I had to put down my first dog. She had liver cancer and had stopped eating. She was living at my mother's house at the time and I got to spend some time with her before she made the last trip to the vet. Yes, life is sacred, but the animal is in your care. This isn't a wild animal that can care for themselves. I believe you have an obligation to your pet, and euthanasia is much better than watching your dog starve to death. It doesn't make it any easier, but when death is 100% guaranteed, your pet deserves the most comfortable way to go.

I'm sure it was. It's incredibly difficult, but there reaches a point where its remaining life will be nothing but pain. I hope that when I reach that point that I or someone I love will have the heart to put me down.

FWIW, I have had to be present for the euthanasia of a couple dogs in my past. In both cases they were in a great deal of pain, but it didn't make it any less heart wrenching. I think it's definitely the right thing to do, if there really is no recourse or hope for recovery. It sounds like this was the case with your dog. As a dog that lived to 17, you should feel good in knowing that it led a much longer life then most dogs, and probably a much better life from the sounds of things.

I have known people to put down dogs or cats for the sake of convenience, and I think that's entirely different and completely unconscionable. I guess if it's really genuinely for the sake of the animal, then it's probably the right thing to do. If not, then it isn't.

It's been almost a year since I had to euthanize my first true dog. One that I singlehandedly raised and shared a home with for 12 years. It was certainly one of the hardest things I've done in my life. But, like you, one that I do not regret doing. I have since gotten two more dogs knowing full well that one day I may be doing the same difficult thing again. They give us many years of joy, friendship and devotion. The weeks of pain we endure is a small price to pay. Likewise the weeks of pain we can free them from, I feel, is our duty.

As to the moral question of euthanasia, especially as it relates to the difference between pet and humans, I have no answers. I have to figure out religion before I can tackle that one.

On the bright side, Otis saved Roger a spot!

My deep sympathies and sorrows for you, Fletcher. Much as I like to doubt things, I believe you did the right thing.

If I may be so bold, would you not have felt more guilty if you chose to prolong his life for selfish reasons?

As a pet's owner, you must be sensitive to whether your dog or whatever is happy any longer and keep your responsibility to the end. There mustn't even be anything seriously wrong with an animal - at old age, they may just become too tired to enjoy life any more. My veterinarian mother certainly made sure that all of us understood that from the get-go, that getting a pet means taking care of him all the way, and that includes making sure he doesn't suffer, no matter how painful it is for you to put him down. Though we all have a huge survival instinct, a pet's owner has to be above that and look at what's best for the animal. I guess she sees a lot of people clinging on to false hopes, in denial prolonging their loved one's suffering.

Being so sure about this with animals all my life has later on made me think quite a bit about euthanasia and humans. I guess it isn't a huge surprise that I'm absolutely pro-euthanasia - I just don't see any other way.

Fletch,

All of my best to you, losing a pet is tough. Having to make the decision is a gut wrenching experience. We rescued a stray cat that lived with us for 10 years before being taken by rampant cancer. Making the decision, being in the room and living in the aftermath was one of the hardest things I've ever done. Less than 2 years later, we had to put down our second cat who was in declining health. The events still haunt me today, to a certain degree.

However, as the caretakers of our trusted companions, we bear the weight of making the decision when the time has come.

You did the right thing. You gave him a home, you loved him and you made every effort to ensure that his quality of life was preserved as much as possible. If it gives you any solace, at some other point (certainly when you are ready) you'll find the spirit of your companion shining through the eyes of another little one. Life, the universe and all that has a way of coming full circle.

I know I see flashes of my other cats in the two little kittens we've got now. Maybe it's corny and all in my head...

In any case, keep you chin up Fletch. You absolutely did the right thing.

I've done it. And I've watched, as a kid, as my parents didn't have the guts to have our sick cat euthanized and it died a painful, slow death in our basement. I'll never forgive them for that. Euthanasia is a merciful, caring way to ease your pets suffering.

