has anyone ever had to do this?
has anyone ever had to do this?
My mother and sister have.
Both pets were 17 years old at the time.
Idealism is fine, but as it approaches reality, the costs become prohibitive.
William F. Buckley, Jr.
many times....I've had like 20 ferrets over the last few years.
I feel it's better that they die 2 weeks too soon than 1 day too late.
I made the mistake once of keeping a ferret alive that I knew was on death's door. I was at the vet and to have her to put to sleep and he convinced me she was doing better....and she died the next morning. I felt horrible!
Now I just do it. I don't feel guilty. I gave them the best life I could and it's over. The only thing I regret is when they die without me saying goodbye.
Last edited by Emily; 03-19-2006 at 06:52 PM.
Two of my dogs when I was younger.
Why do you ask liz?





Yes - a few times . But I didnt want to be in the room when it was done . I had to put down a dog once myself and i won't do that again .
see, I like being in the room. I want to pet their heads and kiss them good bye.
as long as they inject them in the stomach, it's a slow peaceful death. Sometimes the vet will want to do it in the heart....and the animal will shriek. This I can't stand. I insist on stomach injections.
my 13 year old kitty is sick. we're not sure how sick yet, waiting for blood results to come back. she has been drinking like 2 pints of water a day, vomiting randomly (more so than usual-she's always had problems with hairballs), and crying a lot. i woke up this morning and she was sitting in my bed staring at the walls and crying.
i don't want her to hurt but i don't want to lose her. stupid vet needs to hurry up and tell me what is wrong with her. i think it's something with her kidney, but she didn't want to give me anything for her until they were sure.
i ju8st really have a bad feeling deep down. she's the first pet i ever had; i picked her out as a kitten when i was in the third grade. my baby.
I had to put my poodle to sleep over 10 years ago before I got my maltese. I was sooo sad. she was about 12 years old and had a lot of health problems but I took her to the vet when she started taking both front paws and furiously rubbing at her mouth. It turned out she had some sort of gum problem where the nerves were exposed and she was in a lot of pain. When I took her to the vet he told me that he could do surgery but she was so old and had so many other problems that it would be very hard on her and she may not even make it through and that I have to think about what is best for her. My vet at the time was a good friend of my dad's who was a great vet. He is an older german guy and he had tears in his eyes when we were having the talk. He told me I would have to think about euthanasia soon and that was probably the kindest option for my dog. He said if not today then in a week or so. I decided that I didn't want to anticipate it so I left her there for him to do it. She was in pain and I know I made the right decision. He told me I might not want to watch it but that it was painless and she would just go to sleep but she might poop herself and her eyes would open up after she died and I may not want to see that. It was very hard but I know my poodle is in a better place. When I got my maltese it didn't replace her but took my mind off of the sadness and gave me another dog to be happy about. Now my Maltese is almost 12 and I treasure her more every day. I hope she lives to be 100!
I'm sorry to hear that liz. Everything will work out for the best. I would like to think this is a better way of taking care of our little loved ones most when they need us.
You all need parrots!
My dog died in his sleep beside my bed. That was one of the worst days of my life.
And 20 ferrets! What - do they have a lifespan of like 2 years or something?
no, I just have a lot of ferrets....my max was 12 at one time
now I have 5





Out of the many numerous cats that have graced my life, only a select few have been 'put down' as the rest.. well.. died due to other reasons (cat + car = no more 9 lives for a cat; cat + toadfish = dead cat in back seat of car; cats leaving ..etc).
Granted, I have a 13 year old cat now. Whilst I have had numerous cats in the past, she is different because I am now her sole carer (as such - my flatmate helps out naturally as his cat lives here as well). Before, I wasn't the one forking out the $ for their 'upkeep' etc.
I'm all for euthanasia... not just for animal companions. I want me put down as well when the time comes. If it is good enough for my animals (who I always love dearly and intimately - as such) then it is good enough for me. (please forgive me for stray-ing off topic)
on topic: just give your cat the best until its last day. I've had plenty of 'touching' (memorable) moments with various cats the week or so prior to their death.
Just be prepared and allow yourself to grieve! So many people have grief when their animal companion dies and do not express it because society sees it as 'stupid' or 'silly' to grieve over a pet ("it was just a dog! get over it"). I do not. That pet was/is a living being like myself. It shared its life with me and esp. in the case of cats decided to stick with me (as they will and do leave you if they find a better deal elsewhere).
I will welcome another cat (not kitten, a cat that is a year or older) into my life when she dies... hopefully not for a long while yet! She's 13 now.. I want her to reach 15 at least before she starts to reach the end of her life.
enter: E3167322D9 for your 10% discount





