Your opinion on euthanasia

I have absolutely no problem putting down an animal that is clearly suffering and on his/her way out. If a dog has a tumor the size of a golf ball on their jaw, trouble standing, howls in pain, can eat, but struggles to do so, and elicits no sympathy from their owner and is actually pushed by the owner for being too slow or sleeping in the wrong spot, yeah, call me morally wrong or anything, but I think it's okay to put that dog down.

I see how pet parents want to see their fur baby live as long as possible for several reasons--to be around them as long as possible, to brag about their pet living as long as they do, because they see it as murder, but maybe I'm putting my selfish "mentally ill homo sapien" ideas on another species that if I were not enjoying life anymore (and actually cried in pain every fccking day) because of age-related physical and mental deteriorations, yeah, I'd like to get sedated and have some pentobarbitol pushed.

Your opinion?

I too see it as humanitarian and a kindness. My guy was still eating and still faithfully using his litter box but he was throwing up blood. They guessed he had a brain tumor but didn’t want to do invasive tests because of his age. He was a great cat but in pain we think. So I let him go. I think it’s a kindness too to let humans go too.

I think it’s kindness to let humans go too, BUT it opens the whole slew of issues of relatives wanting to get rid of old granny. Brainwash incapacitated or elderly or threaten them. Someone is greedy for inheritance. People do despicable things for money. Or just because. So it’s humane but potentially dangerous. So it’s not that simple, could get tricky

When you legally become an adult fill out some paperwork saying under what circumstances you'd want to and update it at regular intervals or as desired. Plan ahead. Yeah, there are going to be very few circumstances that will screw people over, but probably not as much as whatever tf is going on now or if people euthanasia were a thing without something like that.

One could develop early onset of Alzheimer’s and can’t really update anything they set in motion earlier, yet it doesn’t mean they lost a will to live. We might assume they are suffering, but who are we to say. Like I said it’s not that simple and many of these issues are being discussed when people talk about legalizing euthanizia. Yes maybe it won’t be happening “as much” but who really knows what’s “as much”. One is one too many

No, but they would've updated it when they could've, and "hey, two years ago I said I wanted this" has more weight than fighting family members or something determined 60 years ago. Hence the regular updating (I'm thinking like every 5 years or so for a healthy person and the person can change it sooner if they want, and are encouraged to when health concerns arise).

I would say the person in question would have to be in the mind to be able to independently fill out and update that wish without being easily manipulated against their wishes, so that say a person's state of mind deteriorates and a family member encourages them to update it, the person is evaluated without the family member present to see if they are capable of making that decision.

Of course there are going to be those who are not able to make that decision at all from the time they become an adult, but generally they would have a guardian who is trusted for all other decisions so I can see being unideal depending on how good the guardian's intentions are and the relationship between the two.

I believe we owe it to our critters to help them cross the bridge when they no longer have quality of life. I know some people think I'm daft, but I'll ask my guys if they are ready to go. I count myself very lucky that I have a small animal I trust to give me an honest answer if I ask her opinion.

Gawd, I am getting choked up just typing this.

I've said for years that we should be able to do something similar for humans. I don't want anyone else making the decision for me, but would like the option of being able to pull the plug when my body gives up.

I had to check to see what forum we're in: "Our Pets"

So, yes, My wife and I have brought a cat and a dog to the vet to get euthanized.

The dog, a Golden, was so hard to let go. But he was on his third bout of cancer (shoulder) and had a limp due to an old injury to the carpus of the opposite front leg. It was when I had a dream of him limping on a pulpy mess of a foot that I spoke to my wife about letting him go.

The cat was different. We had him for only about a month when got sick. Hi lungs were filling with fluid. I don't remember the details, but the prognosis was poor, so we agreed to it.

Today we have an old dog and cat. I don't think the dog will get through the summer. He's blind and deaf and had separation anxiety even before we adopted him from the rescue organization. As well, he's weak and sometimes struggles to breathe.

Meanwhile, the cat just seems to be wasting away. He had a seizure many years ago and has been on a med ever since. But now his appetite is so poor, we struggle just to get him to take his med.

It’s hard.

Mum was a week away from her 95th birthday and she had lost a lot of her hearing which severely impacted her life. Then the last year her eyes were going and she found it hard to read. Plus everyday she was in pain. So that last time she was in the hospital she said no to being resuscitated. So when the hospital asked me if I wanted hospice or to send her back to the nursing home I said hospice. Because that’s what she wanted. I think it’s pretty clear what certain people want. I’ve already got a will, a living will and a psychiatric will. My daughter and my sister both have copies. I used to be a CNA and never want to end up a vegetable. Being forced fed and given meds to stay alive. If we can do that for our pets do it for me too.

Definitely life will and “don’t resuscitate order” is a solution to many of these issues. It’s not the same as euthanasia though. (Not saying you said it is the same thing)

I didn’t even realize it was on Our Pet forum because it was asking about euthanasia for people. Oops. It just appeared on my “new posts” and I didn’t notice

Yes it’s hard to decide when it’s the time to let your pet go and if they still have quality of life

I have put off another pet after my last one was suffering (16 years old) and I felt the vet was being a jerk and wouldn't authorize euthanasia. My cat was throwing up about every three days. It was not just throwing up food. It seemed to be bile? I tried everything for a year and probably kept him around too long because I didn't want to have to put him down. I suspected Lymphoma.

I paid for several tests but the vet always imho, did not diagnose him correctly and then used that flawed diagnosis to argue I could keep him around. For instance, he argued that my cat had hypothyroidism but on line people who's cats actually had it told me the test results were not in the range.

