When to put your dog to sleep?
- Thread starter BigSexyCat
- Start date
Our golden retriever is 15 this August and she is having a really tough time getting up off the floor. We have wood floors so she struggles getting grip and then getting her back legs back underneath her to push her but up. Once she is up she walks around pretty good. She can't hear worth a lick and only has 1 good eye too. We have tried putting rugs down in the places she usually lays so she can get up easier, but I can tell her time is coming. Some mornings she looks at me like "Can I just stay here?" I have been prepping my wife that we have months not years left with her.
I work with a lady who had her dogs cremated and the ashes were used to make jewelry that she wears all the time. That's just a little too much for me.
On the other end of this spectrum is my daughter's 2 Guinea pigs. She promised of course to care for them, but guess who does all the work? We got them in 2017 for Christmas so we have had them for about 16 months. My wife told me they sometimes live to be 4 or 5 years old. I told her once they turn 2 they are mature enough to be released into the wild LOL!
Deciding when to put a pet to sleep is a tortuous and gut wrenching decision.
My decision comes down to:
1. Are they in pain?
2. Do they still have quality of life?
It’s a tough decision because the pet is depending on you to make the decision for them.
My Wife and I went thru this last June with our beloved cat Gizmo. She had kidney disease and was struggling to walk. We decided to try and give her fluids everyday by sticking a needle in her and injecting a certain amount twice a day.
She responded well for a couple of weeks but then she started to get weak and couldn’t stand on her own.
I decided to keep trying the fluids, but the last night she looked me in the eyes as if to say, I’ve had enough, I need you to put me out of my misery.
It was an extremely hard decision, but she was starting to suffer, and we couldn’t let that go on.
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It’s a gut wrenching decision.
I cried like a baby when I left the Vet after putting my beloved Cat Gizmo down.
We tried everything possible for her, but like you said, everything played out just like the Vet said it would, but we wanted to do give her every chance possible.
For many people that don't have kids, a dog means much much more than your simpleton take. Dogs>>>>>>>>>>>people.
World needs more dogs and fewer people.
After you find out they’re listed #52 of smartest breeds.
While you clearly didn't keep reading my additional comments, I'll respond to this one.
I had dogs before I had kids. When you're dog dies, it's very, very sad. However, when you eventually get a new dog, you're not continuously sad that the last dog died. People who lost a child are devastated for years afterwards - some never recover. I'm pretty sure that's never been the case for a dog.
Losing a dog would never be compared to losing a child but sometimes does take a long time to get over. Last Fall, we had a Springer Spaniel die in his sleep. He was getting up there in years so not totally a surprise but still sad. We also had 3 Irish Setters and that same day that our Springer died one of our Setters that was only 18 months old was running and playing and just suddenly died. That was a horrible day. Still not over losing the Setter as he would always greet me at the door when I got home and was my buddy. I cried like a baby when I saw him lifeless on the Vet’s table. One of other Setters has the same dad so we had tests run and they never could identify why he died.
That's fair and I don't disagree with any of it, but when you say things like "it's a f'ing dog", it sounds like you are minimizing the value of a dog's life.
The worst people are ones that give away their dog/dogs as soon as they pop out a kid. F those people. Dog provides unconditional love and loyalty to a breeder and then their life is forever changed once a baaaaayyybbbbbeeee comes into the fold. I hope said parent that pulls this **** is abandoned by their kid later in life, TS. /offtopic
I had to make a choice between spending $5K on chemo for a 9-year old dog or putting it down. I chose putting it down. I don't regret that. There was no guarantee that chemo would have worked, and I had just had my first child.
That said - I'm going to spend $1K a year on medicine alone for my current dog for probably the next six years.
I put our dog to sleep around 10, any later she gets cranky the next day
I agree with this. I love my dog. LOVE HIM. But at the end of the day, he's still a dog. They're born to live for less than 15 years on average.
Even my vet agrees with this. When my 15 year old lab had an ultrasound to confirm a large tumor on his liver, I asked the vet what the options were. He said that he could biopsy it to confirm his cancer, but it was pointless because at his age surgery would probably kill him and doggy chemo would ruin whatever quality of life he has left. The vet suggested that if he was a 4 yr old, it would be worth it, but at his age, what's the point?
It's tough to hear, but I agreed with him 100%. It is what it is. Dogs are wonderful animals, and their lives absolutely have value. They become part of the family. But they're still not humans and should never be regarded as anything close to human...whether you have kids or not.
:raised_hands:
That said, my old man, who remained stoic when his mother passed away, was heartbroken after his dog died. I 100% think it had to do with the fact that all his kids were out of the house (plus it was a helluva dog).
Love dogs, but Doggy can't fry me up some chicken tenders in the kitchen because he lacks thumbs, among many other things. Just one example.
The second dog in my life - a real rescued Lab mix - is getting close. She has hip issues, and rests a lot more than she used to. Still generally seems happy, and can go potty on her own, but she's getting worse by the month it seems. She will be about 15 this summer, which is a nice long life for a dog.
You’ll know when it’s time. Had to put my 14-year-old beagle I’d had since he was a pup down last summer.
He had congestive heart failure and was taking 8 different pills a day - heart pill, dieuretic, painkillers - his last year.
He always ate his entire meals in less than 2 minutes. Last two months it would take him 10 minutes. Last 2 weeks he started leaving food in the bowl. Beagles don’t leave food in the bowl. We started bracing for the end when he started leaving food in the bowl.
