Have you ever had to put a pet to sleep?
 

Last year my dog Cayman was diagnosed with cancer. He's been maintaining fine for the most part but is obviously in a lot of pain when he has to pop a squat. This process usually takes 10 - 20 minutes for him these days and then he spends the next 20 minutes panting hard and recovering.

As bad as I feel for him, the consensus among friends, family, and the vet has been that although he's uncomfortable, he's still a happy dog and capable of a semi-normal life.

In the last couple of months he's lost a lot of weight and his cancer has started creating other issues. He has a vet appointment for Monday and I have a feeling I may be faced with the decision that I really don't want to make. It wouldn't be as bad if he didn't act like such a happy dog most of the time. He still runs around and plays with all his toys etc...

Anyway, I'm kinda torn on how to prepare myself for this. Any advice from those who have been through it with their pets?

Thanks.

You can't prepare for it. Just make sure whatever you decide is a decision you can live with. I feel like I waited too long to have a dog put to sleep several years back. I still feel guilty for letting her suffer because I didn't want her to go. She wasn't enjoying life at all anymore and hadn't been for quite some time.

Now I am afraid of being too hasty the next time it comes up.

I am so sorry to hear that your dog is sick, and its a very tough decision. You wouldn't want him to be in pain the last part of his life. Have a day with him, take him to the park and give him anything he wants to eat (treats) and remember him that way. It will be better for him and you to not go through anymore.

Sorry to hear that, Aaron. One of my cats had a brain tumor a few years ago, and I had to have him put to sleep. But he declined very fast, and was such a shadow of his former self it wasn't a hard decision to make, but it was painful.

As your dog is still active, perhaps you could make the decision now to euthanize him when he declines to a certain point--maybe when he's unable to run around and play and live a normal life? And when that day comes... well, at least you've planned for it, and have given yourself time to get used to the idea.

Damn that sucks. I have lost pets but have not had to put them down. I feel for you man.

yep my cat feline leukemia :(

My father did because it barked too much, I never forgave him for it.

I dread the day I have to put down Oscar,she's been with me for over 11 years,it's really a tough decision to make

i had to, sad day

but keep in mind that animals can hide pain for a long time to not show weakness for enemies. so if he's showing pain that much, it must be really bad. help him if there is no other way left

Yeah, he's a Yellow Lab and they are known for hiding their pain. He was groaning on and off throughout the day whenever he moved around. Then we started giving him buffered aspirin twice a day and that made a big change for the better.

I know he's suffering but not knowing how much makes it tough to gauge when to say what to do. I'm afraid of making the same mistake Babaganoosh made.

I wish you could be ready for it. You can't. It's going to be very hard. After you'll wish you had put them down sooner so they didn't suffer as much. Don't let them suffer because you aren't ready to deal with it.

Sorry to hear your pooch is going through that ... and I know it's wrecking to you.

If it comes time to make a decision, make the decision based on the needs of the dog and not what you want.

Sometimes it is hard to let go, but you'd be doing your faithful companion a favor.

No need to make pets suffer too much if there is no hope for recovery when the process of putting them to sleep is so peaceful.

Hi Aaron,

Sorry to hear about your beloved Pet. I've had to go through what you have 3 times in the past and its a complete trauma every time.

Here is what you can do that MIGHT help you a LITTLE...

Come to the realization that your pet will never recover. It won't get better. It's best years are behind him. You may be spending a lot of money on care and medication but ultimate you need to cut this off. It feels good to spend all of that money because it MIGHT help, but in the end it won't.

Spend a lot of time with him. Play with him, walk him, hold him etc. Let him know you love him etc. One day, you'll know that "today" is "the day"....

Take him to a proper vet or animal hospital. Proper vets are very careful about how they put an animal down. They will give him a shot to relax him, then an IV. In the IV they will inject something else which is intended to make the final shot go as smoothly as possible, to make it pain free, and very fast. This procedure will cost you some $$$ but it is worth it. It is the last gift you can give to your pet.

Finally your vet will bring your dog out to you in a room by yourself to say your last goodby's. This is the hardest part of the whole fucking ordeal. When you're ready, your vet will come in and give your pet a last injection. Once the injection has taking place, the result is immediate, and I mean immediate.

Do everything you can to be there. In a lot of ways its easier to say goodbye and walk away before the vet puts him down, but trust me you will regret this later on.

