How do you deal with an 'on the way out' pet?

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It's not the money, it's feeding a system I don't like. For me, it's like supporting an oppressive communist regime by buying Chinese goods.

I only thought about releasing her in the forest for her own benefit. A last burst of life so to speak. You've heard Blood, Sweat and Tears "all I ask of dying is to go naturally". Who knows how a cat thinks really?

As far as dignity goes. How is poison more dignified than a bullet? How is incinerating the carcass in an oven more dignified than a forest burial?

I guess it's really not.....it's a tough one for sure.
 
As far as dignity goes. How is poison more dignified than a bullet? How is incinerating the carcass in an oven more dignified than a forest burial?

poison is more dignified because 1 it doesnt alter the appearance of the animal
and 2 you can look her in the eye, stroke her head and scratch her behind the ear while administering it

as for a cremation vs burial
when speaking of humans, i prefer burial over cremation on religious reasons which i will not bring in here

but as for animals, i can see a few "reasons" why it may be better

the main reason would be that after a cremation you know she wont be cold out there and there will be bug bothering her
 
It's not the money, it's feeding a system I don't like. For me, it's like supporting an oppressive communist regime by buying Chinese goods.

I only thought about releasing her in the forest for her own benefit. A last burst of life so to speak. You've heard Blood, Sweat and Tears "all I ask of dying is to go naturally". Who knows how a cat thinks really?

As far as dignity goes. How is poison more dignified than a bullet? How is incinerating the carcass in an oven more dignified than a forest burial?
I understand what your thinking! If it was me I'd call a friend and choose the bullet. No way I could do it myself. I wouldn't have a problem putting an animal out of its misery but no way I could put my own down. I'd have to have someone else do it. The vet business is ridiculous my 10 month old boxer jumped off the porch and broke his leg back in April and it cost me 5000 dollars to fix his leg! Had he been older I would have put him down but he is young and full of life I just couldn't bring myself to have him put down.
 
My heartfelt sympathy to the OP. I have had to do this several times with furry family members in the last 40 years. My current vet is the best - comes to our house where the dog or cat is most comfortable and at peace. She is so gentle and caring. And after caring for this animal for years, she does this final thing for nothing, and always cries with us when it is over. I hope this is my option when I go. My father died in agony with cancer for years and my mother lived for years with dimentia not knowing who anyone was, always terrified of everybody and anything. Their religion led them to that end and it was their choice, but not one I would make.
 
We did the same as @str12-340.

Our Vet came to the house and did the deed while Leo was lying on our bed. Much better than in a Vet office in my opinion. Then the cremation guy wrapped a blanket around him and took him. We got his ashes back along with a picture of the rainbow Bridge poem with a footprint and photo. All together it was $450. But well worth it considering the joy Leo gave me.

I'm really sorry you have to go through this, but I can tell it's something you're not taking lightly.

The only fault our pets have is they don't live long enough.
 
Our vet charges by weight...and then the cremation and return of ashes. I don't care what it costs. I love my 5 dogs like they were my kids...and have no problem paying. Maybe I am wrong but when you take in an animal and make them a pet it is your responsibility to take care of it. Part of that responsibility is to see that the pets life ends with some dignity and compassion...something it sounds like some may be lacking. Hell, just go to the closest area that has a serious drop off on the side of the road and just toss it...
We had to put our 12 year old American terrier pit ( Blazer ) down on May 5 2020.
His ashes were returned to us in a nice sealed wooden box with engraved name plate and born/death date.
He is placed along with his picture on our fireplace mantel. I loved that dog and I talk to him each morning and night.
 
Spent 3800 trying to save our cat who was renal failure at only 8 yrs, vet thought she was poisoned or ate something poisoned.
Her sister died a year later of the same, 3 months later decline, water iv injection daily. Very hard experience having them from kittens n they were thee best and never tore our things up. They also loved sushi and yogurt... they were top notch bird catchers too.

I feel for ya. They're like our furry kids.
 
Put a 17 year old beagle down 3 weeks ago. $69. I dug my own hole. That part was free and so will the rock be I put on top of her grave.
 
