Do all pets (dogs/cats) have to be put to sleep at the end?

[bee*]

In our clinic, very few of our patients die naturally. The majority of them are pts. It does seem to be different from when I was growing up, but I think that part of this is that more people use vets now and are more aware of their animals pain and suffering. If the time came that Amber was suffering, I would have no hesitations putting her to sleep, although even the thoughts of it has me in floods!

In terms of getting rid of the bodies, over here the only way that a vets can dispose of a body is by cremation. You can get a group cremation or an individual cremation where you get ashes back. Otherwise the owner can bury them at home.

 

[AGBF]

Date: 2/10/2008 10:16:21 PM
Author: mrssalvo

oh goodness deejay. i was just thinking about this last week b/c I read where deb said they put her sweet biscut to sleep and described all the wonderful last minute treats they gave him. then I had to take zoe to the vet for her biannual comprehensive exam and she HATES going to the vet. she gets so scared that she just starts shaking b/f we even get into the building. i then started thinking about when that time comes that i really hope and pray she goes naturally b/c i don't want her last moments to be shaking and trembling at the vets office. She won't even eat any treats we offer her when she's in there and zoe LOVES treats. i too get so sad just thinking about it

I usually want to talk about my problems, but I have been unusually ambivalent lately. I want to talk, yet I don't. I want to share things, then it hurts too much to say more than a certain amount. I am the tell-everybody-everything-queen so I don't even recognize myself in this incarnation!

Until I read this posting by mrssalvo I didn't realize how blessed I was that Biscuit had the personality he did! That darn dog loved to go to the vet's, no matter what hideous things were done to him there! Even the most painful operations and the longest hospital stays didn't deter him from bounding back in delight the next time he had an opportunity to go to the vet's again. And once there he had to poke his head into every room to make sure he saw everyone and knew what was going on in every office and examination room. I was so lucky that I didn't have an unwilling dog go with me to be euthanized. He was happy as could be! And stayed that way, thank God. He never knew a thing and he had lots of treats and water and we hugged and petted and kissed him. I posted about it elsewhere. I am not over it.

As far as the topic goes, he is the only dog I have had to have euthanized. Our family spaniel died after surgery while still at the vet's at age 12. My Golden Retriever died while spending some time under observation at the vet's at age 13. Biscuit was only 11 1/2, but he was huge, and big dogs do not live as long as small dogs. He was as bad as my Golden was good, a real juvenile delinquent who brought the police down on us, but I loved him just as much as our angelic Golden!

Deb

 

[monarch64]

Date: 2/11/2008 12:47:41 PM
Author: AGBF

Date: 2/10/2008 10:16:21 PM
Author: mrssalvo

oh goodness deejay. i was just thinking about this last week b/c I read where deb said they put her sweet biscut to sleep and described all the wonderful last minute treats they gave him. then I had to take zoe to the vet for her biannual comprehensive exam and she HATES going to the vet. she gets so scared that she just starts shaking b/f we even get into the building. i then started thinking about when that time comes that i really hope and pray she goes naturally b/c i don''t want her last moments to be shaking and trembling at the vets office. She won''t even eat any treats we offer her when she''s in there and zoe LOVES treats. i too get so sad just thinking about it

I usually want to talk about my problems, but I have been unusually ambivalent lately. I want to talk, yet I don''t. I want to share things, then it hurts too much to say more than a certain amount. I am the tell-everybody-everything-queen so I don''t even recognize myself in this incarnation!

Until I read this posting by mrssalvo I didn''t realize how blessed I was that Biscuit had the personality he did! That darn dog loved to go to the vet''s, no matter what hideous things were done to him there! Even the most painful operations and the longest hospital stays didn''t deter him from bounding back in delight the next time he had an opportunity to go to the vet''s again. And once there he had to poke his head into every room to make sure he saw everyone and knew what was going on in every office and examination room. I was so lucky that I didn''t have an unwilling dog go with me to be euthanized. He was happy as could be! And stayed that way, thank God. He never knew a thing and he had lots of treats and water and we hugged and petted and kissed him. I posted about it elsewhere. I am not over it.

As far as the topic goes, he is the only dog I have had to have euthanized. Our family spaniel died after surgery while still at the vet''s at age 12. My Golden Retriever died while spending some time under observation at the vet''s at age 13. Biscuit was only 11 1/2, but he was huge, and big dogs do not live as long as small dogs. He was as bad as my Golden was good, a real juvenile delinquent who brought the police down on us, but I loved him just as much as our angelic Golden!

Deb

Bless Biscuit''s l''il soul...AGBF...I''m still saddened for you. I think that you''ve given him the best gift by speaking of him so eloquently in your posts here on PS...

Every true pet lover can recognize a bit of their own pet and their own soul with the words you''ve used to describe your beloved. That is such a gift to everyone, thank you.

 

[scarleta]

thanks for sharing Deborah..Very touching..How long ago did Biscuit leave you?
One is really never over it ..I have yet to read all posts on this one..I am doing it in parts..

 

[Independent Gal]

I got a kittn when I was 5, who died when I was 23. I happened to be visiting my parents at the time. She was in some distress and when we took her to the vet, he said she had cancer and there was water in her lungs. He removed the water and she was comofortable again and didn''t seem to be in much pain. So we brought her home, and she died that night. At home. With us.

But then my poor mother had to figure out what to do with her, which was very traumatic for her as she was very attached to that cat.

So, there''s an upside to having it happen at the vet.

