I do not understand people who have dogs and say that when the dog passes away, they will never have another dog. It’s hard for me to understand that people do not comprehend when first adopting or getting a dog that at one point in time these dogs will no longer be with us. Most of the time it’s a given that a human is going to outlive their dog.
I fully comprehend it knowing that your dog is going to pass on is not going to make it any easier. In fact it’s one of the hardest losses a human can suffer when their dog passes on. No matter if it’s traumatic, or some thing that comes from old age it’s still hard and when you have to make the decision to humanely euthanized that’s even harder.
I’ve had to see four different canine friends pass on three from euthanasia and one from sickness. All four were difficult in different ways. I kept thinking that she would pass on naturally and kept putting the decision to humanely euthanize off. I feel like that was a huge disservice to her, it was unfair and basically making her suffer. I did not have the skills or understanding to know that I had to make the decision for her. She even at some point ran off to try to go off and die herself and I kept bringing her back.
When I finally made the decision to euthanize her. I took her to the veterinarian and they were nice enough to come out to the car that way she could take her last breath surrounded by family and we didn’t have to be in a stuffy vet clinic dealing with our pain and grief around strangers. We were in the privacy of our own vehicle where we were free to cry and it express our grief .
Actually in the past few weeks I’ve been looking in my Facebook memories and seeingPosts about her sickness her decline and of course having to humanely euthanize. That was the first experience I’ve ever had with humane euthanasia. Yes I had been someone who said I would never do that unless I absolutely had to and I guess I always thought the veterinarian would let you know when it was time but it as their , best
I remember the funny things about that specific dog. How she was super well behaved except when it came to hamburger meat. She would climb on tables steal food and do very devious tactics to get to hamburger even and especially Krystal burgers.
It is hard to euthanize a family member. It is hard to make that decision. I know a lot of dog owner say they would never humanly euthanize their dog. Under any circumstances. You really do not know what you would do in that situation. It is the humane thing to do you never want your dogs to suffer. I always saw a veterinarian helping someone make that decision but sometimes as their guardian you have to.
The second time I had to make the hard decision was my Shetland sheepdog. I got her on her second birthday. She had always been heavy and a little lethargic. After seven years of being in my life when she was around nine, she started having seizures. I finally got someone to diagnose her with thyroid issues and got her on medication, but that still did not help. We went to several veterinarians trying to figure out where the seizures were coming from and I spent lots of money getting test ran. Unfortunately no one thought of having an x-ray. And then end up being lung cancer which was diagnosed in the emergency vet after she presented breathing struggles. The emergency veterinarian insisted that I put her down that night. And so it was a quick abrupt decision that broke my heart.
I actually adopted two shelties. They started out at a breeder and then went to a home where they stayed for a couple of years and then they came to me. I adopted them about two weeks apart. They were very different but very close. One was outgoing, obnoxious, loud and somewhat social. She was also quite large. The other one , was standoffish, reserved, not as loud, actually not loud at all. Gentle. I always knew the smaller one would pass away first even though she was slightly younger. I knew she would never be able to survive without the other one. That is exactly the way it happened. They were so in sync they’re barking they’re sleeping they’re eating even though they were slightly related you would think that they were closely related they were so in sync with one another.
She had been sort of secluded because the other dog had such crippling anxiety so we were able to do some traveling and start going to the dog park. I noticed that she was slowing down but she was past 10 years old so I thought that was normal. She started having some weird symptoms and losing lots of weight. I kept consulting with veterinarians but no one seem to know what was going on. I found it hard to even get her to eat after a while. Finally a veterinarian friend of mine suggested kidney failure and I took her to the vet and they said it was just a kidney infection, I didn’t understand how a kidney infection could last for needlessly and so I made a vow that I would never ever make that decision again I would never allow any medical professional whether it’s a human doctor or a animal doctor bully me into doing things I do not agree with especially when it results in my dog suffering.
Unfortunately I got the opportunity to live that statement. You know, the one about not letting my dog suffer and having an idea what I wanted for my dog. Yes. Less than a year later, the senior dog I adopted at age 8 to be her friend started presenting symptoms. She had always been an overweight dog very healthy loved food, but she started slowing down. Like I mentioned, she was a senior when I got her. I do think back and realize she was slowing down but I thought it was age or extreme weight gain. She gained a lot of weight after she came to live with me. Finally she did stop eating and I took her to the vet immediately suspecting kidney failure and unfortunately that is what it was. I took her to a different veterinarian and when they said her kidney levels were off the charts and there was not much they can do I am mediately insisted on euthanasia.
I want to talk about positive lessons. Each situation with a sick dog has taught me something. The first dog that I had to put down. I waited too long. I let her suffer and I feel so bad. She lost her vision, yes that’s fine we can work with that. She lost her hearing yes that’s fine as well we can work with that. When I was having to carry her outside for bathroom breaks set her up to feed her and of course when she was running off to go die and I wouldn’t let her she was trying to tell me things and I was not listening. That taught me to pay attention to listen and to put their needsabove mine. They have to have a good quality of life and she did not that’s terrible. That was no kind of life for her to have that was all about me and how I felt and that’s wrong.
The second dog the small little sheltie who had lung cancer. That taught me too research medical testing. If she would’ve had an x-ray we would’ve known what was going on. She had bloodwork and urinalysis, but she never had an x-ray. As a cancer survivor myself, I cannot believe that I never suspected cancer. So that just taught me to look into testing into really think about the kind of testing that’s being done.
The last situations with kidney failure, of course do what I think is right again going back to the quality of life and not letting your dog suffer. Also the second situation with kidney failure even though we were not able to save her was positive it actually helped me have faith in my vet. My vet in the area diagnosed the first dog with a kidney infection rather than kidney failure at first. That is why I took her to that that that did not listen to me but, my that was able to redeem themselves with the second dog and they of course apologized for misdiagnosing my first dog. Not to mention because I’m the person who had two dogs with kidney failure in one year, they always remember me and they respect my decisions. I was also able to share with them about going to the other Vet who insisted that I do life-saving tactics that just prolong her suffering. They apologized for that even though they had nothing to do with it and agreed with me about the quality of life scenario when it comes to kidney failure. I am not saying euthanize all dogs with kidney failure. In fact I have learned a lot about kidney failure number one early detection just like cancer is the key.
As far as kidney failure. There are things you can do special food, medication, fluids. There are a lot of things you can do with kidney failure if you catch it early and get it into remission. Unfortunately my dogs were diagnosed way too late because of negligence in the veterinary community and just my ignorance. So again that has taught me a lot.
Paws of Happiness 