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It doesn't matter how many times you have to go through this, it never gets better or easier. We had our Anatolian Shepherd on medication for his last 18 or so months, he had a mass on his liver. It was about $800.00 a month for his medication and all of his food was home made by my wife. He was in good spirits until the day he died, he just refused to eat anything, wife took him to the vet that had been treating him, she said that there was nothing more that could be done, and we held him as he took his last breath. He was 12 years old.
The cost is not important to us, he was a part of our family, we had him cremated, I don't know what it cost, but I have had all of my dogs cremated, some of the ashes I have kept, some have been scattered in places that the dog was happy.
I am shocked that the vet is not being very helpful, I would find another one. I don't envy you being in the situation you are in, but I personally couldn't just let the cat go in the forest to fend for itself, but I do like the idea of burying it in the forest after.
 
Thanks for all the sincere replies. I have taken notes from all that was said and come up with my plan.
To preserve the dignity of my 'friend', I won't do Animal Humane or SPCA. You have to 'surrender' your pet first. And I won't ask a friend to do my dirty work. I'm not that schmuck.

I'm going to choose the vet and the two injections. Painless and humane. I doubt if the perfect shot is any better. Then I'm going to bury 'Lily' in the nearby National Forest. Yes I know it's illegal. Arrest me.

I did think about just releasing her into the forest. She is a totally indoor cat. That is why she made 19. Outdoor cats don't live long here. Anyway, releasing her seems cruel, but on the other hand it could be a last taste of freedom. It's tough to reason this out.
I wish you strength & a fast recovery, your kitty will still love you !
My wife & I had to give 3 of our cats to God in 1 year & we lost 2 last year. I went with her to put down our boy 3 years ago. It's something I just can't handle again. It is just the same as losing a friend as I'm sure you already know. Best wishes !
 
I've got a 19 year old cat. Average lifespan is 16, so she has had a good run. There are problems I won't mention and I don't want any pain and suffering like humans have to deal with in order to appease our PC society. Pet euthanasia is a racket around here. I have come to hate the veterinary industry and anyone involved. Last time, I spent well over $2,000 on a wild goose chase. All the money did was make the animal suffer more and fatten some bastard's wallet. I pulled the plug when the 'vet' wanted to keep the cat for 2-weeks in the 'pet hospital' sedated and connected to IVs. And a specialist, a gastroenterologist, was recommended. WTF.

To terminate your pet legally, generally you have to schedule an appt and pay what I think is way too much. And they can deny you at the appt. The first place I called is a 3-week wait. They recommended another place, just under $200 for the euthanasia and another $100 for cremation, and it is walk-in and at least a couple hours spent there. I don't get the ashes back and don't want them anyway, but to get the ashes back is WAY more.

I'm torn and disgusted. I have the money, but something inherent in me rejects this system and way of thinking and doing business. It's illegal here to kill your pet, but I couldn't man up enough to shoot my cat anyway.


Toughly,

Keep a chin up and believe you gave them the best life they could have had! If you have done this, then easing their pain in the end is the best thing. JMO

I have put down 2 great dogs in the last five years and it is never easy! We loved them to the end!
 
I couldn't man up enough to shoot my cat anyway.

That's what friends are for.

Don't put it off till the animal is suffering in the middle of the night. My mother had that happen with her dog. Went into suffering. Only option was to have a family member take it out and do it.
Or wait.

There is something else you could do. But I would get flamed. Not that it's inhumane.
Just not a popular thing.
 
Since 2008 I’ve had to put down 5 dogs. The first one was the wife’s dog about 9 months after we married. She was 16 years old and it was time. It nearly killed my wife. We had the vet come out and we did it right here, in the house. Annie was on her bed and I was laying down with here and telling her all the good things about here and how important she was to us.

She passed quietly and without pain. We buried her in the back are and after that I swore I’d never do that again. All the other dogs knew something was up when I was digging the hole. They knew something bad was coming. And I have to see her every day out there. I won’t do that again.

