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I think its sorta natural to be like I wouldn't put grandma down so I won't put my dog down. The difference however is that a dog can't communicate pain and pain tolerance to you so they may be suffering and your unable to make them comfortable like you would a person
I did take this into consideration. Due to the cause - liver failure - we knew that her death would be fast and that hydration and medication would make her feel worse and either hasten her death (medicine) or prolong her suffering (hydration). These are all the same issues that people deal with in hospice, the body is done and wouldn't be able to make use of nutrients or fluids, and causing side effects.
Most of the last days she was sleeping or lying still, responsive, and able to indicate if she was too hot, too cold, wanted to get up, etc.
I am not saying I feel great about the decision but I feel better about it than I would having euthanized her. I feel like it wasn't my place to interfere in a natural death. For anyone who feels this way also and is in a situation that is pretty clear-cut like ours was, I just want to offer that hospice at home is possible but the owner should be prepared to witness the dying process and cope with it.
What a strange question. The only reason to let a dog die on a cold table at the vet would be if it was in severe pain. Why wouldn't you want your pet to die peacefully in familiar surroundings?
What a strange question. The only reason to let a dog die on a cold table at the vet would be if it was in severe pain. Why wouldn't you want your pet to die peacefully in familiar surroundings?
What a strange question. The only reason to let a dog die on a cold table at the vet would be if it was in severe pain. Why wouldn't you want your pet to die peacefully in familiar surroundings?
It's not a strange question at all. Every situation is different of course, but sometimes in waiting for the dog to pass peacefully at home, the dog comes to a crises of terrible suffering that could have been avoided had it been humanely euthanized earlier, when it was known the end was near. Many people have come to this forum describing just that situation. Especially if the dog is alone during long workdays, the kindest thing is often to help it avoid that suffering at the end. As Driller pointed out, there are vets that will come to the home for animals that are really terrified at the vet. There are also tranquilizers that can be given at home ahead of time before making the trip. Dogs know as well as we do when that time is approaching, and seem to understand that they are making that last trip in order to ease their suffering. With their loved ones around them, they go quickly and peacefully. Maybe you would not make that choice yourself, but please don't criticize people trying to help their pets the best way they can.
I don't believe in letting a dog of mine that's dying to suffer.
I've seen dogs who took a week to die, and I've seen dogs that took half a day to die.
There comes a time when I know, just as the dog does, that it's time to go.
My last dog could have lived for a long time, but would have been in severe pain. His heart was good, as was his overall health, but his hips were totally gone. Standing up and laying down were intensely painful, and on his last full day, he couldn't walk for more than a few steps before falling down from the pain.
His last night was even worse. He couldn't move without crying out in pain.
It was a Saturday. I carried him out to the yard to relive himself early in the morning, and put him in the sun, and dribbled a little water in his mouth to slake his thirst, then waited until it was time for a vet office to open. He was in agony all the way to the clinic.
At 14 1/2, he could have lived on for at least another 6 months, the vet said, but even the strongest meds would not have dulled his pain. They would have made him unconscious, but he would have been hurting as soon as he roused.
It was much harder on me to allow the vet to put him to sleep than it was for him. I grieved for well over a year, but I never regretted sparing him a lot of needless pain.
I can't say the same about a cat I had a long time ago. At age 20, her kidneys failed, and I didn't realize it. I let her go for over a week when a relative said I needed to put her down, and just as he said it, I suddenly realized how long she had suffered.
Dogs and cats are patient with approaching death, and they don't often give us any signals of how much distress they are truly in. I thought my old cat would simply just drift off peacefully, and she would have, but it would not have been peaceful. When I took her into the vet, the vet said cats always take far longer to die than people think. In my mistaken thoughts, I cause her a lot of unnecessary suffering, and I vowed never to do that again.
It's not a strange question at all. Every situation is different of course, but sometimes in waiting for the dog to pass peacefully at home, the dog comes to a crises of terrible suffering that could have been avoided had it been humanely euthanized earlier, when it was known the end was near. Many people have come to this forum describing just that situation. Especially if the dog is alone during long workdays, the kindest thing is often to help it avoid that suffering at the end. As Driller pointed out, there are vets that will come to the home for animals that are really terrified at the vet. There are also tranquilizers that can be given at home ahead of time before making the trip. Dogs know as well as we do when that time is approaching, and seem to understand that they are making that last trip in order to ease their suffering. With their loved ones around them, they go quickly and peacefully. Maybe you would not make that choice yourself, but please don't criticize people trying to help their pets the best way they can.
