Putting pets to sleep

[nevermore]

A woman who used to live across the road had three dogs put to sleep at the same time. The dog-catcher had told her she had one dog too many (we are only allowed two dogs per household in my council area). The woman and her two adult children couldn't agree which dog had to go so the woman insisted that all three dogs be put down. I thought all three of them were acting immature.

She is a pathetic, horrible person who should never be allowed near an animal again. I would never put a pet to sleep for convenience sake, and I honestly don't think it should be legal to do so. If I ever came across this person, I would personally punch her in the face for being a selfish cunt.

Anyway, my mother had to have my dog and her cat put down due to health reasons when I was in high school. The dog had throat cancer and the choices were to put her down or let her choke to death. The cat was 22 years old and had terrible arthritis in her hind legs, was incontinent and just miserable. I have three cats now and dread the day when I have to make that decision for them.

 

[Squiggy]

About 2 years ago, right after my surgery I had to put my 20 year old cat down. She was fine for about 5 days after I got back, but on Friday something happened...I think it was a stroke because she stopped doing everything. I didn't want her to suffer any longer than she already had so I took her to the vet that afternoon. They gave me a few minute alone with her and let me hold her as they injected her and she died in my arms.

 

[The Boy Who Cried Worf]

My girlfriend had to have her dog Lulu put to sleep about a month ago. Even though Lulu was blind and senile she still had a very wonderful home life. We took her to the vet one night when she was vomiting and foaming. Turns out she had lung problems that wouldn't get better. My girlfriend called me from work crying saying she had decided to put Lulu to sleep and could I be there to comfort Lulu when it was done. It was very quiet and peaceful.

I think this lady is the kind pf person who shouldn't own pets. Pets should only be put to sleep if they are sick or a danger. My girlfriend just got a new dog, a little Chihuahua named Chiquita. Her previous owner got foreclosed on and couldn't take care of her anymore so they put her up for adoption. If they had decided to put her to sleep instead my girlfriend wouldn't have the little bundle of joy she has now.

 

[freak]

The woman and her two adult children couldn't agree which dog had to go so the woman insisted that all three dogs be put down.

That's outrageous!

I've had to have several animals put down over the years -- all of them were elderly and very sick.

Even more outrageous was that I offered a solution. I told the woman that if she paid half the cost of getting her dog, which was the smallest and quietest of the three, desexed, and if she gave me some money towards feeding him, I would take him in and if one of her children left taking their dog with them I would then return the dog to her. She could have still taken him for drives in her car and seen him regularly.

However she refused my offer because I don't think she wanted to 'let her children win' or maybe she thought I would not have given him back.

That's really insane and stupid on their part to do that! I would have at least given the dogs up for adoption to go somewhere else.

As for putting pets down, yes I have had to do it in the past. We had a cat whom Mom loved very much and it had to be put down in 2000 because it had lymphoma..it had had treatments for it and they worked for a while but then Mom had to put the poor kitty down the next day cause he wasn't breathing properly. Mom cried histerically at the vet(I was at school at the time) came home, angrily threw the kitty stuff away and cried her eyes out for days over it. It hit her really hard and still does everytime she sees a silver-tipped persian in a picture or TV(that's what type of cat Bailey was).
And we also had to put down one of our dogs who was my baby because she had cancer as well. I think what happened was I had accidentally left out some old chocolate in my room(which is indeed deadly to dogs!) and came home and had found that my dog had eaten every single bit of the chocolate and then threw up black all over the carpet. I knew that at that point that I had killed my dog because of it and I blamed myself for her dying. I haven't really forgiven myself for doing that to her. But she had to be put down as well because of cancer.

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

I've put two dogs down, both due to benign tumors on their ears that became gangrenous. In both cases, the dogs were quite elderly and their hearts were too weak to weather the trauma of surgery, so our only option was to euthanize them.

It's such a hard decision to carry out, even when you have no other options and you know it's time. I still don't think I'm over either dog, and the first one was put down years ago. Polly, the second dog, was euthanised in May.

 

[May 20]

I've been fortunate that I've not ever had to decide to euthanise a pet. Our cat is 10, though currently in good health, so I suspect I will have to deal with that decision at some point in the future, hopefully not for several years.

When I was a kid, we had several animals who died, most of them from complications of old age, though one cat found some anti-freeze somewhere. That was a hard one to deal with. Since I've been grown, I know that my dad had to have his dog put down; he was going blind and became more aggressive because he was frustrated. Dad decided to do it after the dog bit him on the hand; he couldn't risk the dog biting one of the grandkids.

We love our pets, and they trust us. Having to think about euthanising a pet a tough thing to contemplate.

 

[Mallory]

I've had to do it a few times over the years, but it was always because of some terminal condition and because the either couldn't function any more or were in pain. It's never an easy decision though and it certainly doesn't diminish the loss of a member of the family.

 

[sbk1234]

We had to put a wonderful dog to sleep a couple of years ago. She was old and sick, and finally contracted terminal cancer. It was very painful and she couldn't walk. That's when we made the choice.
Now we fear we may have to do the same thing to her younger sister. She's showing some of the same symptoms.

 

[Australis]

I'd just like to add a little to what I said earlier.

If this has to be done, I really want to be there when it happens. Pets give you so much when they're alive, it's the right thing to do to give them a little comfort when they're going. it hurts like hell, but you feel better for doing one last thing for them.

 

[RJDiogenes]

The woman and her two adult children couldn't agree which dog had to go so the woman insisted that all three dogs be put down.

