Denny and Eliza: Retrospective On the Dynamic Duo

 It is a lesson learned to remain professional yet compassionate in approaching relationships with clients and their pets. Veterinarians are paid to provide educated opinions in their evaluations of dogs and cats under their care. Clients are free to choose their professional care givers just as veterinarians can select whom they care to serve. Somehow in this verbiage the true meaning is lost to state what a sincere privilege it is to be entrusted with the health care of these animals and the “behind the scenes” lives of their owners. In some cases the stories shared are “stunning revelations of private lives to share under the guise of confidentiality & non-disclosure in the client-patient relationship”. In others I feel humbly honored to be entrusted with personal stories of vulnerability. In this case, a relationship that touched me in so many ways I will share with you on this Father’s day, 2014. It is the story of Denny Mercer and his precious standard poodle, Eliza. 

Eliza, a black standard poodle, came under my care at 4 months of age in 2000. Denny I had already known each other from my previous veterinary position in the community. Their bond and mutual devotion from the beginning was sincerely the benchmark meaning of the human-animal bond. There was nothing that Denny would not do to ensure the well-being of Eliza. In reverse, it was stunning to see how incredibly focused Eliza was in her daily actions to listen to Denny and respond accordingly. As noted by one friend, he had never seen a dog go full force for a ball; yet, once Denny says stop, Eliza would not move until verbally released. It was rare to see Denny around town without Eliza riding as a companion in his truck.

Denny never met a stranger. He had such a love for his family, his Lord, and those of us lucky enough to be called his friends. He truly took pleasure in helping others.As the son of government official and lay minister, he was taught to be self-reliant. I admired how he could build furniture and work with most tools exhibiting great talent. In addition, he had lived the life of a contractor, art instructor, private investigator, and golden glove boxer.  After receiving his pilot’s license at the age of 17, he joined the air force where he joined a squadron that refueled planes midair. He owned many small planes (including unlimited category aerobatic airplanes) and thus introduced many pilots to aerobatics. One favorite quote by him in living on a grass airstrip in Apex was “when I die and go to heaven it would be a lateral move”.

In addition he had a wickedly dry sense of humor. Many of his friends would join him for what he would call “fine dining” at the Wendy’s in Apex where he was a regular. It was a bit of a game with employees as  he would have them check to make sure he got his senior discount. Once while dining at Wendy’s with a friend, dressed up for a later event, the manager asked if they were going somewhere. To which Denny quickly replied “Yea, we are going to eat someplace nice”.  So the manager laughed and continued to watch the situation. Once the meal was complete, the manager brought Denny and his friend each an unrequested Frosty (a regular treat for Denny after each meal). Except this time the friend had a heaping Frosty  cup  with the spoon dangling, and Denny’s, well shall we say there was a tablespoon of Frosty at the bottle of the cup with the spoon stuck in the middle. Needless to say, for once Denny was speechless.

I say these things as a background for my experience with Denny over the July 4th, 2011 Holiday. During one of his clinic visits with Eliza, I lamented I wanted to enrich the experience of cats coming to the clinic and build a real “cat playhouse”; yet they cost $3500. After the natural ribbing, he wanted to see an idea of the “cat house”. We met for lunch after which he suggested we head over to Home Depot to obtain supplies. As we walked the aisles he coached me in the types of wood, durability, and purpose. It was quite an education that I thoroughly enjoyed. With a couple hundred dollars of materials, we headed to the check out. As a salute to the military, Home Depot has a 10% off purchase for July 4th. The cashier asked if he had a military card. Denny at 80 years of age said, no, but rolled up his sleeve and asked if this tattoo on his arm  he obtained  in England during his military service would work. Not much to scan, but the tattooed was honored and off we went to the airplane hangar to build the official CCAH cat house.

  I was familiar with the location as I had already been to his house to talk “gardening” and purchase plants from his talented wife, Rita through the years. She is a renowned expert in putting plants in just the right spot. The plane hangar was ideal for space and fun to watch future pilots practice touch and goes steps away from the “construction site”. At times, many of Denny’s pilot friends would stop, get out of their plane help with the play space and then take off again. Others drove up in their trucks to work for hours and offer opinions as to what a cat would like for entertainment.  

Eliza watched faithfully by his side in the hopes of one more ball retrieval or simply to offer unconditional support for whatever project engaged Denny. My role was as an apprentice carpenter, not one that would ever have the skills of Denny but rather a sincere appreciation of someone that could take a piece of wood and create a masterpiece. Each day I came with a new request: Ferris wheel, bridge, steps, teeter totter, and pergola among other things. Then I would come back and out of scraps of spare wood he would go into his shop and create my idea.  In the process, I learned so many stories about Denny and the true meaning of peeling back the layers of his personal experiences and entrusting them to me forever. My relationship with Denny was forever changed; I was now crossing over to be a Denny groupie: one of a large following.

The Sunday the project was finished, the caravan of workers transported the new play area to the clinic. It was a proud moment and a memory I cherish until this day. Once in place, a plaque was installed: handcrafted by Denny Mercer. Denny became my protector and close friend forever on that special July day in 2011.

Sadly, in March of 2012, Denny was taken from us in an unexpected fashion after complications from by-pass surgery. Eliza, remained in the loving care of Rita, and the story goes until Thurs of last week. I received the call to help Rita in a quality of life decision for Eliza was facing challenges from a degenerative neurological condition. I think Eliza was until the very end looking for Denny and putting on a brave face for all of us. As I said good-bye to her in her passing, in many ways it was saying good-bye to Denny as well. Later, Rita sent me the beginning blog photo and the comforting statement: Eliza and Denny…….. very happy to be together again.

I am forever changed by this memory and the blessing of being a veterinarian.

Betsy Sigmon DVM, Diplomate American board of Veterinary Practitioners

Hospital Director, Creature Comforts animal hospital

(and official care take of the Denny Mercer, CCAH “cat house”)