I miss my cuddly Bunny, I used to listen to his heart beat and breathing and hold him like a baby....so cute but now dead
I miss my cuddly Bunny, I used to listen to his heart beat and breathing and hold him like a baby....so cute but now dead
Nothing is eternal - just understand this simple thing, and it will be pretty easy.
The last dog I lost was almost 19 years old, very old, we knew towards the end that the time had come for us to have her put down, she had lost bladder control, and was stone deaf and going blind.
The only thing that gave me comfort was knowing I had given that dog a loving and happy home for 18 + years and she was the happiest I could have made her. Try to celebrate the time and love you have given them. It's hard though
Our last cat, Fudge was rescued from across the street when his owner packed up in the middle of the night and vanished. Poor thing was malnourished and crying, so when my mum came home from work and saw him that was it, he was ours. Fed him up, got him checked at the vet and that was that.
He had a good 4 years with us before he got ill and went downhill fast. Took him to the vet that morning but he was that ill we were advised to put him to sleep that evening. Mum was distraught so sadly we agreed and i took her home. She was too torn up to say goodbye to Fudge and that is something we both regret to this day.
I had promised that i would see him later after dropping him at the vet, but i had to get mum home so i broke it and i deeply regret that.
Whatever the outcome for your dog, please let them know that you love them and say goodbye. Don't make my mistake to someone who has given and received so much love.
I like to pretend my cats are never going down! I know one of my cats has heart problems so I just do my best to keep him comfy while he last.
Make your dog know he's loved. Once he dies don't hold it in you, it's ok to cry. Unfortunately you can't prepare for this.
When I was 7 I found this little black cat. And we adopted it. As time passed my grandmother died, my father left us and I spend many years only with my mother and my cat. She is a lovely cat. She made some series of kittens and we kept some, gave some for adoption to relatives and such until we neutered her. But I never got attached to any of them as I was to her. She was there when I was alone, she was there when I was happy or sad. I played with her and sometimes annoyed her and sometimes she annoyed me, but I love her. She's like a member of the family.
Last year she started growing a thing on her belly. So we ended taking her to the vet. It was cancer. It looked bad, so she had surgery to have it removed. Now it's back... it's just as the doctor had said last time, it probably spread in her body. She will probably die soon. Unlike your dog, I am sure my cat won't live for more then a few months at most. After 16 years of friendship she will leave me too. When I realized a few days ago that cancer had returned feeling another growth near her front arm, I started crying.
And to think that soon my choices will be either to euthanise her, thus killing a loved pet and a member of the family or let her die in pains doesn't help me much. I don't like either choice.
Sad. You just need to spend as much with them until the end.
You simply dont "Plan" death mate.
It comes when it comes.
This. Recently had to put down my german shepard. She made it to 14 before her back legs just stopped keeping her up. There's nothing really to do, just spend the remaining days with him. Love him, and remember the good times. Realize that the quality of his life is going to steadily decrease, and keeping him alive in that state is more for you than it is him.
http://thingsihaveneverdone.wordpress.com
Just started my 24/7 LoFi stream. Come listen!
https://youtu.be/3uv1pLbpQM8
Having gone through putting down 3 pets in my lifetime, 1 Dog and 2 cats, one of whom was a stray we rescued, all of whom lived long lives and saw them deteriorate from old age the best thing I can offer is this.
It's never easy, especially if they had been with you for a very long time, pets become a part of your life. However, when their quality of life has fallen so far it's a responsible choice to put them down before it gets any worse. Prolonging their pain is a selfish act, we don't do it or put it off because of how it's going to make us feel, when it's inevitable anyway and at the expense of our Pet's quality of life. Grief is a process and everyone has to face it. Let her know she's loved and you need to recognize that you gave her 12 years of a happy life. Then you go out and get another dog/cat etc, maybe a rescue, and do it all over again.
By accepting Death as a natural thing, the destiny of all things living.
