Quality of Life
When to say goodbye to your pet…
Time to say Goodbye...
Better a week early than a day too late. Knowing when to say goodbye to your pet is always hard. Some would even think they are killing their pet. However, this is NOT the case, you are NOT killing them; their ailing body and disease is. That being said, picking a date and time may feel like you are. So how do you determine when the time is near and start to make your plans on how you want to say farewell? Below are two resources that can help you with tha
What about the natural death process?
In this age of great marketing – the word “natural” is a big buzz word for “healthy”. However, natural doesn’t mean healthy at all. Mother Nature is indifferent and not always positive. Just look at all the natural disasters that have happened over the last few decades. It’s important to understand that natural is not without suffering. A natural death is better defined as a biological death – it is neither peaceful nor pleasant and rarely swift.
“I wish they would just go in their sleep so I don’t have to make this decision.” This is understandable but it is a statement more about us, the owner, and not our pets. Our pets do NOT understand why they feel the way they feel and when it will end. Pets live on survival instinct, so they just go keep going until their body gives out.
Our pets don’t live in the “natural” world, they live with us – their guardians. If our pets did live in the “wild” most of our pets would have been killed as prey long before they reached their ailing age. They wouldn’t have our protection to keep them going. A death by Mother Nature is far worse than euthanasia for our pets. They can be with you, their loved ones, in their last moments.
Yes, some pets will close their eyes and never wake up but that rarely happens. Our pets will suffer from the illness they have until they eventually succumb to it. For example, a pet with heart failure is having their lungs fill up with fluid like a person drowning. Their heart will eventually give out and stop but up to that point, they will be anxious and scared because they can not breathe. They are drowning and suffocating to death.
Isn't this Playing God?
When it comes to euthanasia and choosing a time to say goodbye, I know what that is like. I have been there personally. For me it was the only thing left I could do for my cat who was dying of kidney failure. I didn’t play God and I wasn’t the one killing her. Her disease was causing her to suffer, laying in the same place, not moving, and starving to death. As her guardian on this earth it was my responsibility to care for her, keep her safe, and comfortable even into her death.
This seems like a gloomy picture of what biological death looks like, but we want you to know what you would be getting yourself and your pet into if you chose a biological death. Many families do NOT understand what a biological death would look like for their pet. If you still would like a biological death, we would support you in your decision and do our best to provide palliative care for your pet until unassisted death does occur. We will always encourage euthanasia since we have it in our power to do this, however, we will respect your decision
Our Quality of Life Scoring Tool
We have several tools that you can download and use to help you gauge your pet’s quality of life (QOL). These include a quality of life scoring tool one for dogs and one for cats and we have disease handouts that help you understand what is going on with your pet and what to expect. Using these should help you see where your pet is currently and where they will likely go so you can plan ahead.
