Like Us
Follow @dogster
Google +1 Subscribe to our YouTube Channel Contact Us
Forums Home » Dog Health
GO!

The end-of- life of a beloved pet

This forum is for dog lovers seeking everyday advice and suggestions on health-related issues. Remember, however, that advice on a public forum simply can't be a substitute for proper medical attention. Only your vet can say assuredly what is best for your dog.

  


Member Since
12/31/1969		 
 
Barked: Thu Feb 7, '13 9:46pm PST 
The end-of- life of a beloved pet - seeing them through naturally without pain, knowing when and what to expect and assisting with this as gently as possible - is a responsibility we take seriously and reverently. We see it as a privilege for us to be included at a time where final days, weeks - or just moments are spent with a beloved friend and true life companion - and make it all very calm and pain-less.

Both before, during and after - we are here to help.
my posts [notify]


Member Since
02/10/2013		 
 
Barked: Sun Feb 10, '13 4:21pm PST 
I don't really know where to begin. My dog Jac was 19yrs old when i had to have her pts. It is one of the hardest things i have ever done, and its coming up to a year on the 28th feb. I'm 26yrs old and i grew up with jac and she and i were inseparable she really was my best friend. i didn't have a very good childhood but i always had my girl. She really was beautiful and she brought so much joy and love into my life, when everyone left me jac was the one who snuggled up to me and didn't mind i wet her fur with tears. She never failed me, but i feel i failed her. she needed and operation to save her life. But the vet explained she was too old and it probably wouldn't have survived surgery. I asked for a second opinion and she brought in the practice owner who was a rather aged gent. And he said she would have been the oldest dog he had ever operated on and maybe it was time to let her go before she suffered anymore. I knew she was dying as she had been diagnosed with cancerous tumor on her liver. And explained that it was the largest organ in a dog and the amount of blood she would lose, it would be impossible fete. I look back on that day on a regular basis and think god did i make the right decision. I look at her and the spark that made her my jac and gone and the pain she was in was so clear in those eyes of hers.
just righting this i'm in floods of tears
It has been a year and coming home to a home without her greeting me or her just being around hasn't got any easier. I cry most days and i can't get past her final few moments with me. The sadness is over whelming and i just don't know what to do. She is so missed and no one really understands just how important she was to me. I miss her every day, and even now catch myself looking to the stop she slept in for her to feel the sadness again.
People say she was just a dog or get another, but she wasn't just a dog she was my friend, she was my girl, and there can only ever be one Jac.
I just need someone who understands and can maybe share how they dealt with it, because i am really struggling here. I just really hope someone reads this and understands
my posts [notify]
Lily

Miss Lily, Lily- Belle		 
 
Barked: Tue Feb 12, '13 4:50am PST 
I understand.

I'm so sorry for your pain.

6 years ago, I had to put my beloved Dog down. Making the decision to do so was so hard. I'd decide it was time, make the appointment, but the next day, we'd get up and he'd be better, so I'd put it off.

Like you, I had a dog I grew up with, Sudsy, a Manchester Terrier. She was 19 also, but was relatively healthy until she had a stroke, and her left side was paralyzed. That essentially made the decision for us, so while it was terribly painful, it didn't prepare me for what I had to do for Dog.

When I finally put him down, I was devastated, and swore I would not get another dog, and have to go through that pain again. A few weeks later, though, I saw a story on the news about a badly-abused dog who had been declared unadoptable because of her anxiety and would be put down unless a spot could be found for her in a no-kill shelter. I was very moved, and went to meet her the very next day. Once I laid eyes on her, that was it, and she's still with me today.

At first, I felt guilty, like I was somehow being disloyal to Dog, especially when I got another dog so soon, but I soon realized the love I have for Lily doesn't diminish the love I have for Dog. Just as a parent can love more than one child, I learned I could love more than one dog. He's been gone for more than 6 years, but I still think about my sweet baby, Dog every day. Sometimes, I still cry over him, as I am now. Still, I have a WONDERFUL relationship with Lily, and I am so glad she is with me.

The depth of your grief is heartbreaking, and I am so, so sorry for what you're going through. It says something very important about you, though. It says that you are the kind of person dogs need. Every day, thousands of amazing, wonderful dogs; dogs just like your Jac, and my Dog, and my Lily, are put down simply because they aren't lucky enough to have someone like you to love them, and care for them.

Why don't you consider volunteering at a local shelter? That's how I met Dog. I was in a new town, in a job I hated, and was totally miserable. I got the idea of exercising dogs at my local SPCA one day a week. They're always short-handed, and I learned if someone comes to meet a dog, and when they inevitably say "hello" to the dog, if the dog reaches out to shake, they are charmed and are highly likely to adopt it, so that's what I did. I worked with many dogs, but Dog stole my heart, and even though my lease said "no pets", I adopted him and had 14 incredible years with him.

It was worth getting kicked out of my apartment.

Don't deprive yourself of dogs, and don't deprive dogs of you. Someone who loves as deeply as you do is someone a dog out there somewhere needs.

I hope this helps,

Sean
my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals
 [notify]