On his last night, he greeted me at the door as usual after work with his wagging tail and beagle bay. Three hours later his body/organs began to shut down. He wasn’t able to walk and was disoriented and drooling. I stayed up with him through the night and held him so he wouldn’t die alone. Took him to the vet the minute they opened the next morning. Vet said he probably would’ve drowned in his own fluid within 24 hours if I didn’t bring him in.
His ashes are in a box on my mantle. Miss him every day.
He had congestive heart failure and was taking 8 different pills a day - heart pill, dieuretic, painkillers - his last year.
He always ate his entire meals in less than 2 minutes. Last two months it would take him 10 minutes. Last 2 weeks he started leaving food in the bowl. Beagles don’t leave food in the bowl. We started bracing for the end when he started leaving food in the bowl.
On his last night, he greeted me at the door as usual after work with his wagging tail and beagle bay. Three hours later his body/organs began to shut down. He wasn’t able to walk and was disoriented and drooling. I stayed up with him through the night and held him so he wouldn’t die alone. Took him to the vet the minute they opened the next morning. Vet said he probably would’ve drowned in his own fluid within 24 hours if I didn’t bring him in.
His ashes are in a box on my mantle. Miss him every day.
Putting your dog to sleep is heart-wrenching, even when it's the right decision. Find out how to know when it's time, and help your senior pass peacefully. Get More info at Dog ear infection
Had a little homeless tom cat that befriended me. He'd had a hard life. You could tell by all the scars. One night, we were about to have a bad storm and my wife saw him on the back porch. She felt sorry for him and let him in. He was by my side for about a year. I could tell he was not well by certain things he did, then one morning when I got up early for my prayer time, he just stayed on his bed. I knew he was hurting. Short story: took him to the vet and got the bad news. I held him as the vet put him to sleep.
I felt rotten for about a month. It was like I'd let this little feller down after he'd tried so hard to be my buddy.
Sucks. IMO, not to get into a theological debate, we'll see our pets again.
That's a tough call to make. I've had to do it twice over the years, made the wife take in our the other one when it was time.
Just my opinion...but if you're asking the question, you already know the answer. It's difficult to do, ain't no shame in it.
She's at the gym right now.
I would research HEAVILY beforehand. There are factors to the process no one thinks about ahead of time.Sorry this is not going to bring comfort to anyone...but it is an honest account.
I used an in home service for my 15 year old Basset, Mashburn. I had him since he was the size of my foot. He was an *******, but I loved him tremendously. He was with me as a bachelor and the first 8 years of my marriage. He was a big part of our family.
He developed congestive heart failure. He would choke and gag, as breathing became a real struggle. He was pretty much drowning in his own fluid.
It was time.
I wanted to use an in home service for selfish reasons. I knew I was going to lose it and did not want my reaction to be in public. I could barely keep it together to make it though the call to schedule the appointment.
The in home service helped the family grieve privately. As for Mashburn...we tried to make him as comfortable as we could on his favorite ottoman, but he knew something was up. When the vet got near him, he tried to bite her. In his 15 years, I have never seen him react to anyone this way. It was completely out of character.
There is a two-step process to euthanization. The first step is to give the animal a shot that pretty much puts them in a coma. When the first shot was given in the hind quarters, Mash cried in pain and then fell into a deep sleep. The second step is to administer the lethal medication through an IV. The vet could not get Mashburn's vein tapped after repeated attempts. The only option at this point is to administer the lethal injection under the tongue. The tongue comes out...the syringe does not go in. This is not the best way to see your dog die.
The vet recommended a service that would come and pick up the remains and have the dog cremated. They arrived shortly after Mashburn passed away. A guy comes into the house and puts together a cardboard casket and places it next to the dog. Mashburn was a big boy (about 90 lbs) and the guy asks me to help him put the body in the box. He took the back legs and I took the front and we pretty much dropped him into the casket.
I then had to help him carry the casket to his minivan, that held about a half dozen or so other boxes. It felt like I was throwing by dead dog on a pile of corpses.
I dreaded that day since I first brought Mashburn home. It was worse than I could have ever imagined.
I will not own another dog so there wont be a next time...but if I did, I would go the traditional route and take the dog to the vet.
I am so sorry for your loss, OP.
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
-Will Rogers
I did it at the vet. I went alone - didn't want my wife to see that. Take it like a man. Part of life.
have you ever had a pet...….pretty stupid comment
Had shitzu that was blind in one eye & had to put drops in her other eye to keep it from going
Did this for several years before she became totally blind. Finally had to put her down
Very sad day
oh yea, her medicine cost the same as mine for glaucoma...…..so $ didn't matter
I had a 9-year old dog that they wanted $5K for cancer treatment (after already paying $2K), and there were no guarantees that it would work. I had a one-year old daughter and we were going through the financial crisis. I made the call to have the dog put down... but only when he was very sick. I don't regret that.
Since this post was rehashed I'll give an update. I finally had to put my dog down last October. He actually rolled down a hill and was laying in a creek bed one night and was unable to get himself out of it. I didn't find him until the morning but I knew at that moment upon finding him that it was time.
The Vet came to my house and done the deed. It was over rather quickly. It was a big help having it done at my house just in terms of having my dog comfortable and not having to carry out his dead corpse through a waiting room full of people. That would have been a little much for me.
It's tough to do but sometimes you have to do what's best for them and not yourself. Still miss him though. He was a good friend.
The Vet came to my house and done the deed. It was over rather quickly. It was a big help having it done at my house just in terms of having my dog comfortable and not having to carry out his dead corpse through a waiting room full of people. That would have been a little much for me.
It's tough to do but sometimes you have to do what's best for them and not yourself. Still miss him though. He was a good friend.