That is not what I said. My answer assumed the pet is not "suffering". Plenty of living things die peacefully, not suffering.
Well, it's VERY hard to make a decision on euthanizing a beloved dog. Ours is not doing well these days, suffering from vestibular syndrome. It's hard to walk around, he falls down a lot and hand feeding has been the norm for a couple of weeks as he stiffens up and falls over if he tries to eat by himself. He's getting frail and over the last couple of weeks he seems to have aged dramatically. No longer the muscular creature he once was, in old age, he is frail and unable to do things he loves. He is not in pain but life is difficult for him. With vestibular syndrome, it's a wait and see situation. Some dogs will snap out of it and others just don't. I don't want to put him to sleep and prefer instead for him to pass naturally, at home with me. If he continues to struggle then I may have to let him go. These are tough days and we are already grieving for him. Doing everything possible to make life comfortable and hoping for the best..... to be sure, he has had a wonderful life. He has been a spoiled dog and well cared for. Long walks everyday was a favorite and he demanded it. These days he knows it's not possible and his sad eyes tell me that he is missing those days. He still appreciates some treats but often while trying to eat, his neck locks up and he falls over because of the vestibular syndrome. I hate the idea of letting go. Reading the forum today has made me feel somewhat better about the idea and if he doesn't get better in a week or so then I may just have to let him go......IF I can and if I MUST. Sure I don't want to see him suffer, he's not in pain but he is struggling and it's hard. SAD.
Learning about vestibular syndrome I can say to everyone.....watch your dogs ears carefully and give a natural dog ear treatment to those that suffer chronic and recurring ear infections. Avoid prescription medications if possible, they contain chemicals and some well-known ear drops have the side effect of hearing loss. My dog DID lose his hearing a few years ago and only now I know it may well have been because of the ear medicines prescribed for him. TERRIBLE!!! The last couple of years we have used natural medication to control his chronic ear problems - called Dr Dogs Ear Oil fro http://drdogs247.com, it has controlled flare-ups and prevented ear symptoms associated with recurring ear yeast infection dog's get. DO NOT let your dog have prescription medications in their ears year after year.....maybe, just maybe if we had known the natural medication to help the dog's ear problem from the very beginning, maybe we wouldn't be seeing vestibular syndrome today. It's inner ear damage from years of one infection after the next. Of course we tried everything possible to stop it and did what 15 vets recommended, in the end, the natural treatment did what was needed, wish they told us this from the start. Seeing him like this today breaks my heart. I wish he could be strong and continue along in life with us.
Last edited by dogAdvocate; 04-15-2014 at 10:33 AM..
Reason: talk about avoiding vestibular syndrome
I can't believe anyone would criticize anyone else for putting down a beloved pet who was suffering. This is a highly individual experience and decision.
My dog recently got some sort of stomach/pancreas illness very suddenly and nearly died within half a day. He was in severe distress and throwing up and bleeding all over the place. You can imagine my horror as I rushed him to the pet ER in the middle of the night. It cost us $1100 to save him but we knew the odds of him surviving and thriving healthily again were high. I'm glad we made that investment in his health because he's fully recovered now.
But we also had a sweet dog, only two years old in fact, who developed leukemia. It was terminal. We managed to get her into remission and enjoyed six more weeks of love with her, during which time she seemed to feel good. But our vet warned us that when the symptoms started back up, she would die within a few weeks. So prior to the start up of the symptoms, we decided that we would love her to pieces while she was in remission, and put her down as soon as she started suffering again.
It was sudden, but not unexpected. We went to bed and she was fine, but in the night she started throwing up and staggering around again. First thing that morning, we took her in and we held her as the vet administered the IV. This broke our hearts but we felt peaceful about not letting her suffer. I will never forget holding her in those last moments and feeling her relax against me - the grief was terrible but I have no regrets.
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