Putting old dogs down

[Patrick]

Do you think older pets that are starting to develop problems like arthritis, cataracts, and other problems should be put down? Many people put their animals down when they reach a certain age. Call it assisted suicide if you will

[Keith]

Do you think older pets that are starting to develop problems like arthritis, cataracts, and other problems should be put down? Many people put their animals down when they reach a certain age. Call it assisted suicide if you will

Putting old dogs down? That's no way to talk about Todd. LOL

Seriously, though, if the dog can't walk, see, or can't get around, then they do need to be put to sleep. I hate to see any animal suffer, so to be humane about it, the animal really needs to be put to sleep.

[sweetdaisy]

If the animal is in obvious pain or is unable to function properly (eat, eliminate waste, move), then put it down. Blindness would have been a gradual process, so I don't see that being a reason to end its life. Hopefully, a person knows their pet well enough to understand if the animal is miserable.

Unfortunately, my Pugsley is miserable already, so I won't know when it's time to put him down. Perhaps if he starts being nice, then I'll know there's something wrong.

[Uptown]

Put it down if it's in pain. Otherwise, let it live. I don't think cataracts is a good reason to put a dog down.

[mranderson]

The hardest thing I have ever had to do was put Holly down. She was a loving, caring, compassionate soul who never met a human she did not like. She was a part of my own soul, my life to a high degree. Since I have no human children, in my heart I have lost my child.

As I consulted the vet, Holly sat down and kept silent. She looked up at Dr. Rose, then to us as to say I do not want to go, but I am so very ill. I will always love you and will be in my heart forever. With that, I told the vet to let her go. I spoke to her as she gently left this earth. Had the vet not told me she was gone, I would have never known. She gently left while in my arms.

I occasionaly wonder if I did the right thing, but thinking of her gasping for air and the way she looked the morning she died, I have no doubt nature would have taken her from me later that day.

One day, she and I will be together again.

[Uptown]

mranderson, was your dog suffering?

[mranderson]

mranderson, was your dog suffering?

There is no way to tell. That is like asking a doctor if someone suffered. Only the person who died knows.

[HFK]

There is no way to tell. That is like asking a doctor if someone suffered. Only the person who died knows.

It seemed to me that he was asking if your dog was suffering before you put him down, rather than if the act of putting him down caused him to suffer.

[Uptown]

I think mranderson knew what I meant. If your dog wasn't suffering, I question whether putting him/her down was the right thing to do. Why would you put a dog down that wasn't suffering?

It seems that you love animals though, so I know you probably did the right thing. I commend you for memorializing your Holly like you have here.

[GrandMaMa]

The hardest thing I have ever had to do was put Holly down. She was a loving, caring, compassionate soul who never met a human she did not like. She was a part of my own soul, my life to a high degree. Since I have no human children, in my heart I have lost my child.

As I consulted the vet, Holly sat down and kept silent. She looked up at Dr. Rose, then to us as to say I do not want to go, but I am so very ill. I will always love you and will be in my heart forever. With that, I told the vet to let her go. I spoke to her as she gently left this earth. Had the vet not told me she was gone, I would have never known. She gently left while in my arms.

I occasionaly wonder if I did the right thing, but thinking of her gasping for air and the way she looked the morning she died, I have no doubt nature would have taken her from me later that day.

One day, she and I will be together again.

This question is asked with the utmost respect, as this is a very sensitive subject, at least to those who care, which I happen to be one. Now, you feel that you and Holly will be together some day, right? Then you feel that she has a soul, right? If you had human children, would you have been able to be as merciful and attempt to stop his/her suffering in the same way? Again, please don't take offense at my question.

[Patrick]

This question is asked with the utmost respect, as this is a very sensitive subject, at least to those who care, which I happen to be one. Now, you feel that you and Holly will be together some day, right? Then you feel that she has a soul, right? If you had human children, would you have been able to be as merciful and attempt to stop his/her suffering in the same way? Again, please don't take offense at my question.

I'll take a stab at this. If my child was suffering and had sorry quality of life, I wouldn't be against assisted suicide. The way I feel, if a person can't live their life away from a hospital connected to a bunch of machines and inserted with tons of catheters, what's the point of living? It's medicine that's allowed people to live these suck extended lives. I'm all for medicine, but sometimes I think we preserve lives that probably should be let go.

[GrandMaMa]

I'll take a stab at this. If my child was suffering and had sorry quality of life, I wouldn't be against assisted suicide. The way I feel, if a person can't live their life away from a hospital connected to a bunch of machines and inserted with tons of catheters, what's the point of living? It's medicine that's allowed people to live these suck extended lives. I'm all for medicine, but sometimes I think we preserve lives that probably should be let go.

I couln't have said it better myself.