Afterwards you will cry like a baby but you will feel better later knowing you did everything you could, that you gave him a safe and happy home, and that he made you happy in return.

Good luck.

This sounds very sensible. :thumbsup:2 cents:

I couldnt have said it any better Mark. You brought a tear to my eye as I went thru that EXACT process and it was as tough a day as there could be, I put my kitty to sleep and I was so heartbroken that the next day I went and adopted two kitties, brother and sister that I could not seperate . Trust me Aaron you will get over it but treasure every moment you can.

That's a very unfortunate situation to be in, sorry to hear that. We had the same with our cat a few years ago. When we decided she had to be put to sleep and drove her to the vet, she somehow passed away in the car. Was a really weird but unforgettable moment.

Best of luck to you man :thumbsup

My girlfriend had a 10 year old rat terrier that we both raised from a puppy. She was nice to everyone, listened, happy dog. She started having issues with her white cells dropping. They took tests and found out it was cancer but couldn't figure out where. They asked us about putting her to sleep but my girl said she didn't want to until the day she started having problems to where she couldn't live normally. We spent around 4k to get the dog better and she seemed better at times but then the day came where she was lethargic only to shit and she ended up falling onto her own waste. We knew it was time. It was a painful experience for us both.

A few months later her feral cat was acting very lethargic and had a problem with his mouth, like drooling. Took him to the vet and his kidneys were pretty much gone. The doctor told us that his life would not be good at all and we would have to do a manual type of dialasis type thing injecting the cat with needles twice a day or something along those lines. He suggested putting the cat to sleep and we did as we were told life would not be fun for the cat at all.

For what its worth, when you put your animals to sleep the injection seems to be painless and they pass very very quickly. A minute or two passed after the shots were given. We stayed and pet both animals and they peacefully went to sleep in our arms.

This is a heartbreaking short about a man having to put his best friend to sleep. You can get a gist of what its like if you choose to watch.


I wish you the best.

I've cried twice in the last 10 years -- when my dad was diagnosed with cancer...and when I had to put my Golden down.

Make sure you have someone there to take you home. Make sure they relax Cayman if you come to that decision.

All things already posted here, but I just wanted to reiterate them.

You've got a big challenge in front of you, Aaron, but in the end things will work out and Caymen will finally be comfortable. Always remember that.

I wrote my response and erased it. Not for GFY. Call me. Just went through this. Deej has my number.

Oh no Aaron, not the pup that was attacked by the dogs? :(

I've had to put down a few animals. My latest was in 2006 and she was such a good dog and a rescue. I thought I had more years with her, as the vet she was 4-7 when I got her in 2003. She developed what every vet thought was arthritis in her elbow, and then within two months it had turned into a tumour the size of a golf ball and all the bone had been eaten away. I was faced with amputating her leg and hoping it hadn't spread (x-rays showed she had growths in her lungs already) or calling an end to it. She was so sweet, but a neurotic stressball of a dog due to previous abuse. I knew she wouldn't take well to losing a leg, and putting her through that when the cancer was already so aggressive.... It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my life.

I kept her comfortable until the day came when she wouldn't even get out of bed, she was in so much pain despite the medication. That was it for me. What kind of life is that, lying in bed in pain, waiting for the end?

Anyway, give Cayman a huge hug for me. If he's still running and playing and enjoying his doggy life, I would say why interrupt him? But if he has no quality of life left, then the decision is up to you. Aw Aaron, I'm really sorry to hear about this. :(

i had for a black lab i had over 10 years... and yes, i did lay beside her on the floor and cry like a baby, its a very hard thing to do.

i used to work as a vet-tech and i can tell you that some people waited WAY too long to put their pet out of pain. as someone else already stated, pets are very good at hiding their pain. if you think they are in too much pain, then chances are they have been in too much pain for a lot longer than you realize.

its a horrible thing to do, but in the end its the only choice sometime.

no way to prepare for it, just pet them while they are going to sleep and try to remember they will never be in pain again... then ask the doctor to leave the room while you cry.. thats how i handled it

good luck, and sorry about your upcoming loss :(

hey,

i am sorry that time is coming but it is for the best. At what point is quality of life still there? i honestly believe it should be the same for humans to but its not.

