Do dogs know they’re dying? Here’s what experts say about a dog’s final days
One of the links in the article is to this Facebook posting by an exasperated vet. I'm pretty sure I posted this a while back...
When you are a pet owner, it is inevitable, the majority of the time, that your pet will die before you do. So, if and when you have to take your pet to the vet's office for a humane, pain-free ending, I want you all to know something.
You have been the center of their world for THEIR ENTIRE LIVES!!
They may just be a "part" of yours, but all they know is that you are their family. It's a crappy decision/day/time/event every time, there is no argument against that, and it is devastating for us, as humans, to lose them. But please, I beg you, DO NOT LEAVE THEM!!
Do not make them transition from life to death in a room of strangers in a place they don't like.
The thing that people need to know - that most don't - is that, THEY SEARCH FOR YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THEM BEHIND!!
They search every face in the room for their loved person.
They don't understand why you left them when they are sick, scared, old, or dying from cancer, and they need your comfort.
Don't be a coward because you think it is just too hard for YOU. Imagine what THEY feel, as you leave them in their most vulnerable time, and people like me are left to try our best to comfort them, make them less scared, and try to explain why you just couldn't stay.
From a tired, broken-hearted vet
Oh My, reading the words of this vet tightened my throat, for it bring back memories of when I had to bring for such an end of life both Archibald, my beloved Golden retriever, then Astrid my Spaniel cocker a few years later.
ReplyDeleteI was lying down on the vet's table alongside Archibald, whispering in his ear. By the time the vet came in with the syringe my beautiful friend had given his last breath.
Astrid was almost deaf, so I hummed a lullaby of sorts to her while petting her the way she loved it during the injection.
And the emptiness that follows.
The kind that can bring tears to the eyes years later, like right now.
This gentle vet is so right, for I'll never be ashamed of these tears.
I have had to do this so many times, but never once was I not holding them and talking to them when the shot was give and they passed over the rainbow bridge. And never once did I hold back any tears.
ReplyDeleteI so agree....
ReplyDeleteTHIS, THIS, and MORE THIS.
ReplyDeleteThere's a veterinary service here that comes to your home and provides a loving transition for your furry friends. We used it when our Bobo let us know it was time, and we'll use it again with our others when the time comes.
Laurent - I was thinking of you when I put this together.
ReplyDeleteScott from Massachusetts said...
ReplyDeleteI would never let my pet be put down without staying with them.
When my favorite dog had to be put down, I put on a brave face as he went to sleep as I held him, then I cried like a baby. Still miss him to this day.
Thanks for this article Rick.
Scott - You're welcome.
ReplyDeleteJ. Johnson speaks for me -- my experiences were just the same, only with my feline companions. (I had dogs as a kid, but only cats after I became an adult and mostly lived alone [i.e. without a human partner or roommate], which meant that my work and commuting schedule precluded having the time to give a dog the TLC and walks and play that it really needs. I usually made sure I had at least 2 cats at a time, so they wouldn't become lonely or bored during my long workdays.)
ReplyDeleteI'm convinced that like dogs, cats too sense when their end is near and are exquisitely attuned to loving you with every bit of strength and connection they can muster. Mine certainly did!
My cats' vets over the years sometimes offered me the option of not witnessing the final injection, and I always refused -- the cats were my very best friends and I insisted on holding and comforting them every moment til the light went out of their eyes and their limbs grew completely still. (I knew I'd made the right call in at least one vet's eyes when she sent me a handwritten and deeply comforting condolence note a few days afterward -- she really sensed our deep connection and my genuine grief.)
this reading broke my heart. it is very sad, but it is necessary to remember that there are people without heart and without empathy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for posting this. If you aren't willing to love them enough to be with them when they die, you don't deserve to be with them when they live. Leaving them to die alone is more cruel than any physical punishment you could perpetrate. Watching my beautiful beloved friends leave this earth is the most painful thing I have ever endured, but I would do it again and again and again, because they deserve the same level of devotion and love as they give to us. I want to be the last face they see, the last voice they hear, and the last touch they feel. That's what I owe them.
ReplyDeleteMark1147 - Thanks for being such a good cat-dad.
ReplyDeleteSassy - Very well said.
I gave Owessiu (OSU) a warm bath, and laid with her in the bed, after drying her off. Swaddling her with a dry towel.
ReplyDeleteI stroked her head, with her labored breathing. Giving her a hug, and gentle knuckle massage. Eventually she stopped breathing.
I continued to pet her for four more minutes.
Anon@7:18pm - Thank you for sharing that.
ReplyDelete