Don't think I could put animal to sleep

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Sep 14, 2007
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Is there anyone out there who couldn't bring themselves to put their animal to sleep? I don't think I could ever do it. I feel like we don't (typically) put humans to sleep so how can we do it to an animal? This may not be the right time to write this but I am just so sad reading other posts on here. I just adopted a puppy about a month ago and we have a 6 year old rottie. I'm not against those who opt for this but I just couldn't do it.
 
Yes, I have had to put dogs and horses down/to sleep. It is one of the most unselfish thing you can do for your pet. The alternative is likely a painful/slow/scary death. If you have animals but feel that when the time comes you could not do it perhaps you should have a plan to have a friend or family member take the lead when the time comes. It is our duty, in my opinion, to make sure that our loved pets do not suffer when their time comes.
 
Yes, I have had to put dogs and horses down/to sleep. It is one of the most unselfish thing you can do for your pet. The alternative is likely a painful/slow/scary death. If you have animals but feel that when the time comes you could not do it perhaps you should have a plan to have a friend or family member take the lead when the time comes. It is our duty, in my opinion, to make sure that our loved pets do not suffer when their time comes.

I could not agree with this more. As much as it is painful for us it is not at all fair of us to keep a suffering pet alive just to make us feel better.
 
ICanSpotaFake I don't know if you've ever had a pet die a painful death or how many you've had pass on for that matter so I'm not going to try and guess where your feelings on this issue come from.

Since I was a baby we've had eight dogs and who knows how many cats and most if not all have been euthanized due to cancers or paralysis or respiratory failure or kidney failure, I can still list off the reasons for putting down every single pet and I will never forget the pets that I witnessed pass on... I was always taught by my very animal loving family that the only respectful and fair thing to do was to help end their suffering since we had that ability. My mom is a nurse and deals with a lot of pallative care patients and her strongly held belief is that it is rediculous we can do this for our pets but we can do nothing for our family members who are forced to suffer horrible deaths from terminal diseases.

Irishgal summed my feelings up very well. I can understand that people don't think they can do it, but I think that when it comes to the moment that most people can commit this one final loving act to end their animal's pain and help to preserve their dignity. It is heartbreaking and an extremely difficult decision that should never be taken lightly, as you are ending a life, but I have never regretted helping my pets along their way, and I have been participating in making these decisions since I was 9 or 10 years old.
 
I have had to put a pet down before, I of course didn't want to but I had to. It is always a tough decision to make, and honestly I would rather do it one day to early than one day to late.....I would never want my dog to suffer more than necessary.
 
A couple years ago my kitty came down with shoulder cancer. I tried to help him but it came to a point where I knew he was in terrible pain and I couldn't stand seeing him that way. So, I went with him into the room and pet him until he was gone. Then, I wrapped him in a blanket and buried him under our willow near the pond. It was the hardest thing I've ever done, but it was the right thing to do for him. Yikes, that was sad to relive.:crybaby:
 
I never thought I could put a beloved pet to sleep.

My little Monty was 14 when he began acting strangely. He wasn't eating much, and was less active than he had been, which I chalked up to his being old. Well, I took him to the vet, and it turned out he had an abscess in his back upper jaw, and it had been slowly poisoning him. I felt horrible because I didn't know, and if I had known, I might have spared him from dying this way. I left him at the vet so she could clean out the abscess and fix him up.

She called me back maybe an hour later to tell me that in the course of doing a routine pre-op check on Monty she discovered that his body temp was very low. His internal organs were shutting down. His kidneys were failing. He was not going to survive all this and it was time to consider letting him go. It ocurred to me that it would be selfish and inhumane for me to prolong his death, and there was nothing I could do to save him.

All I could do was be with him at the end, and I felt it was my duty to be there. So I was, and it was tough. It was humbling to be in the presence of life's flame as it extinguished.

I think the issue of putting an animal down is not able to be decided on in advance. It really is something you don't know what you will decide until.unless you are facing it.

Sorry to read about others' losses....
 
Yea totally agree. I know it gonna be real hard but you cant keep your pet going when they're practically suffering. Try putting yourself in the shoes of your pets. Would you rather die knowing that the one you most love is around you and releasing the pain or would you rather feel sick all the time, cant sleep, cant eat, cant play and tons of thing and nasty thing you have to eat just that you can last a little longer and worrying when will you die?
 
My very first dog died of sicknesses and her health just deteriorated so quickly it lead to her death. At that time, I was against euthanization but my mom was going to take our dog to get euthanized that weekend (she died on a Thursday). I was so angry at my mom for even considering that but my mom is level-headed, calm and has an objective view on health since she's in the medical field. I was with my dog a couple hours before her death till I had to step out. Seeing her suffer like that was so hard for me that I still cry about it today. Now, I wonder if we should have acted sooner and gotten her euthanized so she wouldn't have been in all that pain.
 
