Putting my dog down tomorrow--advice requested

First off, sorry. Secondly, say good bye and walk away . Do be with the dog when the very puts it down,. I made the mistake of being with the dog and seeing the dog just go limp after the shot still says with me. Best.

youth anastasia wrote:

I'm surprised by the number of posters who favor euthanasia for ailing pets. Ask yourselves, how many of you would choose to help a sick family member die? Why is it an acceptable and honorable choice for beloved pets but not beloved relatives?

My mother is fully paralyzed from ALS and is living on a ventilator. I would absolutely take her off the ventilator if she requested that I do so. Why would I force her to stay alive if she was no longer enjoying life with no chance of ever getting better?

this this this wrote:

This!!! So sick of hearing people talk about how hard it is for them. Just admit you don't want to spend the money on a pet.

For many people, it is not an issue of "not wanting to" but "being able to". These are not the same thing.

youth anastasia wrote:

I'm surprised by the number of posters who favor euthanasia for ailing pets. Ask yourselves, how many of you would choose to help a sick family member die? Why is it an acceptable and honorable choice for beloved pets but not beloved relatives?

The law (except in Oregon in certain cases).

youth anastasia wrote:

Ask yourselves, how many of you would choose to help a sick family member die?

73% of Americans favor euthanasia for humans. Pets are sick family members to many people.

/end

raaaaandy wrote:

73% of Americans favor euthanasia for humans. Pets are sick family members to many people.

nosom wrote:

youth anastasia wrote:

I'm surprised by the number of posters who favor euthanasia for ailing pets. Ask yourselves, how many of you would choose to help a sick family member die? Why is it an acceptable and honorable choice for beloved pets but not beloved relatives?

It's made to be "honorable" because we want to feel good about choosing money over the life of an animal. Just accept that it is a stupid animal and you CHOSE to kill it.

I'm coming from the place of believing euthanasia should be an option for end-stage terminally ill patients. In this case, the people themselves can CHOOSE to end their own suffering.

youth anastasia wrote:

I'm surprised by the number of posters who favor euthanasia for ailing pets. Ask yourselves, how many of you would choose to help a sick family member die? Why is it an acceptable and honorable choice for beloved pets but not beloved relatives?

Um...laws,

this this this wrote:

new drugs wrote:

Putting a pet down is always the cheapest option. As much as self righteous pet owners talk about how hard it is to put down a "member of the family", the truth is that they realize it's just a freaking dog and there is no way they are going to spend ten grand to make it feel better.

This!!! So sick of hearing people talk about how hard it is for them. Just admit you don't want to spend the money on a pet.

Are you a pet owner? Have you seen them die? If so, I cannot imagine you would express this infuriating opinion.

My wife and I have LOVED - and lost - 3 cats over our 33 year marriage. Nike was our baby, especially mine. Born in our closet the week before we married. I adored her. But she got breast cancer at age 11. She had surgery but it came back. I slept in the bathtub with her one night because she was only comfortable there. The two nights before she died we slept with her on a mattress on the kitchen floor since she was only comfortable there. The next day the vet came to our house (yes we paid extra for a home call) and she died in my arms.

Clio (named for the muse of history) found us in a rainstorm. Once we coaxed her in, she never again wanted to go out. She was probably about 20 when we lost her. We had spent lots on the vet but finally they could do no more. We tried to wait. But on the 4th of July she was clearly really suffering. A friend who worked for a different vet persuaded her to come in on the holiday to end Clio's pain. She, too, died in my arms.

Last year we lost Pookie at age 22. She was so remarkable - surely used her full quota of nine lives and lots more - that we waited too long. We thought she might miraculously rebound again. Finally I found a vet who would come that afternoon. But a couple of hours earlier she died in my wife's arms. It was terrible. I HATE IT that there was nothing we could do to ease her final 20-30 minutes of death agony. I HATE IT that I failed to give her the peaceful end her "sisters" had had.

And I hate it that society may condemn me to a similar fate.

I'm never having a pet until radical life extension is proven, which is likely very soon.

