Don't know if I'm going against the grain of this thread.. but doing everything to extend a pet's life is perhaps not always the best option when the pet is suffering.
We had a beautiful large cat, he was half Maine Coone and just a splendid intelligent sleek feline. He walked like a panther.
When he was still young he developped kidney disease and severe kidney stones and regardless of a special diet and lots of care, several times he had to have a catheter inserted to empty his bladder.
Things went from bad to worse and his quality of life became very very poor.
I held him and cried like a little girl when the vet put him to sleep.
I let him go. An operation would have prolonged his life a little longer perhaps, but his suffering was too much.
My last cat was 14.5 years old when he died of a natural cause, found him in the garden, other then being a big cat, he was fine and dandy.
Then again, whenever he was sick, no cost was spared to get him up and running again.
A pet , be it cat,dog,bunny etc gives allot of loving back if you take care for them , i am sure a decision to end an animals life is not taken lightly.
Its like my vet here said when we went in with Josie , for some people its just a pet and they will cut the cost short if it gets to expensive and replace it if cheaper.
For others ( like you, me and all the other ones here) the pet is like family , a close friend.
Needles to say you would do for your beloved pet as you would for your partner.
But if there is no return, and you have tried every single option, then there is no easy way to do it..been there..hopefully never again.
No need to pro long your pet's pain and troubles,how hard that may sound..
Don't know if I'm going against the grain of this thread.. but doing everything to extend a pet's life is perhaps not always the best option when a pet is suffering
No, I think your comment is very much in line with the rest of this thread. As one of the first posters mentioned, making the decision to treat or not to treat a sick animal is very much influenced by the animal themselves - and you have to be close to an animal to understand it's feelings and lust for life to that extent.
To illustrate, while my husband and I have travelled many miles and spent many GBP and sleepless nights to help one bunny survive some painful times against the odds, his predecessor was put to sleep in my husband's arms. In theory he had only lived 40% of his life by that point but his particular tipping point had been reached. If any amount of cash would have prolonged his life and given him a good quality of life we would have spent it, instead, realising that prolonging his life would be for our benefit rather thn his, we took the most difficult decision - and my husband who was spending many months in war zones had to be coerced in to putting our baby back on to the table so we could go home after the injection was administered.
A few days later we rescued another rabbit from a shelter where he had been dumped over the fence - the rest you know from my earlier posts in this chain. Thumper was delicate and was better off in the big carrot patch in the sky; Bernard is a fighter and much prefers real carrotts for the time being.
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Thumper was delicate and was better off in the big carrot patch in the sky; Bernard is a fighter and much prefers real carrotts for the time being.
Here is a link to a very short video of Thumper and I back in 2004 Putting him to sleep was the toughest decision of our lives.
And a few piccies - Bernard now, in one of his tunnels; Bernard scabby while with Myxy; Bernard posing for photo and finally Bernard learning his rightful place as mattress for his wife, Minty.
Last edited by rachelryan1978; 08.11.2010 at 02:16.
Reason: Accidentally uploaded a photo of someone else's 3 year old - and you can go to jail for stuff like that these days!!!
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Our oldest daughter always wanted to be a vet and spent every Saturday and school holidays working for a local practice. She finally decided it was not for her, as she realised that vets too often have to do things which are NOT in the animals interest - but the breeders, the farmers or owners. She felt so often animals were kept alive, had massive and invasive operations, etc, when a peaceful and painful exit would have been much better for them.
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Aah yours did the same like Joske does, when ever he is near my face or hand he is licking it so cute.
Sure some people say " and bunny eats his poo with that " but then get slobbered all over by their dog, don't see any difference as a dog or cat lick their own a** too
However if you love an animal you don't care, i know i don't.
Cute bunnies, seem to have a good life with all the toys
Our oldest daughter always wanted to be a vet and spent every Saturday and school holidays working for a local practice. She finally decided it was not for her, as she realised that vets too often have to do things which are NOT in the animals interest - but the breeders, the farmers or owners. She felt so often animals were kept alive, had massive and invasive operations, etc, when a peaceful and painful exit would have been much better for them.
Good one, i have often wondered how vet's go on with the emotions of people and animals, it must hurt as much for them as for the owner i guess.
Its never fun to see a pet being put to sleep but if the love for it exceeds everything (often does) then we do what we can to pro long the life, even just for a few days..eventualy you have to let it go but no matter when or how, its always hard.
In Ireland Josie was ill, not feeling well at all and nothing seem to help, when i asked Barbara ( vet ) to try everything, but should all go to worse, what would happen,could she die ? When i said those words, Barbara covered Josie's ears and said not to think of that, all would be well.
Now 8 months later all is better, still a small issue there but much less and she is now more joyful, playful and cuddly. I trust my Swiss Vet as he helped her improve, hopefully cure her soon of what she has.
I have a deep respect for vet's , the way they can do it without blinking, yet respectfull and compassionate with the pet's owner.. i don't believe it leaves them completely cold after doing so.
When my first cat died ( i was young and praticly grew up with the cat) our vet saw how devastated i was.
2 days later in the evening, the doorbel rang and there he was, with a cute little furry kitten for me,i never forget that day, nor do i forget what the vet did for me.
The cat he brought sadly enough passed away last year,after living over 14 years, the day after Christmas.. being 28 it was stil hard to say goodbye to a companion that ran around the place.
Now when i go over to my parents place, i still look in the sofa, or on the table where he use to sit, well knowing he isn't, just something that won't change.