I felt that way too about euthanasia. I was dead set against it. Then when I was 20, my pet rabbit had some sort of seizure/stroke and was laying there half dead. Was I going to let it suffer? No, I took it to the vet and had him put to sleep. It was horrible, but it had to be done. To end the suffering.

Now my first dog came to me when I was 18. I had wanted a dog my entire life, but my parents wouldn't let me. They had plenty of dogs, and didn't want to go through the pain of losing another. So anyway, I got my bear, and loved loved loved him. I never could imagine having to put him to sleep. I used to think that people did that because they were too lazy, or selfish to take care of a geriatric animal.
Then last year, when he was 14, the vet told me that he was going into kidney failure. That he would slowly start to deteriorate. Then almost a year passed and he started having mini seizures, and completely lost bowel control. I loved him every second that I was cleaning up after him, or giving him his meds. Then one day, me and the kids and hubby woke up from a nap. I came downstairs and Bear was having seizures(mini ones) every minute or so. He had lost a lot of weigh. Barely ate anymore. And it just hit me, that I was keeping him alive out of selfishness. That I didn't want to lose him. Well, I made my mind up in that second that I needed to help him to the other side. There is not a day goes by that I don't miss him, or think of him. I NEVER regret what I did.

I am going through this with my big boy in the signature right now. It is TERRIBLE and I really don't know how I am going to be able to do it. But I know that I will if I have to.
 
My mom is a nurse and deals with a lot of pallative care patients and her strongly held belief is that it is rediculous we can do this for our pets but we can do nothing for our family members who are forced to suffer horrible deaths from terminal diseases.

My husband and I had this exact talk the other day. I would not think twice about ending my furbabies suffering if they were very ill. But I have watched two grandparent suffer horribly from strokes and alzheimers, but I would never let a pet suffer like that.

Growing up we had two dogs put to sleep at their time. Last year we had a family pet pass away unexpectedly with no warning. I much rather have the time to make my decision and be comfortable with it. It is the least I can do for someone who has brought me such unconditional love.
 
Yes, I have had to put dogs and horses down/to sleep. It is one of the most unselfish thing you can do for your pet. The alternative is likely a painful/slow/scary death. If you have animals but feel that when the time comes you could not do it perhaps you should have a plan to have a friend or family member take the lead when the time comes. It is our duty, in my opinion, to make sure that our loved pets do not suffer when their time comes.

I absolutely agree. I had to put my cat down that I had through high school, college and law school, but I did it because she was going to starve to death otherwise and painfully waste away. She had developed a liver disease and the treatment was not working. If I had not done it, she would have just wasted away until her body stopped working, because she was refusing food and water. I could not do that to her, even though I didn't want to let her go. She deserved better.
 
Yes, I have had to put dogs and horses down/to sleep. It is one of the most unselfish thing you can do for your pet. The alternative is likely a painful/slow/scary death. If you have animals but feel that when the time comes you could not do it perhaps you should have a plan to have a friend or family member take the lead when the time comes. It is our duty, in my opinion, to make sure that our loved pets do not suffer when their time comes.

:goodpost:
I could not agree more. I put my two dogs to sleep one year apart, and trust me, it was the worst most agonizing decision I have ever made (twice) but it must be done. This is part of being a responsible pet owner; not letting your little one suffer when the time comes. You have to accept the bad along with the good. When you bring that pet into your home, that is a commitment of care from day one until the end. It is a very humane thing to do when your pet is suffering and can no longer function.
 
Is there anyone out there who couldn't bring themselves to put their animal to sleep? I don't think I could ever do it. I feel like we don't (typically) put humans to sleep so how can we do it to an animal? This may not be the right time to write this but I am just so sad reading other posts on here. I just adopted a puppy about a month ago and we have a 6 year old rottie. I'm not against those who opt for this but I just couldn't do it.

First, let me say that you are VERY brave for touching on this topic in a group where pretty much everybody has put a pet down or is for putting a pet down in certain situations...
Personally, I agree with you. It's always been my opinion that if people want to treat dogs like they are part of the family then it should be no different when the time comes that your dogs health is not what it used to be. Pretty much all of us who share this opinion will bring up the example that you wouldn't do this to a human/family member.
Now of course, you and I can expect to get chewed out by people who find our opinion offensive, though we aren't calling anyone names, just stating how we feel about this matter.
I could never and would never put any animal to sleep regardless of how sick, old or aggressive it is. To me it seems that some people do it because they'd rather get it over with than see their pet suffer, or pay the medical bills associated with keeping your pet alive... Not that this applies to everyone, but we should all be able to agree that these are some reasons people do it.
I believe that nature should run it's course, in any situation.
 
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