Today it was announced that an ongoing study of senolytic treatments in mice revealed that after 130 weeks, 90% of the mice treated with the drugs were still alive. The average lifespan of lab mice is just 2 years.

https://www.fightaging.org/archives/2018/07/oisin-biotechnologies-produces-impressive-mouse-life-span-data-from-an-ongoing-study-of-senescent-cell-clearance/

These treatments are going to be tested on dogs very soon, both by medical researchers and no doubt by owners of aging dogs :

http://dogagingproject.com/

A Harvard startup aims to have treatments that rejuvenate dogs within the next 5 years, and in humans within the next decade :

https://www.technologyreview.com/s/611018/a-stealthy-harvard-startup-wants-to-reverse-aging-in-dogs-and-humans-could-be-next/

OLD SMTC SOB wrote:

about half of all terminal cancer patients experience severe pain unrelieved by medication.

That's because they were treated by idiot doctors who CAUSED their terrible pain and conditions.

People who choose to not be subjected to such barbarious treatments and who don't go to hospitals don't suffer like that.

I often wonder if we can have a thread on this site without one stupid comment. Thought this one might be it. How naive of me.

Sorry, was talking about the you're not god comment.

Coevett wrote:

an ongoing study of senolytic treatments in mice revealed that after 130 weeks, 90% of the mice treated with the drugs were still alive. The average lifespan of lab mice is just 2 years.

130 weeks is only 2.5 years.

Well cared for rats living for 5 years in a natural environment is nothing unusual.

It's funny, yet astounding when parents equate dogs with children and deem dogs "family members." Do you not like your kids? Like, does that make all animals equal to your children too? Or do you just favor certain ones such as dogs because you like them better? And while they're at it, they eat other animals for dinner! But not dogs. By the way I'm not a vegan, I enjoy meat more than I should.

That's dumb. wrote:

Coevett wrote:

an ongoing study of senolytic treatments in mice revealed that after 130 weeks, 90% of the mice treated with the drugs were still alive. The average lifespan of lab mice is just 2 years.

130 weeks is only 2.5 years.

Well cared for rats living for 5 years in a natural environment is nothing unusual.

Mice are not rats.

Veterinarian here... I am so sorry about your pup. It's never easy to lose a pet, but a sudden unexpected diagnosis of cancer in a not-so-old dog is one of the hardest. I know you were probably hoping to keep him around another few years.

I lost my dog in a similar manner (not too old, previously healthy, then suddenly lung cancer...was beating myself up about it for months wishing I'd picked up subtle signs and been able to do something). I was sitting on the floor in the exam room bawling like a baby knowing what I had to do but unable to get the words out to let her go. Honestly, it was the worst grief I had ever known - I was unfunctional for days - I thought there was something wrong with me. But that is normal and it does eventually pass.

It sounds like your head and heart are in the right place. It definitely sounds like its time while he still has his appetite and spirits. There is a saying in veterinary medicine "better a week too early than a day too late." If he is the type of dog that likes going to the vet, euthanasia can be performed at the office. In many communities there are mobile vets that can perform euthanasia in the comfort of your own home. They can take care of the aftercare too. You can take comfort in the fact that euthanasia is very peaceful for your pup, even if it is hard on you.

And ignore all the trolls who tell you you are being cruel. The number one comment I get when I euthanize pets is "why couldn't I have done this for my mom/husband/wife/brother/dad?"

J

Outlaw -

I'm sorry about your dog. We found out that my dog has a very aggressive cancer recently and are in the process of keeping her comfortable and trying to figure out when to make that decision. The time has not come yet, she is eating and likes being around us, but is in some pain. It is heartbreaking.

We decided that when the time comes we will have a service come to our home, our dog gets anxious going to the vet. It's more expensive but worth it to me.

jess from crabtown - thanks for your story, I feel the same in that I have been trying to figure out how I missed it and maybe I'm a terrible dog owner and all of that.

Take care and sounds like you are doing the best you can for your dog -

..that no one cares about your inane opinions about meat, parents, etc and they actually feel something for the OP?

Coevett wrote:

an ongoing study of senolytic treatments in mice revealed that blah blah

How about stop promoting your stupid medications.