Next up was Chester, a special needs dog. We adopted him out of the Humane Society. He had been abused, neglected and had hip dysplasia and he suffered from seizures from the abuse. When I took one look at that dog and how ad he’d had it, I called the wife and said I’m bringing this dog home. And I did. He had a rap sheet as long as my arm, and it was all crapola. He was a fine dog.

When it was time for him, I made the HUGE mistake of making an appointment at the vet’s office. I will never do that again either. As is usual, I lost it and I didn’t like that in public. We had Chester cremated and his ashes are on my nightstand.

We adopted Sofie from the same Humane Society. She was a special needs dog too. A little tom boy Schnauzer that wanted to be a big male dog. Same thing with her. The vet came out here. Two easy shots and she just fell asleep in my arms. We had her cremated too. Her ashes are on my nightstand.

Then the Wednesday before thanksgiving 2015 I had to put down my number 1 dog ever. She was my ride or die road dog. A German Shepard that was dumped by some asshole. She was a spectacular dog. She went everywhere I went except to work. If I had to work late I’d run home, take her for a quick walk and then head back to work with her for a couple of hours. In 2013 she got cancer and I paid the 1500 bucks for the surgery. It saved her for almost 2 years. It came back with a vengeance. The vet and I discussed a second surgery and I was going to go for it. The issue was it had to be done at Washington State University. And it would take 12-15 days. When I told my vet the biggest issue was going to be the hotel and food costs to stay with her up there. And my vet said you can’t see her when she’s up there. And I said I’m not leaving my dog alone like that for 2 weeks and not see her. So that ended that.

The vet came out and right here on the living room floor, on her bed we did the 2 shot program and she literally went to sleep in my arms. She was cremated and is on the nightstand.

Buddy was next. I found him one Sunday morning on the way to a motocross race. He was sitting along side the road and it looked like he already crossed that busy road and he had nowhere else to go except back across that road. As I slowed down I could see he was a bit bloody so I figured he’d been hit by a car. So I pulled my dumb *** over, went and met him. He was a big, sweet dog. He’d been dumbed because he was covered in ticks and was a bit bloody. He followed me almost all the way to my truck, but he didn’t really want to go. So I went over and told him he was a good boy. Then I picked him up and put him in the truck. When I got to the track I called the wife and had her come pick him up and take him home.

We took him to the vet the next day. He wasn’t quite a year old and he had been shot with a shotgun. Someone tried to kill him or scare him. Either way, the vet removed what shot she could and we brought him home. That dog was a ball chasing fool. He lived to play ball. In 2019 when it was his time he got the same. Vet came out and then he was cremated. He sits on my son’s nightstand.

Up next is Rocky. He has Cushing’s, which caused him to be diabetic. He gets two insulin shots a day. Late last month we found out his little kidneys are shutting down. So now, every other day he gets an infusion to help his kidneys. The vet said he might make it 4 months. Maybe 8nat the most.

It will be the same for him. He will be taken care of here at the house with 2 shots and cremated.

After all that I can say I don’t remember what we paid for each dog but my wife says the most was 120 bucks. That included the house call and the drugs. I think the most we paid to have them cremated was 150 for the bigger dogs.

The only way I can put one down is with the shots. It’s clean, quick and painless. And I can’t bury another dog. I’d rather pay for the cremation.

It’s a tough, personal decision. Sometimes there is no clear, right answer. You can only do the best you can do.

A good vet is worth their weight in gold.
 
poison is more dignified because 1 it doesnt alter the appearance of the animal
and 2 you can look her in the eye, stroke her head and scratch her behind the ear while administering it

as for a cremation vs burial
when speaking of humans, i prefer burial over cremation on religious reasons which i will not bring in here

but as for animals, i can see a few "reasons" why it may be better

the main reason would be that after a cremation you know she wont be cold out there and there will be bug bothering her
Dude really poison? Do you have any idea what kind of an agonizing death that would be? Please don't take it the wrong way , I'm generally not an asshole brother but.
 
It's not the money, it's feeding a system I don't like. For me, it's like supporting an oppressive communist regime by buying Chinese goods.

I only thought about releasing her in the forest for her own benefit. A last burst of life so to speak. You've heard Blood, Sweat and Tears "all I ask of dying is to go naturally". Who knows how a cat thinks really?