In 2004 my wife adopted a 12 year old chow/retriever mix who was abandoned randomly after 11 years with a family. Once my wife brought him home to her parents house, he got his forever family. He was loved, and he loved in return. I can personally say I loved that dog and I saw him slowly break down over the years.


In 2010 there was times where he would have trouble walking, and it was really hard for him to get up, plus his head was tilted sideways. After a vet visit he had developed neurological issues, was almost blind, barely had any teeth, and there was really nothing holding his back legs up. However, this dog did not want to go yet and everyday he got up and moved and played and was the happiest he could be despit all his pain.

Feb 14th 2011, the dog could no longer get up. He would try over and over and over again and he just couldnt do it. The day was spent, petting him, feeding him all his fav human foods and just letting him know its okay.

With him not able to move we thought it would be unfair to him to lift him up and take him to a vet. We kept him home and held him until the last second. A house vet came and administered the drugs, and im not going to lie, although you could see him go ever so peacefully, watching the light leave his eyes....

You need to do what is best for your dog, and as much as its going to hurt dont let that interfere with whats right.

I wish you the best man, and I am sorry.

ive "put to sleep" many animals. i'm sure there were a few pets in there.

Hi AaronM,

Deep down I think you already know the answer. You know what you have to do monday and you try to find something, even the smallest, to avoid that. I have been in the same situation many times and it's always bad. Never feel bad about making such a decision. You know your pet the best, not your family, not your friends, not your vet. It's you that have such a band with your pet. You are the only person who really knows when it's in pain and when not. You are the only person who knows when the end is there.

It's always hard to figure out what the "balance" is. But think about it this way, you have had many good, fun and quality years. How do you want to remember your pet in the end, having to deal with all the issues and all the pain or remember the good days? Making such decisions is still not easy with that, but you are the one who has to take it. And you are the only one who knows when to take it? deep deep down you already know man.

I wish you all the best. I can truly say that it feels very bad man, I know. But as dog owner and lover you also know what is best.

Sorry for the sad times,
CodeR70

Yes, we had a cocker spaniel, aged 16,5. Awesome age for any dog. I sometimes still think: "we could have let him live longer" blablab.

But he was incontinent, had seizures amongst other things.

We got the dog when I was one month old.



Having to put down an animal you have come to love is hard enough. But not knowing a world without it because you grew up with it is different.

However, it was the right decision. It hurt. Sometimes it still does(15 years ago). But letting an animal suffer for your own benifit -against all your feelings- just isn't worth it.

How to prepare? Like was said: you don't. You already know the answer. You already know that at some point you have to put it down. The question you have to ask yourself is:

Do I let him suffer more because I like him around or do I put him out of his misery?
Imagine every shit you take you're hurting for a full 20 minutes. And the next hour you can't really do anything?

It sucks bigtime but I think you have to let him go.... :Oh crap

Nothing you can really do to prepare yourself for something like that except to know you gave him a great life and the time is right to say goodbye.

Best of luck mate

That's beautiful. And right on the money.

Awesome to have Bon Iver music in the background

I did have two dogs...now I have one. My dogs and I would go fishing together and go into the wilderness together...which both of them just loved to do. The female developed cancer...and treatment did not cure it...it turned into terminal cancer. I allowed her to live until I concluded that the pain was becoming to much for her. I took her into the wilderness...to one of her favorite spots...one last time. I then put a .357 into her brain. One moment she was happy even through her pain...the next moment she was gone. I dug her a deep grave and covered her with sulfer...in hopes of not having her grave disturbed by animals.

I frequently went to her grave to check on it...and it had not been disturbed. After some months of checking on her...I went one last time a few months ago. I still miss her and will until my dying day.

I feel for you and forr anyone that has to put a beloved pet down.

Impossible to know because they can't speak for themselves and they really don't know about life and death, only us humans are cursed having to know we are going to die.

My 16 year old golden I kept alive right to the bitter end, for 4 months I nursed her round the clock. The vet knew I didn't want to let her go without giving her a chance to recover, he told me she wasn't suffering too much so I kept her going - another vet in the same office said she should be put down, that there was very little chance she would improve. They never told me or knew what was wrong with her, it wasn't cancer or heart, it was something neurological and it happened so suddenly. I saw it happen, told them exactly what I had seen and they couldn't tell me what it was. Weird.