When I was a vet assistant for four years, this was one of the hardest things about the job. I have to agree that staying with your animal in the room is the best option possible. It's hard, but that's when they need you most. They go so much more peacefully in the arms of loved ones.
And for the record, seeing euthanasias over and again does not desensitize us to them. Many times have I seen the vets leave the room in tears. It can be very sad, but it truly is for the best. I think everyone should be spared the discomfort of having the body shut down. It's unnecessary to go through that pain. When we inject animals, they fall asleep almost as soon as the needle hits the vein, and seconds later their hearts stop. Peaceful and painless. Good luck with your cat. You have my sympathy.
rigght now she's finally asleep. in the laundry basket ontop of my 200 dollar sheets, but i don't care.
The most selfish thing i have ever done in my life was let a dog live when i shouldn't have. He had kidney failure and he'd gone septic. To get him to eat i used to put bits of ham and, later, pepperoni (his favorite thing on planet earth) into his food, and soon enough he wouldn't eat that. One morning he walked into my bedroom and stood there for a long moment, and then fell over. Not fall like a dog falls, but topple to the side like a lumberjack cut him down (He fell on a comforter that i had inadvertantly kicked off my bed while i slept, thank god). I freaked, and about ten minutes later he breathed his last breath. I will never let that happen again, i know the difference now.
At the time i just couldn't bring myself to kill him. I knew he was dying, i knew he was in pain... All i was thinking about was myself. I didn't mean to, it wasn't intentional. But it was soooo selfish. I feel like shit just typing it out.
That'll never happen again.
Yes, I've actually had to personally put animals to sleep myself when I worked for the Humane Society.I didn't last long, it just got too heartbreaking.
Had a 12 year old toy Poodle that was having some very bad kidney and liver trouble. We tired to treat her the first time, to a very expensive bill, but she got sick again with the same trouble a bit over a year later. Rather than suffer through the expensive and only potentially successful medical process again she was put to sleep.
Also had to give away my Chihuahua when I went off to college. Painful, but at least he's keeping an old lady company.
Never stand begging for that which you have the power to earn.
The truth lies in a man's dreams... perhaps in this unhappy world of ours whose madness is better than a foolish sanity.
Miguel de Cervantes (1547 - 1616)



in '99 i had to put down my 9 year old dog, he had cancer real bad and got to the point where he wouldnt get up to..well do his buisness. the prob with me was he was 100lb rottwieler and i was a 19 year old 120lb kid! i studied his eyes and he told me he wanted to go and i couldnt carry him around anymore. hardest decision i've ever had to make, it still eats me up inside sometimes. some people think pet owners are nuts for caring so much, i was in my own place and estranged from my family at the time, that dog was all i had my best friend since i was like 13; i have to stop typing or i'll cry again.




i know what you are going through. it wasn't that long ago that my dog died. Just make sure you say your goodbyes now, while you can. There is nothing more painful then not being able to say goodbye. To not be able to hold your pet one last time and tell them how happy they made you and how much you love them.
oh god. going to cry. I'm so sorry you are going through this![]()
There's a wild side behind every innocent face.
End violence against women.
I support Dottie.




My hubby and I had to put our beloved dog, Misiu, down on the same day that I buried my father. I'll never forget it. Misiu had been acting strange maybe a week or two prior but we wrote it off to his age (13 yrs) and the awful heat, August in NJ is brutal. So we come home after my father funeral and all and Misiu is just not right, I call the vet and they have us bring him right in, our 9 yr old son is with us too. The vet checks him out and tells us he's in kidney failure. All we can do is put him down. My husband is beside himself, our son is a mess and I don't know who to stay with. My son doesn't want to be in the room for it and my husband does. So I had to leave my son in the hallway in tears (he did come in to say goodbye and then ran out) while I slipped into the room with Misiu and my husband, they gave Misiu a seditive and as they did I hugged him and kissed him and told him to go find grandpa and stay by him. He look at me and understood. I left the room before the final injection, my husband came out in tears and said it was peaceful. Two months later my Mom died. I know when my Mom got to heaven, Misiu was waiting for her too. God, I miss parents and my dog. Gotta go cry now.
^That's sad and beautiful at the same time, southstbabe. It's beautiful that he gave you a look of understanding, I think that made me tear up. Your baby is with your father now, and they're taking care of eachother.
I've had to put 3 pets down. A fourth was the family dog that I grew up with. She was 18, and luckily, I was in another state. I really don't think I would've been able to handle being there. One that I was there for, however, was a 9 WEEK old puppy that we had gotten. The poor thing had "Tick Fever", and it was too late to do anything. We only had her for about a week and a half. We had gotten her from a shelter in AZ, they had seized a litter from someone's yard. Turns out that every single one of her litter mates had been brought back and euthanized for the same thing as well. Fucking backyard breeders. Doesn't matter how old the pet is, or how long he/she had been with you. It's never, ever easy. And you never forget.
I'll always advise being in the room, and holding him/her for as long as you can. Let them slip away in your arms, not on a cold table. They'll go much more peacefully.




Thanks Rhiannon, I would definitly advise being in the room. My hubby held him, talked to him and sent him on his journey filled with love. I still hear Misiu sometimes in the house. I hear him walking up and down the stairs at night and sometimes I swear I hear him in our room, when he would lay down he would make this kind of groan after his three turns around.
I have had to have a few animals put to sleep. According to what I understand there are a few different types but I think the less tramatic for everyone is the one where they give the animal a seditive wait till its in effect and then give the euthanasia shot. They basically just go to sleep no shrieking, etc. This way is more expensive but I think this is the most humane to me. Either way it i still really sad when you have to do this but the vet usually is great about it and gives you some time to grieve.
-e
Ok, the vet called me yesterday and asked me to bring her back in. She had a kidney infection and is on meds for it and already feeling better. Also, they think she has diabetes. BUT SHE'S GOING TO BE OK!! i'm soooo soooo so relieved. I get to pick her up tomorrow.
$400 dollars later, but I don't really give a shit. I still have my baby.![]()
Yay Liz!!!
I'm very happy for you and your baby! I wish her a speedy recovery! Thanks for sharing the good news with us!
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