How valuable is your pet?

[DrSteve]

I love my cats so much. They are the cutest and most loving cats in the world (of course all of my cats have been). I even love our dog (although in a different way as she has been the cause of much destruction and I am a cat person through and through). I would do as much as I possibly could to keep them comfortable.

But there is a point where they have it better than us, they can be given a more dignified way to go to sleep without having the supreme court involved. When they lose their dignity and are in pain or distress it's time to let them go. It's hard, but I have heard of so many people who pro-longer their companion's lives, only to see them suffer more because they were too selfish to let them go. I hope, when the time comes, I can let them go. In their memory I will visit the SPCA and give another kitty a warm place to sleep.

 

[aquaoren]

I thought I'll jump in as someone who is a pet owner and veterinarian as well.
No one can tell you how much value your pet has or how much is reasonable to invest in their health care. It's an individual decision and everyone has different priorities and financial options. Pet health insurance is something, I strongly recommend to my clients. It gives you and me the option to provide the best health care for your pets without thinking about the cost but having the pets and their owners best interest in mind.
I would never tell someone that it's time to put their pet down as it's not my decision, it's the responsiblity of the owner. I would make a recommendation but in the end it's always the owners decision.
When I'm confrontet with the situation where the question arises about the quality of life of their pets, I'm always brutaly honest, so no one could say later that they didn't understand.
I'll examine the pet and will determine the general health status first. Through the advances of medicine, we have much older pets nowdays and many have geriatric problems that can be fixed easily, providing couple more years to the pet and owner.
An example: I had a 13 year old dog presented to me to determine whether he has any quality of life. The dog was blind, deaf and friendly as a viper. He was trying to bite the owner since recently when they were petting his head. I examined the dog thoroughly and discovered that beside his existing problems (blind and deaf but since many years already), he was fairly healthy overall but had had very bad teeth and was in obvious discomfort about it. I offered the owner 2 solutions: 1) Fix the dental problem and keep the dog, while aware of the dogs age. 2) Put the dog down as he's not the youngest.
I explained that doing nothing would be cruel as the dog is abviously suffering because of his dental condition. To make a long story short, the owner decided to let us perform a dentistry on the dog that cost him more than $1300. After extracting 22 teeth, the dog changed completely-he lost all the aggresion problems, started playing again and the owner say that he's now as they remember him 6-7 years ago.
No offense Kristy, but I can not understand your motives keeping your dog. She's old and has problems that can be fixed with the appropriate medication which is fairly inexpensive beside the pain medication. You chose to do nothing though, which in my opinion is cruel. I will not deny that you love your pet but banning your pet, who spent 13 years with you and gave you his whole life, to the garage is cruel. Sorry if it offends you but it is the truth. I'm not familiar with your dogs case exactly but there are always options that can be tried first in dogs that have arthritis and they are not as expensive but would require some participation on your side too. If you have any questions, you're more than welcome to PM me.
I always say that if your pet has a problem that affectes the quality of life and you're not willing to try and fix it, than maybe putting the pet down would be the most humane thing to do. Allowing them to go with dignity and without suffering Is the least that we can do for them after they spent their whole life with us, gave us their love and affection and served us well.

 

[diverkristi]

No offense Kristy, but I can not understand your motives keeping your dog. She's old and has problems that can be fixed with the appropriate medication which is fairly inexpensive beside the pain medication. You chose to do nothing though, which in my opinion is cruel. I will not deny that you love your pet but banning your pet, who spent 13 years with you and gave you his whole life, to the garage is cruel. Sorry if it offends you but it is the truth. I'm not familiar with your dogs case exactly but there are always options that can be tried first in dogs that have arthritis and they are not as expensive but would require some participation on your side too. If you have any questions, you're more than welcome to PM me.
I always say that if your pet has a problem that affectes the quality of life and you're not willing to try and fix it, than maybe putting the pet down would be the most humane thing to do. Allowing them to go with dignity and without suffering Is the least that we can do for them after they spent their whole life with us, gave us their love and affection and served us well.

Oh I don't do nothing. She takes buffered asprin, and steroids with a flare up (her back goes "out"). SHe also takes synthroid for dogs 2 times a day. The RX pain meds that my vet wants to use are quite expensive. The incontinence drugs have been tried several times, and don't work. I am unable to live with dog pee in the carpet anymore. It's horrible and filthy. I have a 3 year old and 5 year old who like to play downstairs and sit on that floor. She does get attention in the garage, because we do spend time outside.

I think her barking issues are because she can't see well.

You have no idea how I struggle with this. This dog had parvo as a pup, even though she was vaccinated, scratched both corneas as a youngster, has allergies to grass and flea collars, and had knee replacements to BOTH knees at the same time. (I moved to my mom's and slept on the floor with the dog for 2 weeks while she recovered and couldn't use the steps at my house, wheelbarrowing her outside with a bedsheet). I feed my dogs wellness dog food by old mother hubbard (IMO the best there is). It is holistic and uses all human quality ingredients rather than diseased and dying animals. It also has herbs and shark cartilage to help with the arthritis. I have spent thousands on my furry 4 legged babies, and more than that, I have spent time. All of my dogs are obedience trained with MANY hours spent with them.

I have had to have 2 dogs put to sleep in the past. For both it was a clear decision. This one is not so easy. There are days when she is not so good, and days when she's perky and feisty.

