What's your opinion on... euthanasia

[lv4dogs]

When it comes time to peacefully help your beloved pet dog/cat/pet to the bridge would you do it when your dog is having a good day or bad day?


I know it is a sad topic to discuss, but it is a part of life that most of us will have to face at one time or another.

It's something I've really been thinking about a lot lately with Nanook getting up there in age & his health deteriorating.

Most vets & articles say that it is best to do it on one of their good days. Which I can understand. That way your dog AND you will remember his/hers last day as a good day, a fun & loving day.

There is less stress on the dogs part as the dog is feeling better that day. (S)He's not thinking how awful it was to be suffering that day, having no fun, being dragged into the car, or having a terrible day, sitting on the cold exam table, etc.. etc... Instead when (s)he goes to the bridge (s)he can tell all his/her 4 legged furry pals that (s)he had fun with you on his last day, (s)he went to MC D's for a burger (or2 or3), a nice car ride, a trip to the park. And you will say the same.

But of course for us it has to be the worst time to set him/her free. We are thinking that because (s)he had a good day maybe they would continue, maybe (s)he would be with us longer, maybe it wasn't the right time.

What would you do?


I plan to do it on one of their good days but like I said it will be THE HARDEST thing to do. Even harder than setting them free on one of their bad days which is already an extremely hard decision to make.

[K9soul]

I guess I have a hard time imagining doing it if they are still having good days. Both Cody and Willie were helped to the bridge after they had strokes, and I don't think they were really in pain, but they did not seem really aware of their surroundings, did not respond to my voice etc., they just stared ahead and seemed to be slipping away anyway.

Cody was deaf, incontinent, half blind, and had some dementia, but he still loved getting petted and still loved being with us and enjoyed his snoozes. He cried if he woke up and was in a room alone, and I had to help him get up whenever he had been laying down for awhile, but I wasn't about to let him go while he was still able to enjoy life.

I am really not sure what I'd do if my dog had a progressively painful/miserable disease in which most days were bad and only a couple good here and there. Hopefully I will not ever have to be in that situation.

[lv4dogs]

I guess I have a hard time imagining doing it if they are still having good days.

I am really not sure what I'd do if my dog had a progressively painful/miserable disease in which most days were bad and only a couple good here and there. Hopefully I will not ever have to be in that situation.

Yeah, thats what I ment about having good days... if they only have one here & there. Of course if they are still having more good days than bad days then I think they have some time left here with us.

[K9soul]

In that case, I guess I just don't know. I probably would find the strength somewhere to do what was best for my baby. It'd be so hard to take them on a good day. It'd be a day that I'd want to spend with them, not let them go. I just don't know . I'd certainly try my best to do the most unselfish thing.

[Ginger's Mom]

Very hard question to answer. Like Jessica, my first dog did not have any good days left. She had some sort of seizure which left her with an involuntary head bob and an inability to walk. I carried her outside five times a day with the belief that she was going to get better, and she was in and out of the hospital for a month. I finally realized one night when I was sitting on the floor spoon-feeding her Gerber baby food and she peed all over herself (sorry for the graphic), that I could not do this to her anymore. So my answer would be a bad day, because if I thought she was still having any good days I am not sure I could do it. I don't know for sure what I will do in the future, it is a very hard decision to make in any case. I hope you have a long time before you have to make this decision. Give Nanook a great big bear hug for me.

[ramanth]

When we had Sable (cat) euthanized, it was on his bad day. We found him in the basement and he couldn't walk and merely peed where he laid, crying pitieously. We obviously knew it was time and took him to the vet. Up until that point it was all good days. I was young at the time so it was my parents decision in that case though I would of done the same had I been able to drive.

When it comes to Kia... I just don't know. I'd hate the thought of making her suffer but I don't think I could take her in on a good day if I had to make the decision. In my mind if one day is a good day who is to say the next isn't a good day, and the day after that?

I think in the end, our pets usually are able to communicate when it is their time if we ever have to make that decision.

[finn's mom]

I've only ever had to to euthanize one pet. His name was Bruno and he was 15. I had to make an appointment, so, I didn't know if it was going to be a good day or not. But, the thing with Bruno was that he always looked like he wanted to be happy. When I would hold him in my arms, he would wag his tail and lick me and he just looked like a puppy in his face. But, he'd gotten to the point where he could stand on his own. He'd lost control of his functions...so, he'd urinate and deficate and not be able to move away from it. Every day I'd come home and have to rinse him off, it was so sad. I sometimes still wonder if there was more that I could have done for him. But, most days, I think I made the right choice. All of his days were the same, though, that last week. Bah, this is making me cry. I can just picture him in the backseat, wrapped up in my beach towel. It was the only clean towel I still had because I'd covered the floors in my apartment with towels so that I wouldn't have to clean the carpet every day. I do miss my beautiful little boy, though.

[Corinna]

This indeed a hard question but as one of the few who had to make this decstion not to long a go with my Merlin Man. I really do beleive its better to pick the day and make it a good one . That way if possible its a good memory. The day I picked for Merlin(cancer) was a sunny ,very light breeze fairly warm spring day.He got a nice car ride and trip to the bank for a bone and last time visit the drive through gal. The vet has horses and a nice yard with trees , so we sat under the trees watching the horses and just hanging out relaxing. The vet and asst. both just sat for a couple minutes with us talking to and about Merlin , then just started petting his front leg and slipped the needle in . I don't think he even knew it happened . He just slipped in to my lap and was seamingly asleep. Since he had to go it was the best way I could have planned for him.
He was facing all kinds of drugs and horrible things , I didn't think he deserved all that pain just for me to try to hang on to him for my selfishness.
I really miss him espesally since he was my alert dog for my diabetes and he was only 8 years old.
I guess my opinion is if you can choose and plan it do so. It makes for a much better memory for you. I had him creamated and footprint made. Hubby is working on a nive little box for them so I can still have him around.

[QueenScoopalot]

I think it's a blessing that we're able to help our pets out of this world, and over The Bridge. It's (and it always will be) a tough thing to do, but if an animals time is near, I feel honored to help them get there. My border collie, a rescue found with 6 female pups next to the commuter tracks, developed vestibular disease, and multiple other problems in her elder years. My back was out, so the day she had to be put down, my husband had to take her in, and I felt so awful I couldn't move to be there with her. Her runt of the litter passed away with a single whimper on her bed next to the couch. Took me by surprise, but Booties went so fast! I was on the couch watching TV and thought she was having a dream...but she had passed away within seconds. And Max our coon hound mix went much the same, although he made it to the vets beforehand. Vet drew blood, took a urinalysis, and went into the back room to run the test, and Max laid down and just died. No suffering, no warning, even went for his usual run with the pack in the woods earlier. I think making an animal suffer for human's unwilling to give in to the facts of death, is far more selfish. I went through it (as a child) watching my families cats die one by one of FeLV and made a resolution to never let an animal wither away and die. At my age, I've helped many a critter over to The Bridge as it's the humane thing to do.