When is it time to say goodbye to a dog
How Do You Know When It’s Time to Say Goodbye to a Pet? | Vet Advice
There's one question I get a lot and
people tend to call me and ask me
when's the right time to euthanize their
pet? Particularly when they're sick or
they're older and their quality of life
is declining and what's most important
to me is that when people are calling me
it usually means that they think it's
the right time and I actually just
listen to them. It's not the
veterinarian's job to tell you, you live
with your pet so you're the one who's
going to decide ultimately what your
pet's life is like at that time and what
you really need to focus on is its
quality of life not its quantity of life.
So you want to make a decision at a time
when they're still comfortable you don't
want to wait to the point that they're
really in pain, that will be an easy
decision at that point but you never
want to have to wait that long.
You should look at every day and decide
a pet that's happy and has a good
quality of life, they interact with you,
they eat wel,l they take enjoyment about
going outside.
You look at that day and you say is that
a good day or is that a bad day? If they
do all those things that's a good day,
even write it in a calendar and if they
don't that's a bad day and you take a
look at those and you say when the bad
days come more often than the good days,
that's where you know that quality of
life is waning and that you have to
start to really consider that aspect.
Hopefully you're in a position where
that dog or cat has lived a very long
life and you've got to remember that
you've taken good care of this animal
for its life. The most important thing is,
is that you're going to have to pick the
time and the place for something like
this to happen. It's supposed to be a
natural event but you're going to pick
the time and the place for it to take
place and that means you're going to be
the designer of it and what that does is it
will make you feel guilty.
It's very important that you don't do
that. You've taken care of this animal
for its life and it should be a time
where you say goodbye and that evening
would be the best time to try to
celebrate its life to not wrap up that
decision and make it represent the
lifetime of your relationship with your
pet. The other things to consider as well
as you definitely want to work with your
veterinarian addressing those issues of
quality of life as best you can before
you come up on that decision. Have a good
conversation with your veterinarian
about how that final stage or decision
is going to take place and how that's
gonna go.
You'll find more resources here on
healthcareforpets.com
