Cat Kukla always knew her best friend, Bear, would play a starring role in her wedding — she’d pictured it since childhood.
While other little girls dreamed about flowers and dresses, Cat’s dream was simple: Bear, her loyal dog, riding down the aisle in a little red wagon beside her.
Seventeen years later, Bear had been with Cat through everything — growing up, moving away, falling in love. When she met Jimmy in 2011, he fell for Bear just as fast.
Every weekend while Cat was away at college, Jimmy brought Bear to visit her. The three became inseparable, their little family complete.
But as the couple’s 2018 wedding approached, Bear’s health began to decline. Just a week before the big day, he took a serious turn for the worse. Cat was devastated. The thought of Bear not being there — after all those years of dreaming — broke her heart.
Then she had an idea.
“I asked Jimmy if he thought we should get married at the vet to make sure Bear could be there,” Cat said. “His response was, ‘I’d marry you any day, any time.’”
The team at VCA Veterinary Emergency Service & Veterinary Specialty Center immediately said yes. Staff and family rushed to help the couple pull together a last-minute wedding inside the clinic. The goal was simple: make sure Bear didn’t miss it.
When the day arrived, Bear was tired and weak, but when they brought him out on his little red wagon, he perked up.
“We found a picture on the wall that looked like Bear and decided that was the perfect spot,” Cat said. “Bear sat there as alert as he could during our short ceremony. And afterward, he actually got up and walked outside — something he hadn’t done in days.”
It was as if Bear knew how important that moment was.
After the ceremony, something incredible happened — Bear began to improve. A week later, when Cat and Jimmy celebrated their planned wedding surrounded by family and friends, Bear’s miraculous presence at their first ceremony made that day even more meaningful.
Today, Bear’s health is fragile again, and his parents are doing everything they can to keep him comfortable and happy. But no matter what happens, that quiet, love-filled ceremony in the vet clinic will forever be one of their most cherished memories.
“After all the stress of wedding planning, it was a reminder that none of that really mattered,” Cat said. “All that mattered was Jimmy, me — and Bear.”
If you’d like to help support Bear’s medical care, you can make a donation to assist with his treatments.