You did the right thing.

I'm really sorry for your loss Fletcher. It sounds as though you were close to him and it's never easy to have to do that.

A few years ago, I had to give the order to put one of our cats down. We'd had her for almost 15 years and though she was an outdoor cat and had a real neurotic personality, she was always the picture of health. Then one day, she suddenly started walking oddly. This continued to worsen over the next week or so and by the time I took her into the vet, she could only walk sideways. After a couple of hundred dollars in tests, the vet told me that she had developed a small spinal blockage and that's what was impeding her movement. They said they could do well over a thousand dollars in expensive surgery and further tests but they would be very uncomfortable for the cat and it was as likely as not that they wouldn't be able to do anything. I couldn't reach my mother at work so I alone had to give the order to put her down and watch her slip away. As she was drawing her last breaths, she turned her head and looked at me and I don't know why but it seemed as though she was saying "It's OK, I understand."

You definitely did the right thing dude.

I think you did the right thing. I haven't had to go through that myself. I have seen people out of love for their pet let them linger on to long. It is hard, but I think the alternative is much more heartbreaking. I believe in the quality of life over the quantity. My condolences. I have 5 cats myself, and I don't even want to think about it. I freak out when I can't find the little bastards, and think they've gotten out of the apt.

I'm so, so sorry for your loss, Fletcher. I've had to euthanize two beloved old pets, my sweet old dog at age 17 and my darling baby kitty at age 21. It's such a gut-wrenching decision, and there are always doubts afterward about it. Should I have done it sooner? Did I do it too soon? Should I have done it at all? All terrible questions to be thinking, but you can't help it.

Remember this: you made the decision to ease your dear friend and companion out of his pain and misery, to remove his fear and suffering. He looked up to you, as all good pets do, as the center of his universe. You made the benevolent decision to ease his suffering and let him rest. Don't beat yourself up, and doubt your decision - you did the best that you could for Roger. Take some comfort in that, if you can.

Eventually this terrible feeling that you're experiencing now will ease, and you'll remember him more often as he was in your good times together, instead of the way he was at the end. It's a long process, but it will happen. Hang in there, Fletcher.

Posted this on the new site before I realized that it was completely seperate from this one.

My dog died in August of 05, and I was grateful that we didn't have to put her down. She was 15, and had surprised us all by acting like she did when she was younger for the week that my entire family spent at our lakeside cottage. My younger brother was on a two week leave from the army, and my older brother was enjoying his first summer out of college. She ran around trying to herd us and barking at us when we were throwing each other off the float. Two days after my younger brother went back to his base, she died in the middle of the night. I like to think that she knew she was dying, and choose to spend the last of her energy enjoying herself. I was sad, but grateful that we didn't have to decide to put her down. Thankfully she was just tired a lot and didn't have any health problems.

On the other side of things, my girlfriend's mother kept their cat alive far longer than she should have. I had a hard time going over there because of it. Squeaker was so frail, and could barely walk. When she did, she had a pretty hard time of it, stumbling often. A month before she died, she got really sick. Instead of doing the humane thing, and letting her go, her mother decided to keep her alive through pills and daily injections. My girlfriend's family does not deal with negative emotions very well, but that's a story for a different thread. I'm thankful I was working most of the week Squeaker spent at our apartment due to her power being out, so I didn't have to watch it. I would provide a warm lap and light hand whenever I was home though, which I like to think she enjoyed. Mainly because I don't think my girlfriend knows that cats prefer to be pet differently than dogs, so she'd always muss up Squeaker's fur and pet her rather roughly.