Unless the dog is really suffering, there are no good moments in his day, I would keep him alive. People who have cancer suffer but we don't put them down, and the vast majority of people wouldn't take euthanasia as an out - UNTIL they are in total misery without any hope for a better day. I definitely believe in euthansia for animals and people.

It sounds to me like your dog still has wants to be here, despite being uncomfortable he still is living life. When it's obvious to you the pain and discomfort has taken away any pleasure from his life then it's time to say goodbye :(

In my dog's last hours, I have no idea what happened, I hadn't seen her in a few hours, was working on a website I remember. I came downstairs and couldn't find her in her regular spot, she was barely mobile at all so i was alarmed, i ran all around looking where she might have gone, I found her under a desk that had a bunch of stuff under it, could only see part of her - I saw this pile of red fur, I approached it scared and upset, whatever happened, her body was folded up in a very unnatural position and I bent down to see if she was alive - she was but obviously something was very wrong and she was definitely dying. I frantically called the vet and my sister, he told me not to bother bringing her in, he would come over and put her down. So I had about half an hour to sit with her and comfort her - she was aware. Fuck, it's 6 years ago and my eyes are tearing up. I went to the kitchen and got one of her favorite foods, Twinkies, incredibly enough I put the Twinkie to her mouth and she snapped at it and wolfed it down, vanilla cream all over her face.

Been through it with a few of my pets (best friends) now. It's one of the toughest things you will personally endure, but you gotta look at the silver linings. They just don't have our lifespan and they gave every happy moment they had to you. Time to give them comfort back. It's better for everyone, and the memories you have left won't be clouded with those last tough few days soon.

I also firmly believe in replacement pets. Not to push the memory away, or forget about your companion, but to keep the love cycle going and honor them. Your pet did his job and needs a break, now you can do yours and give the same attention to a new rescued pup, and keep the universe in balance.

When my first chow Shadow got cancer, and it was her turn to move on... I shortly thereafter found Ginger (rescue golden/shepard) in desperate need of proper care. Within a year of getting Gigi, and showing her the love and guidance she needed to be a well adjusted pup, I found Lucca (chow/border collie) that had been a herding dog but could no longer work after Hurricane Katrina related health issues. We nursed her back to health and she's now a champion flyball competitor.

Shadow taught me how to care for these two in need, and is honored everyday by my girls.

Yeah. Parvo. It sucked. :(

I've had to face this decision in the recent past, and have found that if one keeps their dog's best interest in the forefront at all times, and puts whats best for their pet ahead of what's best for themselves, then in the end it's less difficult to live with it.

Still a tough decision and a painful memory no matter how you slice it, but at least you'll always know you did the best you could for your dog.

Yes. Hardest thing I ever did. Cuba was her name, my thread back in June.

https://gfy.com/showthread.php?t=1025...Deadfidel+Cuba

Your heart will tell you.

I met you at PBucks classic summer bash in New Jersey circa 2004.

I've said this to a few people before. Although putting a pet to sleep is hard, extremely hard, be thankful that you have that choice to make.

We had our cat for 15 years. She still had a few years left in her as she had no health problems at all. She was tortured and killed by 2 assholes one night.

So her last few minutes were spent in a brutal way. That is NOT how a cat we had for so many years should have spent her last moments.

You'll know when the time is right to put your dog to sleep. And just remember he's had a good life, and will suffer no more pain when he's gone... And he's gone with you, his owner and friend by his side, the way it should be...

my daughter had too.... it was a miserable experience for her... lots of crying etc..

to put a pet down is very hard
must be even more hard to put down daughter am very sorry

this makes me to cry to think of it

yes i should be out of prison in another 35+ years tho :thumbsup

What were the circumstances of this incident and how did you find out what happened? And were there any repercussions legal or otherwise?

A neighbour saw it take place. He called the cops, but it was too late to save the cat.

Two guys took the cat from our back garden window ledge (it always sat there waiting on me coming home). That particular night however i ended up staying at a friends. They kicked the cat a few times, cornered it, then set the dog they had on it. The cat was later found dead a few blocks down the road.

The police and RSPCA were involved, but nothing every came of it. We have been told who did it, and myself and some friends wanted to smash the fuckers, but then what? Our cars and house windows get damaged, and it goes on and on?? Those 2 will get what's coming to them one day. Time may have moved on, but some things you just never forget...

Everything from a horse to a cat and everything in between, never easy, digging the hole for the horse took a while