Maddie’s mom.

Dear Dr. Vollaire,
I want to let you know that the service that you provided for me and Shady was the brightest part of a very sad time. You had a wonderful, compassionate, patient and gentle manner that I will never forget.
As we are grieving the loss of our dear friend it is the memory of the peace and comfort that you provided her that brought an end to her suffering. That is what I will always remember.
Thank you,