In the end thank god I found this place called lap of love that came out to my home.

But I am now freaked out about vets. I saw a very big change in the lifetime of my last cat. Previously they were very open to it and would sometimes be too encouraging. It is hard to make that decision and I think they should be supportive. But this time, IMHO I was finding vets that were all about the money they could get from me. Or this misguided sense of "justice" for some animal that had been put down too early.

I remember the fear for me knowing that I might not have the option? It made me angry and now I don't want to get a cat anymore for fear of the trouble I went through.

I did initially intend for this to be about pets, but I did try to put myself in the pet's paws and think with no quality of life and no hope for improvement, euthanasia would be the kind thing to do. We kinda got a bit off track there.

*This is going to get pretty triggering from here on out so either don't read or prep yourself.*

A few years ago I had a cat that had a saddle thrombus, and he was in severe pain and was panicking. Brought him down to the vet, vet said they could try and treat it but told me what I already knew about him being in a crap ton of pain and how many cats do not survive the clot. He was 16 at the time, had some heart issues, and we knew this would probably happen just not when. Vet recommended putting him down, I was already thinking that route, so that's what we did. The vet I used to bring my pets to was awesome--never pushed us into probably unnecessary tests, never tried to prolong a suffering animal's life (unless the pain and level of functioning was worth treatment based on efficacy of treatment, age, quality of life, etc.).

But yeah, right now I am riled up and pissed at my neighbor because I am hearing his dog cry every day that he doesn't want to do this anymore. My neighbor isn't the best owner to say the least, but I'm at least hoping when the dog was younger he got to play fetch, go on walks, play tug-of-war and what have you. Doggo knows he's not going back to that. I'm going to video tape that mofo pushing that poor dog THAT CAN BARELY FCCKING STAND and report animal abuse, and do whatever tf I can to comfort that boy as much as possible because I AM SOOO FCCKING PISSED!!!! PEOPLE ARE FREAKING AWFUL! I get it's not my place, my neighbor is the one responsible, but he is pretty damn irresponsible.

Went through something similar with my aunt whose dog had a stroke and couldn't do shyt for himself after. And my mom backed her up and after that has always backed her up with bs like "wait until they go naturally." Seriously, they're fccking pets that we have domesticated and bred. There is nothing natural about that. When a deer gets hit by a car, do they let him/her lay on the road with various injuries until they die? No. Cops come out and shoot 'em.

I've had to do it a few times. We had a dog Jade we rescued as a puppy. She was mainly German Shepherd. The average life expectancy for German Shepherd is around 10-12. She turned 14 and her health really started to go downhill. She had arthritis and cataracts, she started to have accidents. Then, she didn't want to eat much. She hung onto life despite all that. So, we had to make the decision to euthanize her. She no longer had quality of life.

Prior to that, we took in an older cocker spaniel, Mr. Jack who basically was brought back to life when he came to our house. I have no idea how old he was exactly, but he was old. He had a good almost two years with us, but then his kidneys and heart started to fail. He was hospitalized for a few days, but not improving. We talked it over with the vet and he agreed Mr. Jack wasn't going get better and euthanasia was the most humane option. Like Jade, he was stubborn and held onto life with everything he had. The same vet had seen him when we first took him in, full of ticks and with ingrown dewclaws. He'd always thank us for taking in that old guy. He was quite the personality. Everyone was drawn to him. When I would walk him, female dogs would follow him around and people always wanted to pet him. Even at the clinic, people would stop by his kennel to pet him.

The last was a cat, Loca, who had feline leukemia. She went into kidney failure at about 8 years old and there was nothing to be done, according to the vet.

It's sad, but it can be for the best if the animal has poor quality of life and is suffering.

I’m pretty sure in the uk it’s illegal to allow unnecessary suffering of an animal so if an owner withheld the necessary euthanasia it would be something they could be prosecuted over.

People are different, and although we have DNRs and living wills many countries don’t have legal euthanasia. Big debate. I can see different valid points of view.

What I would say is having witnessed many with dementia is that in some cases it’s a gentle decline, others not. Also we may change our mind in later years about our wishes but possibly not be able to communicate it. I’d rather see more effort given into good dementia care practices, because that makes a massive difference to the quality of life.

MuddyBoots, your vet sounds alot like mine. If I take a critter in wondering if it is time to say good bye she'll ask my expectations. My goal with all is for them to have quality of life. If there are some things we can do to buy some time I'm willing, but not if the animal will suffer.

I think I've told this story here before. I had a yellow lab that was my heartdog. Old age caught up to him. My vet suggested some practical things I could do to help him - booties so he did not slip on my vinyl flooring, diapers for when he could not control his bladder. It bought him another few months. He could todder around the house and yard. Enjoyed spending time with me. Then one day her could no longer do those things. I asked and he told me he was ready to go. I appreciate that my vet doesn't push for extra testing or expensive treatments.

Movie “The Sea Inside” opened many people’s eyes on assisted suicide/euthanasia options. Very powerful movie based on true story

The Sea Inside - Wikipedia

The Sea Inside (2004) - IMDb

There's a vet clinic here that is notorious for preying on people that don't want to say goodbye to their pets. They push all sorts of extreme treatments for elderly animals. The place really should be investigated. A friend used to take some pets there and they wanted to intubate a rescue cat of hers that was estimated to be around 17 at an extortionate cost! Like Mr. Jack, she ha that cat, Beto Cuevas a few years before in poor shape. She gave him had a good life with her.

At least she finally wised up and stopped going there. It took some high vet bills, and animals that died despite extreme measures for her to wise up.