Putting a Pet Down

United States
March 14, 2009 11:05am CST
How does one make the horrible decision of euthanizing a beloved pet? I have never had to make such a decision, but I have had several friends who have, and I just do not see how they have the guts to make such a decision. I mean, I know the pet is suffering, etc.; I get that. But I would feel like I was trying to play God, or something; let alone feeling like my pet would somehow being thinking (in his or her own little 'pet' mind, of course), "I give you ___ years of loyalty and ahppiness, and this is how you repay me?" Should God not be the one to make the decision of taking the pet to "the other side?" I really feel for those who have had to make the decision. How many of you were put in that kind of predicament, and how did you make your decision, and be "ok" with it?
5 people like this
16 responses
@JABeau59 (446)
• United States
14 Mar 09
My husband and I had a german shepard who was 10 years old. He was a faithful friend and loyal guardian. He got cancer and the vet said he would have to have surgery or he would suffer. If he hadn't been old already, we would have probably gone with the surgery, but didn't want to see him suffer with the recovery. He gave us some medicine that made him comfortable and we started letting him sleep inside. When it got to the point that he was not comfortable any of the time, we had to have him put down. It was a very hard decision, but watching him struggle even to walk without pain was worse. We have a place in the country, so we were able to bury him on our place wrapped in his favorite blanket.We just knew it was more cruel to let him suffer. We still miss him but have great memories of his life.
• United States
14 Mar 09
I agree with JABeau. We have 3 German Shepherds and if it comes to a time when one of them can't enjoy life anymore at all , and is suffering I would have them put down. I think of it as ending their constant suffering . I think its the more humane thing to do . It's so hard watching them suffer and you feel so helpless . I know if it was me , I would not want to suffer so.
1 person likes this
@Amber4106 (540)
• United States
14 Mar 09
We just had to do this with my partner's english bulldog yesterday. Her health had rapidly decreased in the last week, and he took her to the vet yesterday. She was just about 6 days shy of being 10 years old, but her body was just tired and giving up. She had a false pregnancy about a month ago, and I feel like that's what brought this all on. Unfortunately, the vet said that there isn't much that she could do, and even if she did treat her, she would still continute to go downhill. My partner's having a really tough time with it. He got her when she was 8 weeks old, so she's been with him basically her entire life. It's never an easy decision to make, but when they are suffering like that, it's more humane to let them go.
• United States
15 Mar 09
Only yesterday?! I'm so sorry.
@dsrtrose (166)
• United States
15 Mar 09
Unfortunately, I have made this decision several times. It always comes down to their quality of life. It is like people: We have the ability to keep them alive for US to prevent the emptiness and void that will be left when they are gone. If a pet cannot run, play, eat, etc. then their quality of life has declined. I have done many things, (treatments) to keep my sick pets alive for ME, sometimes the greatest act of love is saying good-bye.
• United States
15 Mar 09
I had to do it with my beagle Spot one morning i woke up and he was dragging his hind legs around.I took him the vet right away and turns out when either he jumped on his dog house or off of it he did something to his spine the vet says it happens to dogs a lot when they jump off furniture and etc it twists there back the wrong way I couldn't see him suffer I didn't have the money for the hip surgery so I did what was best for him I spent the last hour with him at the vets office outside holding him and crying I told him this was best for him so he didn't have to suffer no more.I brought him inside and made my decision.I went home and they called me the next day I came got him in his little box casket and buried him in the woods where he loved to be.I placed flowers on his little grave RIP Spot.
• United States
23 Mar 09
Nope, and I hope I never will. My husband's oldest friend's dog, well one of their dogs has cancer. And they're just letting him take meds for it, and not putting him down. He's such a sweetheart and I hope he passes on his own time.
• Philippines
19 Mar 09
This is one decisions you need to think, but if is health that we are talking about, even our beloved pet must take the consequences. When our pet is suffering from illness and we know that they might carry major disease that everyone of your family and pets might catch up, if that happens we would have no choice but to take down the pet that we love. Nevertheless if there are no other instances like that, we should not make any decisions to take down the lives of our pets.