[ advertisement ] On a side note about pet health, if your cat or dog has arthritis or dry skin, you may want to start giving them Omega 3 fish oil. My mother works for a doctor who's started a company that sells it, and it works just as well on pets as it does humans. My mom started giving it to our dog before she (dog) died because she had arthritis, and it worked wonders for her. She's also been giving it to our cats (one who's 17 and is fine except for being lazy, but he's always been lazy) and my older brother's girlfriend's 14 year old dog (who's staying with them) which has dry skin, and their fur is silkier and their joints are a lot better. If you decide to do this, liquid fish oil is more potent than capsules (good to know if you take them yourself). [ /end advertisement ]

Fletch, my sincerest condolences on the loss of your friend. No matter how anyone chooses to put it, that's pretty much how the heart takes it. And losing a friend is NEVER easy. Losing the friend that you spend almost all of your free time (or at least house time) with is even harder. I believe that's its exactly BECAUSE we have a choice in the timing of euthanasia that can make these situations, both before and after the fact, sometimes painfully grey.

But I'll give you my own opinion: euthanasia is absolutely an ethical choice. Now, in fairness, one would hope I believe this way because I'm the guy on the other end of that syringe. But here's why I feel euthanasia is the moral choice: 1)our pets are our responsibility, and 2)their minds don't work like ours.

In this long co-existence between humans and cats and dogs, these species have evolved in a number of ways, but most significantly we have come to depend on each other. We started trusting dogs to not only not EAT our livestock, but to watch over it. In return, we fed, housed, and protected them. And now we have this fantastic relationship that, as every pet lover knows, goes far beyond co-existence, far beyond commensalism. Now we have the potential for real friendship, and real love. And there's a huge amount of responsibility involved in that. On the basic level, they gave up a lot of their survival instincts, and abdicated those to us. So out of nothing but fairness, we need to carry that ball for them. And of course, out of love for our friends, we need to make the right decision for them. That means using our very best judgement, and ultimately making the decision with our head, since at the end our hearts can't always let go.

And we often have to make that call before their bodies have given up the fight. Because I firmly believe that dogs and cats cannot conceive of "tomorrow" or "next week" or any other time hence. So whereas we do chemotherapy in pets, we do it in large part because they don't suffer the awful side effects that we do; they don't have to go through hell to get to the other side. It simply wouldn't be fair to ask them to, because "three months from now" is inconceivable. If they're in pain now, its all encompassing. They cannot distract themselves with books, or movies, or phone conversations. For many pets, it comes down to "are they happy to see food?", and "are they happy to see you?" Once the joy in these two things is in doubt, quality of life is becoming very questionable for that pet. For the geriatric pet whose senses are failing, and who may not even BE aware of food or friends, its even more questionable. If everything in your life that mattered was gone: food, exercise, and your best friends, what is really left for a dog or cat?

I agree Fletch, that in that situation the body still may try to continue. But if there's no joy, or even potential for mere contentment for the spirit, then I think its incumbent upon the ones to whom they bequeathed those survival instincts to make the call. Our relationship with our pets isn't just a biological one, where the needs are equally biological. Obviously speaking just as my own opinion, I think our relationship with our pets is on a much more emotional and spiritual level (what's the saying? if you're lucky enough to be loved by another human as much as you are by your dog, you're truly blessed). And therefore I think its their spirit that we have to tend to with equal diligence as we do they bodies. And that spirit sometimes reach an unacceptable situation sooner. When that happens, we do the moral thing: we let the spirit go.

I can tell you from experience that the VAST majority of pet owner's feel immediate relief simultaneously with their grief after euthanasia. The pain is unavoidable, but for most people its also accompanied by the surety of a good decision. For some, like yourself Fletch, there's lingering questions. As Elysium and others have said above, and I completely concur, this happens to the people who not only care the most deeply, but have the ability and the conscience to wrestle with the moral and ethical question of ending a life. But I'll say further that I've come to believe almost all of such folks have those questions in their heads, not their hearts. Like in so many ways, in this situation the heart knows the right thing when it sees it.

Sorry to go on so. Congratulations on giving Roger such a good, long life, and for being so kind as to help him when he needed it, to the very end.