One last piece of advice...If you cant get your normal vet to come out to the house you might want to check into a farm vet. They have to go to farms to check on animals so they would be more prone to come out to your place when the time comes.
Weasy,
I had to put my Rotty, named Oprah, down some years back and it wasn't until then that I knew what a true friend she had been to me. Agree with all the good advice above and want to warn you about waiting too long for your personal reasons. My neighbors are also very close to my dog as I now have another rotty named Snoop Dog and we have a little princess fence between our yards so that they can bring him over to their yard when out back. I will say that putting Oprah down was the hardest thing I have ever done as a grown man. Was absolutely heartbroken and the look in her eyes is forever ingrained in my memory because she was comforting me not the other way around and I cried that day and cried as I wrote this thinking about her now. I miss her friendship and always will but I don't miss her suffering as she got old quickly. I wish you nothing but the best on this and would say that you should not have the kids there under any circumstance and if the vet is willing then have them come out there as most will. Makes a huge difference IMO. Hope you are okay with your little buddy and I hope your personal sadness in only brief and replaced by all the good memories of your pet. They can never be replaced so remember them at their best not their last.
Hope this helps,
FDC
it defiinitely helps,fdc...thanks for taking the time to respond...
as well as everyone else..many guys i`ve had no interaction with on the forum...not surprisingly,looks like this is something that has affected an awful lot of us...
look at all the humanity on display from ex-jocks,hardcore gamblers and guys that generally have quite a bit of hard bark on `em:yup ....
a little friendly shin-kicking..lotta`gambling...some laughs...and some good advice and a little compassion from a friendly keyboard when it`s needed...
that`s why this place is what it is..
/thanks again,guys...
Well GW, this thread has made my decision easy. I'm married for going on 7 years next month, a little girl(6) and little boy(5). We've been thinking it was time to add a friend to the family but after reading this thread I'm not doing it. Sersiously, I'm feeling pretty bad for everyone that has had to do this and I don't want to be part of the club.
I worry enough about my wife and kids, that's enough for me.
.............................................................
that would be the worst decision you ever made.
Its the joy and love that the family has that makes it so sad when they go.
Its daily devotion from a pet especially a dog that is hard to explain.
do your kids a favor. Get a golden retriever.
Well GW, this thread has made my decision easy. I'm married for going on 7 years next month, a little girl(6) and little boy(5). We've been thinking it was time to add a friend to the family but after reading this thread I'm not doing it. Sersiously, I'm feeling pretty bad for everyone that has had to do this and I don't want to be part of the club.
I worry enough about my wife and kids, that's enough for me.
my parents couldn't have a dog around almost my entire childhood (8 and up) after the second dog got killed in the road. I hardly remember those 2 dogs, and I really think I missed out not having more pets. I actually became very close to a neighborhood dog. She came over every day after school to play, and she was like my own. She also got hit in the road in front of my house, but she thankfully survived. Anyway, layin, don't let these stories keep u from getting the kids a pet.
We have had to put 2 cats down since I was married in 1995. One was very old and had kidney failure. I gave her IVs at home for almost a year. My wife took her when I was out of the country when she became much more ill. I felt very guilty not being there to support her, and I cried like a baby when she emailed me that she put the cat down.
The second had cancer. It was rare mast cell cancer, and it developed on his cheek. It was like an oozing sore, and the vet didn't realize it until after 2 surgeries. This poor cat had to wear a cone, and he was absolutely miserable. We waited too long to have him put to sleep, but it was just so effing hard to let him go. I can still vividly see him with his cone and with the little sock we made to pull over his head to hold the dressing in place. Our tempurpedic mattress still has a blood spot on it where he drained all over the bed one night. It won't come out. My wife also took him, and she went by herself. That's just the decision we came to, right or wrong? I stayed home with the kids and comforted them.
She held both cats as they were injected. That was the best way for her to cope. We had both cats cremated, and we later spread the ashes in the yard at our home. The crematorium also gave us some nice papers that we still have.
I've dealt with way more human death (both friends and family and also patients) than I have animal death. Both are sad and tough. I still think about people in my life who have died as well as these 2 cats. I actually call the cat I have now by one of the deceased cat's names by accident from time to time. Tangentially, I had a friend who killed himself at 16 years old, and I think about him every day.![]()
Wease, sorry for your sick pet. For me, it's been better off to say my goodbye and not be there. For my wife, it was better for her to be there. If she had not been there, I would have; knowing she was made me ok with not being there because she was.
six,,,how hard on the cat was the"cone"(by that i think you mean the post-surgery collar to keep the cat from licking the sutures)....
i`m wondering if we opt for surgery ,it just might intensify and prolong the misery.....i can`t imagine this cat handling a "cone" very well at all..
/thanks
Scott, my father is 84 years old and when he was a kid he had to bring one of his dogs to the Vet to put him down. He said he still feels bad to this day. He feels like he let the dog down because the dog depended on him. I guess these are feelings we will live with forever. But if it didn't hurt then it wouldn't be real.
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