You do it naturally, you get yourself more and more mentalized that the pet is going to die and that you will lose him/her, will still hurt either way but makes recovery easier.
Also best way to deal with "traumas" is to find something to focus on and hang on to, keeps your mind busy and focused instead of letting it wander around.
I no longer feel sadness with death, to me its normal, instead I prefer to cherish the time we had together, sadness is such a waste of time.
More for the dog but this guy for the dog's last meal gave him sausage, bacon, chicken, among other things. I think if I ever got a dog I would do something similar for him:
As for you I will always remember my parents dog who was sick for a few weeks. One day I put my hand to her and she rested her head on my hand. I realized then she wasn't going to make it and so I had a nice goodbye moment with her. Having that moment helped greatly when she died 2 weeks later as I had come to grips with her death.
It also helps to realize everyone dies. You, me, the guy next door, the next poster to this thread, the newspaper boy, the news anchor, etc. We will eventually pass away and it's really only a matter of when that will happen. It's why everyone should enjoy today because tomorrow may never come.
When I had to put my dog to sleep it was extremely rough. It took me a while to build up the strength to do it. For me it was looking into my dogs eyes and seeing that she no longer enjoyed being alive that finally gave me the strength. I realized that I was being selfish keeping her around in such pain.
Hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I guess that is a good thing in a way, but I have seen some shit in my days. I just never had to make a call like that before.
---------- Post added 2013-02-01 at 02:55 PM ----------
The weeks leading up to my dogs passing I fed her like a queen. Very unhealthy for her, but she was already dying. She would not eat hardly anything anymore so I fed her chicken, burgers, and bacon.
Knowing that I gave her a good life helped things in the end.
Last edited by Roose; 2013-02-01 at 08:57 PM.
I like sandwiches
I had to put my rat to sleep a few weeks ago. Although I never really bonded with her, she was sweet and never tried to bite me when I held her. She was starting to drag her back feet, so I had to put her in our tiny one story cage with her cage mate so she wouldn't be alone, but also wouldn't have to try to climb or drag herself around multiple levels. I cried the night before I took her to the vet, during the whole appointment, and once in a while for a day or two after. I'm still sad, mostly because of the thing that would help most people: she was totally innocent and didn't know what was going on. She still acted happy and ate normally, but I couldn't bare to watch her drag her legs behind her. The vet said she would get worse and worse until she was immobile, so I didn't feel there was an option.
My advice is just have your family with you, or a friend, when you put your pet down. Take a video or pictures of him or her before you take them to the vet, that's what I did and it helps to see her on her last day, acting mostly normal. Try to remember you're doing the right thing. You don't want your pet to suffer anymore than they have to. People kept telling me that it's selfish to try to keep your animal alive as long as possible when they're suffering. You'll always have years of memories and photos.
Icon made by leia06 from livejournal.com.
I had 2 dogs when I was younger, one of them died from a twisted stomach which I was with him when he did pass. The other we had to put down since he had a cancer on one of his legs that was eating away the bone rather rapidly and we didn't catch it due to our vet at that time misdiagnosed so we didn't find out till it was too late. For both I couldn't really prepare myself for but I took it as it was, had my sorrows and moved on.
It sounds like I didn't care much but I knew there was nothing I could do so I didn't want to dwell on it for a long time.
We had a couple birds die as well that were with the family for a long time which resulted in the same thing, sorrow then move on.
It just depends on you whether you want to deal with it now or later, eventually you'll have to deal with it.
I should mention the one that died with a twisted stomach I was about 15 or 16 at the time and had to carry his body by myself to take him to the vet to see if there was anything they could do. No one was home at the time so it was very nerve wracking :\
My family have lost a couple pets over the years (all from escaping from the garden and getting hit by a car) and its hard. Pets are part of the family.
However my current dog max is 12 years old and it seems hes going downhill. Cant walk him anymore (last time i did he couldnt walk for two days after it) and hes going blind/deaf slowly. I know its going to come soon and I get sad thinking about it but I've had 12 years with max and I try to think about that.