@getnbuy (1312)
• United States
15 Mar 09
With us, we had to wait until the pet was suffering so badly that we couldn't stand to put him through it any longer. It is so sad, but so good that we can spare them misery.
@sbeauty (5865)
• United States
15 Mar 09
I'd never done it before, either, until about 6 weeks ago. We'd had our kitty, Sebastian, for 16 years. One morning he was unresponsive. I took him to the vet and was told that he was in a coma and the chances of him ever coming out of it were about 1% because he'd suffered kidney failure. The vet said he would recommend putting him to sleep so that he wasn't suffering any more, so I told him to go ahead. It was hard, and I cried a lot of tears, but pets aging and dying is a part of pet ownership. I still love him and miss him, but there's no way I wanted him to be hurting. I never thought I'd be able to make a decision like that, but when the time came, I knew it was the right decision, and I found the strength to do what I had to do.
@bluemars (952)
• Australia
15 Mar 09
I love my pets and I can only imagine how hard that will be. I always think they will somehow live as long as me, but that is really naive but I am hopeful that they will still live a long time. I am not looking forward to the time when they pass. I love them dearly and I know I will be so upset as they will be dearly missed.
@zz1111 (215)
• China
15 Mar 09
i will not be OK,of course!! luckily,i never do that you talked above in your posts!
@thezone (9394)
• Ireland
14 Mar 09
It is always sad to have to come to the decision of putting a loved pet down. I think it is kinder to put them down than rather to have them suffer. We all know when a pet is in pain and it is heart breaking so having them put to sleep is sometimes the kinder option. I would feel bad putting a loved pet down but if it saves them from suffering I would be ok with it.
@uicbear (1900)
• United States
14 Mar 09
Our dog was 16 years old when he started to have seizures. When we took him to the vet, the vet said that he was bleeding internally and there were things that might help, but at 16, there was very little chance. If we just let nature run it's course he would start to suffer, have more seizures, pain and trouble breathing, and there was no way to know how long that would last, and we just couldn't put him through that. I can't say that I'm "ok" with it. It was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do.
@daneg33 (1128)
• Canada
15 Mar 09
I have been through this twice in the last 3 years. The first time was with my beloved cat, Al, who was my faithful companion for 13 years. He was eating less and less and getting thinner, so I took him to the vet. The vet told me that his liver was enlarged and that he was in a lot of pain, his systems were shutting down, so they told me he needed to be put down. It was sad, but I didn't want him to suffer. The second time was a few months ago. My daughter's cat was sitting on the back porch on a rainy day and he was soaked. He didn't want to come in the house, so I left him alone for about an hour. When I checked on him again, I saw that he hadn't licked himself dry yet and he was mewling. I felt his body and noticed that his front left leg was limp. I took him to the vet. The xrayed him and said his leg was crushed. He had been hit by a car. I was told that they could amputate his leg, but that I would have to keep him in the house for the rest of his life. This would not be fair since he was an outdoor cat. I decided that I would put him down rather than let him suffer. It was hard on my daughter, but she agreed that it wouldn't be fair to make him stay indoors for the rest of his life.
• China
15 Mar 09
peopls liveing on the earth ,everyday everbody everywhere should face to make a difficult decsion that you don't want to make ,you must do it basic on several princples you should use your love and brave heart to think about it you have no chocie but make
@Barbietre (1438)
• United States
14 Mar 09
Sadly we have made this choice a number of times. When an animals illness can no longer be cured or alleviated and all they will do is suffer horribly, then it is time. My last animal to be put down was 14 and was refusing to eat or drink, and she could barely walk. It was time for her to have peace.
@major310 (42)
• United States
14 Mar 09
you have to watch how you treat pets because it affects them more than human feelings, I'm always nice to them that's why pets always like me.