As far as dignity goes. How is poison more dignified than a bullet? How is incinerating the carcass in an oven more dignified than a forest burial?
I can't for the life of me figure out how to upload a ******* photo to this place. when my baby died, I moved into my new house 12 Days before. the day before Valentine's Day last year it ******* killed me dude I know for a fact, when I go, I'd much rather you leave me out against the tree somewhere, looking at a creek, or the woods ,or something else. Not shove me on a cold a slab and have a needle put in my ***. now on the other side of the coin, I could not bear to dig a hole for my best friend. I hired a company, they came out with a gurney, Princess ( that was her name after doggy Witness Protection) was a Florida Black Mouth Cur. She had never rode in nothing but a Mopar. They came, i put Her on it. We loaded The Best Dog Ever, in a black Dodge minivan. She was cremated in a private facility that also takes care of some of our Finest Heroes. I'm not here to attempt to pass judgment on anyone. please don't take it the wrong way, I would gladly trade my life for that dog, or any other worthy person she was that cool. she was my best friend for 13 years, so there was no way in hell I could throw that dog in a hole. If I could figure out how to post a picture on here which every time I try to do that it says type in the URL which I have no idea how to do that, I gladly share a photo in my old 66 Satellite. Anyhow I have her ashes, and a paw Print. Also some of her ashes riding a little cylinder that used to be a keychain till the glass insert broke so I gave up keeping it on my keys and I got it hanging from my visor in my Jeep. It has a pink cross for breast cancer.. Extremely touchy subject for me and all I can say is all of you guys would have loved her, and I'm sorry about the Furry Family members lost. And **** CANCER!!!!!
 
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I can't for the life of me figure out how to upload a ******* photo to this place. when my baby died, I moved into my new house 12 Days before. the day before Valentine's Day last year it ******* killed me dude I know for a fact, when I go, I'd much rather you leave me out against the tree somewhere, looking at a creek, or the woods ,or something else. Not shove me on a cold a slab and have a needle put in my ***. now on the other side of the coin, I could not bear to dig a hole for my best friend. I hired a company, they came out with a gurney, Princess ( that was her name after doggy Witness Protection) was a Florida Black Mouth Cur. She had never rode in nothing but a Mopar. They came, i put Her on it. We loaded The Best Dog Ever, in a black Dodge minivan. She was cremated in a private facility that also takes care of some of our Finest Heroes. I'm not here to attempt to pass judgment on anyone. please don't take it the wrong way, I would gladly trade my life for that dog, or any other worthy person she was that cool. she was my best friend for 13 years, so there was no way in hell I could throw that dog in a hole. If I could figure out how to post a picture on here which every time I try to do that it says type in the URL which I have no idea how to do that, I gladly share a photo in my old 66 Satellite. Anyhow I have her ashes, and a paw Print. Also some of her ashes riding a little cylinder that used to be a keychain till the glass insert broke so I gave up keeping it on my keys and I got it hanging from my visor in my Jeep. It has a pink cross for breast cancer.. Extremely touchy subject for me and all I can say is all of you guys would have loved her, and I'm sorry about the Furry Family members lost. And **** CANCER!!!!!

I would just say this. What a human wants is most likely not what a pet wants. The only thing your pet know is it’s humans. That’s where they get their comfort and security. To die alone would be borderline cruelty.

There is no reason to put them on a slab. Do it at your house. The animal will be more comfortable and so will you. These animals don’t feel pain when correctly euthanized. They just literally go to sleep.

That’s all I’m saying.
 
I would just say this. What a human wants is most likely not what a pet wants. The only thing your pet know is it’s humans. That’s where they get their comfort and security. To die alone would be borderline cruelty.

There is no reason to put them on a slab. Do it at your house. The animal will be more comfortable and so will you. These animals don’t feel pain when correctly euthanized. They just literally go to sleep.