 

[LegacyGirl]

Date: 2/11/2008 1:01:37 AM
Author: strmrdr
In the old days it was very common for the man of the house to take the animal out for a walk and do what had too be done then tell the kids the dog ran away or went off too die.
In some parts its still done that way in others its off too the vets.

Going back further the old animals were often killed on the hunt by wild creatures.

But all the way back too the domestication of animals I think you will find that the sick and infirm were helped along to a pain free end.
It was a matter of survival, resources could not be spent on the animal.

My Dad did this to me when our first dog died. I was really young and I thought Chopper had really run off so I searched for her everywhere and made posters and would sit by the window everyday waiting for the dog to come home. I never forgot her.

When I was 17 and we were moving out, we were cleaning out the shed that''s by a big tree, my Dad looks at the tree and starts talking about memories and then says that''s where Chopper was burried. I about flipped out on him. They meant well but telling me the dog ran away and it taking me years to get over it (I would still look for her when I was out and I still hoped she would come back) was so much worse than if they just would have explained what really happened to her to me.

I need to go cry now. I still get upset when I think about this.

 

[LegacyGirl]

Oh I never mentioned how she died...

When I finally calmed down a little bit I was able to ask my Dad what exactly happened. She was very old (she was a stray that my family adopted before I was born) the vet estimated she had made it to 14. She was just very run down and getting weak. Somehow she ended up getting bit by a bunch of horseflies (very big nasty bugs that leave huge welts that hurt like bruises) she got so sick from the attack there was nothing that could be done so my Dad had to put her out of her misery (we lived in the country and the vet was about a 45min drive, the vet actually had said to do this because she would be in too much pain on the way over and there was nothing they could do for her).

 

[sumbride]

Oh LegacyGirl, that's so sad. And I do think kids need to know what is going on. It really helps with the grief process.

My dad had to do that with my puppy when I was about 5. She'd been poisoned by a mean neighbor and we arrived home on a Saturday night to find her very sick. It was the only time I've ever seen him holding a gun, but of course didn't see it actually happen. It was so traumatic, but not knowing would probably have been worse.

 

[scarleta]

Legacy Girl and Sumbride: I just read your stories and just wanted to say I am so sorry..

 

[sandia_rose]

Date: 2/10/2008 9:32:02 PM
Author: Sparkster
If a pet is not taken to the vet to be put to sleep and it dies naturally at home and not buried in the backyard, what is the normal procecure for the pet''s body to be taken away?

You can call your local vet and ask that they take the body for you. Or, as I have done before, either bury the animal in the woods near your home, or ask your local vet if they do cremations (many do). When I was a kid, all my animals were buried in my yard. When I was older and had apartments, I did a woods burial for one cat and scattered the ashes of two others.

Bridget in Connecticut.

 

[LegacyGirl]

Date: 2/12/2008 1:43:36 PM
Author: scarleta
Legacy Girl and Sumbride: I just read your stories and just wanted to say I am so sorry..

Thanks Sumbride and Scarleta. I feel stupid admitting I''m still to this day upset over it.

You guys had no idea how long I spent looking for that dog... it must have been years. I''d go out in the back yard and just sit out there calling "Chopper, Chopper, Chopper come home."

I was really young and I had no idea how long dogs lived. I don''t think I stopped looking for her until I realised she would have died from old age already.

 

[zoebartlett]

I hadn''t thought of this until you asked DJ but it''s a good question. I think, as others have pointed out, that as a pet seems sick, you take them to the vet where there''s usually some sort of diagnosis made. Eventually, months to years I guess, the pet gets put down so he/she isn''t suffering anymore.

 

[Gypsy]

No I don''t think all of them have to be. But I think that when you see your pet suffering and KNOW something is wrong, you take them to the vet. And sometimes, they tell you that the best thing for the pet is to be put to sleep. If your lucky and they aren''t in intense and immediate pain you get to take your pet home for a while and pamper them and say goodbye, then take them in when its time (pain has outstripped all else). If your not, if it''s a sudden thing that is very painful and awful, you have to make the decision then and there.

My boss''s cat just passed. She was 17 and probably in a heck of a lot of pain, for the last six months off an on she had bad episodes. But my boss didn''t believe in high vet bills for an animal that was clearly going to pass eventually, so she just waited. I honestly would have put the cat to sleep six months ago. But to each his own.

 

[matildawong]

Oh this is a timely question for me... my 18 (we think) yr old cat Mittens started throwing up bile (TMI, sorry) on Friday. I took her in and they hydrated her and gave her an anti-nausea shot and they did blood work. Saturday she was still horking so I took her back for another dose.
I think, basically, she''s on the road to kidney/liver failure. I am trying to keep a good head on my shoulders (whatever that means.) I certainly don''t want to keep her alive and in pain just for me. But I don''t want to put her down when she can be treated and continue to have a nice, loving life. And I''m scared of where the line is for keeping her alive/treating her for another year.

I am taking her in tomorrow. She has improved greatly and is eating, drinking, pooping and peeing (tmi again) so I think I''m going to learn how to give her fluids under the skin. If it helps her stay comfortable, great. If it doesn''t work, I''ll probably have to make the decision. I type it so smoothly, but of course I am a wreck thinking about it. It still doesn''t seem real. I''ve tried to prepare myself for this road, knowing that she was getting on in years, but it just doesn''t seem like it''s even happening.

 

[marcy]

DeeJay, either way it is so hard to deal with. Growing up we always had cats and they all died of illnesses they got usually after leaving them at the pound when we went on vacation. One would hope that like with people they live long, full lives and pass quietly in their sleep.