That's despicable. And how the hell is it illegal to abuse animals but legal to kill them on a whim?

We've had a couple of elderly cats that we contemplated putting to sleep as they got older and got feeble and sick. Both eventually ended up dying peacefully at home, though, which was much better.

When my cat got hit by a car and badly hurt, the vet wanted to just put him to sleep. I insisted that they help him and he ended up living another eight years.

 

[mimic]

We put our dog Sage to sleep when I was 11 or 12. His health deteriorated pretty quickly - he started having accidents more frequently and then one day his hind legs just stopped working. We took him to the vet and gave him the better part of a week to see if he'd get better. It was the saddest thing to see him dragging himself around trying to get to my Dad.

My current dogs are 13 and 10 and I know that day is coming. Hopefully not for a few more years - they're in pretty good shape still. The 10-year old isn't even gray yet.

 

[TrekkieMonster]

The woman and her two adult children couldn't agree which dog had to go so the woman insisted that all three dogs be put down.

That's despicable. And how the hell is it illegal to abuse animals but legal to kill them on a whim?

My thoughts exactly.

Last year (2008) was the "year of death" in our house, pet-wise. First, we had to put down our beloved 5 1/2 year old yellow lab due to incurable bone cancer, and I think it was the most gut wrenching thing I've ever done. I don't think I've ever cried as hard as I did during those last moments (or for weeks afterward.)

Unfortunately, we also had to euthanize our two 15 year old cats (at different times) last year, due to old age and advanced kidney disease. That was only a tad easier because we knew we'd given them very good lives and that they'd gone as long as they could without suffering.

 

[SmoothieX]

We had a German Shepherd when I was a little kid. He was slowing down considerably, but not suffering much. His days were definitely numbered, and one night he died in his sleep. Absolute worst moment of my childhood I think.

My parents also informed me my childhood cat (she lived forever, like 22 years or so) died about a month ago. I've had several cats over the years, and she was definitely my favorite. I felt bummed all weekend after they told me about it.

I've only had to put an animal down once. A dog we got when I was 10 or so. He was a mutt (hound mostly) from the pound. Miserably behaved, nipped at people, just generally a terrible dog we wished we could get rid of. The pound basically gave us the bait and switch, said they had they had a bunch of some sort of puppies (I forget the breed at this point) and only had this mutt and a couple of his littermates I assume they couldn't get rid of. When you promise a kid a puppy, you're not going to leave empty handed, so that's how we got him.

I was maybe 20 or 21 when we put him down. I don't miss him at all, but it was still extremely difficult to take him to the vet and have him put down.

My dog now is only 1.5 years old, but I can't even fathom how gut wrenching it will be when his time comes. I love that little guy.

 

[Saturn0660]

Like i would PAY someone to put my dog down.. When the times comes i'll handle it myself.

 

[Australis]

Sure you will.

 

[sbk1234]

I'd just like to add a little to what I said earlier.

If this has to be done, I really want to be there when it happens. Pets give you so much when they're alive, it's the right thing to do to give them a little comfort when they're going. it hurts like hell, but you feel better for doing one last thing for them.

When I was younger, about 20 years ago, we had a dog who had to be put to sleep. We chose not to be in there with him. We felt we didn't want to remember him that way. To this day, I still regret that decision as being selfish and cowardly. I've since had to put other pets down and now I insist on being there with them. Strangely enough, I've also found that somewhat comforting to me, as well. I will never make the same pathetic mistake of refusing to be with my pet when the time comes for euthanasia. Shame on me for not being there with that first dog.

 

[DBR]

It's a horrible, horrible, horrible thing to have to go through. But it just has to be done sometimes.

 

[AdAstra]

I've never had to put a pet down, but my 6-year old kitty Lucifer is very sick at the moment (his kidneys are failing), and I'm afraid I'm going to have to put him down in a few days, before he's in a lot of pain again :/

 

[FordSVT]

Yes, it is a very sad thing. But who wants to watch a beloved pet suffer? Especially when there is no hope of recovery.

Humans though, we let them rot for six months while they die of terminal cancer begging to be let go....

My parents recently had to put down both of our 15 year old Shi-zhus. They were sisters and both started suffering from organ failure within a month of each other. Two bad phone calls two weeks apart and I don't think I'll have another dog for a very long time. I own a cat at the moment and he's only four, but just thinking of what I'll probably have to deal with maybe a decade or more from now (the universe willing) makes me sad.

 

[NickInABox]

The woman and her two adult children couldn't agree which dog had to go so the woman insisted that all three dogs be put down.

That's outrageous!

I've had to have several animals put down over the years -- all of them were elderly and very sick.

Even more outrageous was that I offered a solution. I told the woman that if she paid half the cost of getting her dog, which was the smallest and quietest of the three, desexed, and if she gave me some money towards feeding him, I would take him in and if one of her children left taking their dog with them I would then return the dog to her. She could have still taken him for drives in her car and seen him regularly.

However she refused my offer because I don't think she wanted to 'let her children win' or maybe she thought I would not have given him back.

I'm sorry, but that is fucking *bullshit*. This woman-- Man, this pisses me off, because those dogs were fine, and she put them down like they were fucking nothing. I've always had a dog in my home, and watching the vets put my first dog, Bernie, down (I was 13, he was 14) was probably the most traumatic experience I'd ever been through. I would never have an animal put down without DAMN good reason, and this story you have here is just... it's cruel...
I really hope she's ashamed of herself for ending three defenseless lives.
She probably isn't.
The bitch.

EDIT: Your story ruined my day. Not your fault, though. People need to be shot sometimes.