That’s all I’m saying.
I apologize for being an ***. They have a thing here called Lap of Love. They come your home. That way they can see you are there. I agree. Screw the slab
 
Best advice I have ever heard " If you're keeping your pet alive for them fine , If you're keeping them alive for you it's probably the wrong reason" When you think about it You do what's right for your pet.
 
A good vet will sedate first, sometimes with a lower dosage of the same drug.

Having you there so that the last things they see, feel, and hear are you is IMO "the right way".

I could not shoot a pet (unless that was the absolute last possible alternative, like If we were out in the wild with no time and no civilization) because the last thing that they would experience would be me scaring and/or hurting them.
 
Dude really poison? Do you have any idea what kind of an agonizing death that would be? Please don't take it the wrong way , I'm generally not an asshole brother but.

i dont mind
things get heated in these threads, im a big boy i can take it

but, let me explain

point 1: i was responding to post #25
i took the wording out of there and ran with it, just trying to give dodgelad an alternate point of view on the options, so he could make the most informed decision



point 2: when he said "poison" i presumed he was talking about the drug the vet gives an animal when they put them down...not the poison people leave out for stray or neighbor animals that destroy their flowerbeds and eat their koys


make sense?
 
That's what friends are for.

Don't put it off till the animal is suffering in the middle of the night. My mother had that happen with her dog. Went into suffering. Only option was to have a family member take it out and do it.
Or wait.

There is something else you could do. But I would get flamed. Not that it's inhumane.
Just not a popular thing.

Many years ago a young coworker and his wife took in a stray solid white kitten. It got rabies or something so another coworker loaned him a 25 caliber pistol. He comes in the next morning and said, "I wont ever do that again! I dug a hole in the yard, put the cat in the hole and fired a shot. The cat jumped out of the hole and looked right at me. I panicked, fired again cat fell back in the hole and twitched till it died. I guess I'm not a good shot. I got it burred, drank a couple of beers, then had a nightmare about it". The guy that loaned him the gun said something like, "We see cowboys on TV stand over a horse and shot it in the head. That's a much bigger head, hard to miss." The shooter said, "That spot in the yard is going to mess with me". Sure enough, as days went by, from time to time out of nowhere he would up and say, "Dreamed about that damn cat again last night." I didn't stay at the job much longer and didn't stay in contact with those guys. A few years later I heard through the grape vine that the boy died of alcohol poisoning shortly after his wife left him. In his 20s too.
This story I why I mentioned "sanity" in my earlier post.
 
i dont mind
things get heated in these threads, im a big boy i can take it
Yes sir I do now since you explain that more clearly I was thinking like poison poison my apologies it's a sensitive subject to me and I know from reading some of the posts on here a lot of us car guys happen to be animal lovers as well.
but, let me explain

point 1: i was responding to post #25
i took the wording out of there and ran with it, just trying to give dodgelad an alternate point of view on the options, so he could make the most informed decision



point 2: when he said "poison" i presumed he was talking about the drug the vet gives an animal when they put them down...not the poison people leave out for stray or neighbor animals that destroy their flowerbeds and eat their koys


make sense?
 
Thanks for all the sincere replies. I have taken notes from all that was said and come up with my plan.
To preserve the dignity of my 'friend', I won't do Animal Humane or SPCA. You have to 'surrender' your pet first. And I won't ask a friend to do my dirty work. I'm not that schmuck.

I'm going to choose the vet and the two injections. Painless and humane. I doubt if the perfect shot is any better. Then I'm going to bury 'Lily' in the nearby National Forest. Yes I know it's illegal. Arrest me.

I did think about just releasing her into the forest. She is a totally indoor cat. That is why she made 19. Outdoor cats don't live long here. Anyway, releasing her seems cruel, but on the other hand it could be a last taste of freedom. It's tough to reason this out.
Please don't let the cat outside. It will very likely be mauled to death by a predator. I feel your pain, and understand the frustration with vets. Check different vet offices, and see what they charge.
 
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Yes sir absolutely I thought I replied to this earlier I may not have hit the right button. It appears a lot of us in the how far brother and Sisterhood love our furry friends I just didn't understand your terminology it's time and I apologize if I caused you any upset. Not trying to start any ****. I just took it the wrong way man
 
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