Retchub.. At the end of the day, its a dog!

Its not just A dog, its HIS dog!
You must be a fool if you don't get that.
Just because its not important to you doesn't mean it isn't important to someone else.

I had to put down my old stallion recently. He had a visible cancer that was not worrying him, [you can see from their actions], for about 9 months, then started losing condition very rapidly.

In deference to my daughter who competed on him for years, I called in the vet, rather than shoot him.

If ever you have to put an animal down, & chose lethal injection, insist the animal is anesthetized first. I have no idea if my stallion was aware & in pain, but the thrashing around as he died was dreadful to see. No one in future will be able to convince me that a quick shot to the brain is not much kinder.

After 28 years I really miss the old boys nicker when I walk out the back door. He may have been only wanting a carrot, but I like to think it was a bit more than that.

I have since had to put down my youngest daughter's 18 year old cat. I think may have been clipped by a car. One quick shot, & the cat did not even move. I know it was instantaneous, & painless.

One of the unfortunate aspects of pet ownership is, unless its a Galapagos tortoise, they tend to die before you do.

In NathanJ sisters case, if she has the money and really wants to do it, why not. It is not only important for the dog, but it will help the owner as well to know she has done the best she can for an animal she loves. Its only money.

Paul1405, "It is not only important for the dog"

A good life is good for the dog and easy to see. Being traumatised by the treatments for optimistically delaying the inevitable with cancer is not.

I wonder how many here have seen the ravages of courageous veterinary intervention on a dog. It is not with you but mainly in a strange environment suffering enormous pain as one treatment after another, usually cutting away flesh and bone, is performed. Cancer of the nose for instance is common in dogs for instance and always results in death. They keep on cutting and the wretched animal donates the bone of its skull to put dollars towards those new profit centres the entrepreneurial veterinary practice has invested in at the encouragement of some sales rep.

Amazing how many fleas there are in the shabby business of spruiking new ways to get more dollars from the public. It is everywhere, from Real Estate Property Managers diversifying fees and creating new essentials, "We always get a professional photographer (and get a $$ kick back)" to veterinarians taking unethically taking advantage of vulnerable owners, "We have a new Oncology Unit" instead of being forthright, practical and kind to the suffering pet and owner.

It is so easy from the script, "This is a lovely dog/cat/pigeon/whatever and I can see s/he is a loved member of the family, what we can do is this...".

Hasbeen,
There is no way that green dream with anaesthesia first is an improvement upon the veterinarian's or owner's use of a well placed .22 instead.

oh dear Arm Chair, any wonder the world's in such a mess.

Dear Hasbeen,

Our old mare lasted 34 years before we had her put down. It was the vet who said go the bullet rather than injection and I was bloody glad of it. She was dead before she had dropped an inch. Not that there hadn't been plenty of close shaves before that. Seemed every couple of years she would collapse, a bit of blood would come from her nose, we would call the vet who would say it didn't look good and by the afternoon she would be back on her feet as good as rain.

It was miserable going for us after she went though, and it took months before I stopped looking for her out the back.

Last week I had to euthanase my kids pet rabbit. He had copped some mixo (shocking way to go). It had taken me a while to warm to the little blighter but he was a real character and seemed to take a shine to me, always coming straight to my room whenever he was let inside. He would do laps around the lounge and take flying leaps over my legs. Just a top fella.

I've put plenty of rabbits and other things out of their misery but I will admit this cut me up.