Bottom line is,I have a tremendous respect for Vet's and all who work there, they offer all they can to make your beloved pet feel better, but also offer a shoulder when nothing can be done, thats how i know a vet is good, no..great !
We spent thousands of dollars on our cat who passed away in September, 2007. He's currently buried in a pet cemetery in Indiana with a bronze customized and engraved headstone. We go visit him whenever possible!
The lovely cat threw a blood cot back in early summer 2007, then after emergency vet visit and another day at our regular vet and boarded at our regular vet for another week and a half, he's saved with his back legs paralyzed however. We took him to the teaching vet clinic two hours away from where we lived. He visited the cardio specialist vet there and was diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. The really sad and ironic thing is that daddy is a cardiologist! Yet there is no surgery for cats to help him by removing the clot! the lovely cat was then put on a very expensive cardio med, the same and currently one of the best, human takes as a blood thinner.
He was recovering the entire time, walking while dragging his back legs. He wanted to jump and we were really sad seeing him like that. Later, we sent him to a pet physical therapy place. He was boarded there as this was again 2hrs away from where we lived. He spent a month or so there, going through all the PT stuff including underwater treadmill. We knew how much you suffer - it must've been tough for a cat to do anything in water, especially an underwater treadmill!
Finally we picked him back up and took him home. He was able to jump quite high at that time even though one can tell that he wasn't 100% on his back legs. Maybe at most 60-70% I would say. The vet at the teaching hospital said that he's actually done really well for a cat. He was 4 years old at that time, so young!
However, we started to notice that he's got a patch on his nose. It did not look good. We took him to our regular vet and another vet in town. Neither raised any red flag. It wasn't until his regular cardio follow-up back at the teaching hospital that the cardio specilist raised a red flag on his nose. We scheduled an appointment with the internal specialist vet the following week as suggested by the cardio vet.
A couple days later before he ever made it to the internal medicine vet, he laid in his litterbox all day and would not move or eat. That made us panic. We drove two hours to the teaching hospital as I did not want to go to the local emergency vet. We arrived there slightly before midnight and he was taken into emergency service. We left the hospital and drove back. At 1am Sep 27, 2007 we got a call from the teaching hospital that he has passed away. The vet tried to draw blood from him and tried to give him a drip, but he passed away before the vet was able to give him the drip, the nutrition he needed.
There has been no formal diagnosis, but we knew he did not die from his cardiomyopathy. Later, speaking with daddy, we all agreed that he has most likely been infected with MRSA. That probably came while he was boarded for PT as there were quite some dogs/cats there with open wound.
It was a sad story. We did not sleep that night. We searched online forever to find a pet cemetery for him and eventually found one that didn't need him to be cremated. We then arranged for a pet funeral service to pick him up from the hospital which was an hour away from the cemetery. We drove 1.5 hrs down to the cemetery and had prayers and service for him that Saturday. My boyfriend at the time took a two hour flight at last minute to make it there with us.
We still have his brother who is now 7.5 years old and he's living happily in Zurich. He got checked out for cardiomyopathy at the time back in 2007 and was cleared.
ps. I thought I wouldn't be so sad anymore, but just typing this almost brought out tears again.
pps. I have every since been wearing the same necklace - one that's got his paw print, minimized with laser and engraved on the back his name and dates...
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Good question... If I had a choice between saving my dog or someone's baby... I would probably save my dog. But this question is to do with medical bills. I think if my dog had to suffer more because of the surgery then I would have to put her to sleep... I just would not be able to let her suffer.
This sounds a bit too far to go to save your pet. I hope you do not mean this.
Why not?
Some of us are a little batty over our pets, treat them like part of the family - and there are some who arent that into animals. Different strokes for different folks. Who is anyone to judge?
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Sorry to hear about your cat.
Sadly enough its a risk taken..you know when you have a pet it will die at some stage.. if one of 2 bunnies would die i would freak out, yet its a thing that can't be stopped.. but i rather don't think of it and enjoy every minute with them that i can.
But its nice that in the world we live in, a service such as Pet Cemetery and Funeral services can be arranged, afterall a pet to some of us is a part of the family..
@bnb1884:
Bit harsh, wouldn't you try to save both?
@dodgyken :
Yep its "only " a cat , but for some its a part of the family.
My vet here in Frick said, " for some its only a pet and can be replaced the next day, for others its like their baby and they will do what ever is needed" , that a personal choise ofcourse.
Think of it, A pet is not Christmas, Its for Life, doesn't care if you pay 500euro for a pet or you got it from friends, its still a living companion that runs around the place and chears you up when needed.
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Don't get me wrong - I have had cats in the family for many years - probably the last 25 - and enjoy having a cat. She is part of the family. She is treated rather well, will happily sleep between my legs - and do all the catty things you would expect from a pet.
But she is "just a cat". We would miss her if she wasn't there. She is part of our lives. But she is only a cat.
I know how much pets can mean to some people.
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Don't get me wrong - I have had cats in the family for many years - probably the last 25 - and enjoy having a cat. She is part of the family. She is treated rather well, will happily sleep between my legs - and do all the catty things you would expect from a pet.
But she is "just a cat". We would miss her if she wasn't there. She is part of our lives. But she is only a cat.
I
7K is allot, i agree, so money wise if i can be so bold to ask, how far would you go ?
and said not to think of that, all would be well.
the lovely cat was then put on a very expensive cardio med, the same and currently one of the best, human takes as a blood thinner. 
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