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Pets: Time To Sleep

Humans have a fascination with animals. Some keep them as pets from birth til death, however what kind of pet owner are you if your pet is quite old and suffering from all kinds of complications:

1. The type that will put the pet to sleep (Death) so they suffer no more
2. Let the pet live despite suffering until she dies on her own
3. Let the pet live after many visits to the vet that only delay the inevitable.

Sleep Time Pets

Last fall, our 7 year old Lab was diagnosed with cancer. It was very fast acting. The vet gave us some pills to help her with the pain, but after another week, we saw that she just couldn't breathe well, walk, or eat.

It was heart-wrenching, but we decided to put her to sleep. I stood by her side as the vet gave her the injection. After a few minutes, she relaxed, whimpered a few times softly, then fell asleep.

I would not let my pet go through such pain and discomfort, especially since there is no good way to relieve such things.

Pets: Time To Sleep UFO & Writing Art Education Sciences

I had a pet die of cancer in my home. He died the night before I planned to take him to be put down. I guess I waited a little too long. I could tell that night he was really uncomfortable, but I think he was o.k. up until that day.

Since he died at home, I had to clean up the mess left and bury him. If I had taken him to the vet, that wouldn't have been necessary.

I am not sure what I will do when my current do is near death. It would be very difficult for me to have him euthanized, but I don't want him to suffer needlessly either. I am not sure. My vet said they know they are dying and want you by their side like Nighthawk was, but I don't know if I am that strong and brave. If I do it, it will be one of the most difficult things I have had to do yet.

Sleep Time Pets

I would definitely opt to have my dog put to sleep rather than have him suffer needlessly. It will be very difficult to do, but it is not worth him suffering just so he is around a little bit longer.

Sleep Time Pets

We had to put our pet dog Bruce to sleep nearly 5 years ago, because he was nearly 15 years old, and had heart failure.
It was the hardest thing that we had to do, but we asked the vet to be straight with us, and he told us that to prolong the life, was going to cause suffering to him.
When you have had this sort of information, the choice is taken out of your hands,and it is the kindest thing to do.

I couldn't go to the vets, because I would have found it too distressing, so although my Husband was heartbroken too, he took the action to go, to save me being hurt.
I don't think you ever really get over it properly, because they become like family to you.

Pets: Time To Sleep

I don't know if I personally have ever had to put down an animal I had a connection to, although two Christmases ago it very nearly happened to my beloved kitty. My family has fallen on hard times and vet bills are very expensive; perhaps the only thing that saved him was that my parents saved money for an RV. Four thousand of that went into his vet bills, and on Christmas eve/Christmas day we had to take him an hour away to an emergency 24 hour vet clinic because he had urine crystals and couldn't pee. Originally we had taken him to one close to us, and apart from charging us one thousand for their terrible services, they tried to force a catheter in him that hurt him more than it helped. The 24 hour vet hospital we took him to was furious about it.

He ended up being okay but it was not easy. To make matters worse my father (Whom I've talked about in the abusive relationships thread) wanted to put him down rather than spend the money to make him better. When we told people about getting my kitty cared for, they said, "Who would pay four thousand for an eight year old cat?" That probably made me the most angry.

The story behind my cat is that he was born while I was in high school, right before I ended up having major back surgery. When I went into the hospital for a week he was so upset he stopped eating and almost starved himself to death. My aunt (A different one than the one I am staying with) was supposed to be watching them but told us that there was nothing wrong with him, but when my parents went to prepare the house for my return he was laying on the floor almost skeletal and not moving. (I am convinced she knew this and just didn't care). He's been my baby and I miss him even now that I am away in a different state (But he has my mom and her new boyfriend, whom he LOVES, to love on him).

Now there's my cousin's dog. He's a golden retriever and apparently epilepsy is common for their breed. I'm not really a dog person but I can't stand to watch an animal suffer, especially since dogs just are so genuinely loving. Dogs don't need to have their affection won over like cats do; they just love everyone. My cousin who is just becoming a teenager has been having attitude about giving his dog medication and that has given me some tension. He expects others to do it for him, and that's just not how life works. I would like to believe that he is not as apathetic as he seems.

A missed dosage a few weeks ago resulted in a seizure at night, followed by another one a week later. I had never seen a seizure before, human or animal, and it is definitely traumatizing. He was doing okay for a bit but I think my cousin neglected to give him the nighttime dosage resulting in his first seizure last night. Then this afternoon two more, one about an hour and a half after the other. After the second one he spent a lot of time wandering around aimlessly, turning in circles, walking in circles around the kitchen island, turning in more circles, and then finally attempting to pull out or get into a kitchen chair shortly before he collapsed on the floor again.

He's been breathing pretty heavy since. I know my aunt plans to call the vet to see what can be done for him, and to discuss if increasing his medication will be effective. As I said on my intro thread, its currently the elephant in the room. When my cousin was outside I did mention to my aunt that it would probably be kinder to put him to sleep, even though it sounded terrible just to say. I'm normally all for trying to help an animal as much as possible, but the real factor is that my cousin doesn't seem to want to be responsible for his dog. Most of all, an animal shouldn't have to suffer because of their owner neglecting them.