As everyone knows, making the decision to put your pet down is never easy. We ended 2015 with doing just that.
Our dog Missy, who was 15, had a tumor on her leg that could not be completely removed because of it's location. They could remove some of it, or amputate the leg.... 1) Putting a 15 year old through a surgery to not remove all is was not ok in my mind. 2) Amputating the leg of a 15 year old was not even a consideration.
Did I mention that Missy was deaf and had cataracts?
Even when it seems like the right thing to do, you question yourself.
I've sat on the kitchen floor and cried contemplating this decision while Missy came over, wagged her tail and nudged my face as if to say, "It's ok, it's my time"
Eric and I were going to have her put down before the girls came home for Christmas. I wanted to shield them from the hurt, but then I realized that Missy has been with them for 15 years, such a huge part of their life. I sent a text to all three girls telling them (they knew at Thanksgiving it would be happening but we didn't know WHEN) that I felt her leg was starting to bother her and we felt it was time. I asked if they wanted to be with her and all 3 said yes. I cried. Again. I cried because it meant so much to me that they wanted to be with her, honestly, I'm not sure I could've done it at their age.
The only time all 3 girls were going to be home was at Christmas so the day after Christmas we left for the vet. We knew we wanted to bury Missy on our property so Eric had previously dug a hole because we didn't know if it was going to be snowing. Thankfully this was a no snow Christmas. Here are some things I'd love to share with you on this subject:
~If you have children, don't assume they don't want to be part of it. Don't think you are shielding them from pain. Let them make that decision.
~Talk to your vet, ours was so supportive. Find out the details. Our vet had a separate room with a couple of chairs and a rug so it wasn't the "sterile" room. There were tons of treats and they encouraged us to give her as many as we wanted.
~Our vet was so kind and told us exactly how the procedure would happen. She gave us time to hang out with Missy. There is absolutely no way to prepare yourself for this. We talked to her (even though she was deaf) and loved on her and I will tell you, Missy knew she was loved. There is no doubt in my mind.
~Don't remove their collar. I actually read this a few weeks prior. A friend had posted a blog from a vet tech saying the things they wished people knew when it came time to euthanize. At least in our home, when we took the collar off, it meant bath time and they were so excited when we put it back on! I would NEVER had thought of that and I'm not sure if I would've thought to remove it before she was euthanized but I was thankful to have read that.
Eric said it was harder to bury Missy than watch her be put down. He said it didn't seem right burying her and he said that he felt bad knowing she was there by herself. Cue the sobbing.... (of course I reminded him that she wasn't there, only her body) Emily carried her from the car (she was wrapped in a quilted blanket) which absolutely tore me up. I don't know if I could've done that. But I realized that we all did exactly what we could and were supposed to do that day. quilted blanket which was
15 years is a long time... Eric isn't really an animal lover like we are and honestly, I think this hit him the hardest. You just never know how people are affected.
In the end, it's such a tough decision but the animal's quality of life should be the most important. It was important for us that Missy not suffer. She was a rescue and lived a fantastic life. She followed me from room to room in the house, she was such a loyal animal. Was she annoying at times? Absolutely. But amazingly those annoying times disappear and you do only remember the good! Love your animals! They depend on you!
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