Pets and People

How to know when it is time to say good­bye?
How do you know when it is time for euthanasia?

This deci­sion is the hard­est part of own­ing a pet, our pets and com­pan­ions have put their trust in us, and we must decide when enough is enough.

I believe there are sev­eral impor­tant ques­tions to ask yourself.

Is the pet still eat­ing and drink­ing?
Can the pet walk enough to get up and go to the toi­let by itself
Is the pet still happy to see you?
Have you had your pet exam­ined by a vet?

If all rea­son­able vet care has been given to the pet and there is noth­ing else you can do to relive the suf­fer­ing it may then be time to con­sider euthanasia.

Peo­ple find this deci­sion very dif­fi­cult and spend a lot of time ago­nis­ing about it. Usu­ally as the dete­ri­o­ra­tion in the pets con­di­tion hap­pens slowly and there is no clear rea­son or time to take the pet down the vet. It is always good to talk to your vet about the con­di­tion of your pet as there maybe sim­ple solu­tions to your pets prob­lems. The vets’ job is to help you make this deci­sion and then sup­port you in this decision.

Some­times eco­nomic rea­son­ing must come into the deci­sion mak­ing, you could spend a lot more money but this may only extend the life of the pet for a small amount of time. Some peo­ple would put them­selves into a lot of debt to pay for the treat­ment of their pets. This always hum­bles me as a vet that peo­ple would go with­out so much to save their pet. But some­times peo­ple have to be real­is­tic and see that the best solu­tion is euthana­sia, this can be quite painful to realise if you had more money you would go ahead with the treat­ment. This is a dif­fi­cult deci­sion to make and you must bal­ance the eco­nomic real­ity to the needs of the pet, your pet would not want you to suf­fer for it sake.

When you know it is time you need to stay focused on that deci­sion and do all the right things to make sure it is a good euthanasia.

By Michael O’Donoghue BVSc
Peo­ple and pets

http://www.people-and-pets.com