If I had unlimited funds, (like before kids and divorce), I wouldn't hesitate to try anything. But I am no longer in that situation, so I do the best I can, with what I can, and hope and pray that it's the right decision. I am trusting my vet for guidance. She has always given it to me in the past, and I think the world of her. Until she says it's time, I'll do my best to keep Sabaka happy and comfortable.

BTW, Before kids I was active in Keeshond rescue (rescued and placed 3)(the 2 dogs I have now are Samoyeds, and the younger male is a rescue). Also rescued a Malamute and kept her until she died (was put to sleep) of cancer).

Guess what I'm trying to tell you is that you aren't taking to an irresponsible dog owner. Not offended though, because you know nothing about me. Just letting you know.

 

[Scuba65]

Hell, i would do anything for my pets if need be to a certain limit if it means keeping them comfortable and not having them suffer. 3 yrs. ago I had to make the choice of putting my 8 yr. old rottie down cause she had bone cancer. I kept her comfortable til the end when she wouldn't eat any more...she couldn't walk anymore and she didn't want even her favorite treats etc. it was a tough decision to do for her..but, i also loved her so much that i couldn't be selfish and keep her alive much longer for my joy. she needed to rest in peace and not suffer anymore. she gave me 8 wonderful yrs. of happiness. I had paid prior to that at one time $2,000 for a knee surgery and the yr. after she blew out the other and that was like $3,000. I had no problem paying it and would have done anything for her. I now have another 2 rotties and will do anything for them also. they are the most spoiled dogs in the world, and most expensive one's around..ha,ha,ha... I believe that if you take on a pet that you're taking in a pet for the life they have. If you know that you are not going to be able to provide that animal with the love, care etc. that they should get then don't take it.

 

[Mrs.Prages]

Kristi,

I know you and I know you're not irresponsible. People are just going with the knowledge they have from reading and don't know the whole of the situation. The decisions you face are tough and I know how much you love and take care of your sweet pup. So take heart and remember that she loves you, and trust you to make the tough decisions for her. I wish you luck and I am glad that I am not in your shoes right now.

 

[diverkristi]

Thanks Paula.

I am bringing Keeba down with me this weekend, but I can'r bring him to Rawlings though. He'd freak and try to follow me underwater. He's such a mamma's boy. Would love for you guys to meet him though. Maybe we'll be heading home about the same time and can meet up on interstate or something.

 

[lhpdiver]

I'm curious, at what point does pet insurance draw the line ? A few years back 1 of our 5 cats was diagnosed with cancer (I think pancreatic). The vet said it was time and my wife said no way, whatever it takes. The vet put us in touch with another doing some research and Bunny was put in radiation therapy. We blew a wad on that stuff, but the cat came back 100% and lived another 3 years.

btw, that cat was incredible. If you held out a treat he would easily leap 4-5 ft vertically and take it out of your hand. If you pointed your index finger at him and twirled (either way) he would roll over in that direction. He really was a special animal.

You'll get a chuckle out of this. Our wills stipulate a "trust fund" for the cats. If we pass before they do the caregiver gets $5K per cat / per year - but they have to stay together. Anyone interested ?

 

[DrSteve]

You'll get a chuckle out of this. Our wills stipulate a "trust fund" for the cats. If we pass before they do the caregiver gets $5K per cat / per year - but they have to stay together. Anyone interested ?

I think that's a wonderful idea. We've yet to write wills, but I know one clause that will be going into it now

 

[saf_25]

My wife had an old cat that lived to the tender age of 21.

For the last year of his wonderful life I gave him a subcutaneous IV injection of lactated Ringers solution every other night.


the K

Hey, my parents have a 20 year old cat that they're doing the same thing for - they've been doing it for 3 years now, and besides being generally old and sleepy, the cat is doing fine. They do bloodwork on her occaisionally, and the vet said that the iv is helping her so much, her kidney problems wouldn't be diagnosable now, that's how much it's improved her. They won't do anything heroic to save her at this point, but $20/month worth of fluid and 10 minutes a few times a week is a small price to pay.

I had a kitten i got from the pound a few years ago. They give them their shots at the pound once they're adopted, so there is a while there before she got sent home with me where she was unvaccinated. Well, she apparently contracted panleukopenia during that time - about 1 week after we took her home, she started throwing up non-stop. Of course, it started in the evening, so we rushed her to the emergency animal hospital, where she spent the night before the diagnosis was confirmed. $1000 for the overnight bill + $50 to put her down (it's not treatable in a kitten that young. They said that there was an experimental procedure we could try, that had approx. a 5% chance of survival and cost $15,000. We opted out of that).

Now, I have 2 cats (4 years old) and 1 kitten (5 months old). Like others have said, they are my children. I can't imagine them suffering or being in pain, knowing there was something that could be done to make them well again, and not doing it.

 

[SueMermaid]

Hell, i would do anything for my pets if need be to a certain limit if it means keeping them comfortable and not having them suffer.

That statement says it all.
It's a very personal thing, the relationship between you and your little furry thing, (or, as the case may be, big furry thing), and only you know what the right thing is.
It's a very selfless act to take the animal's pain and suffering into consideration when making a horrible decision like that. Putting his feelings before your own, I mean.
I had to make the decision to not take any heroic actions to save my incredibly beloved cat, Spike, who had fibrosarcoma, (a bad, bad kind of cancer), and it was the hardest thing I ever had to do. I did speak to an oncologist and could have gotten him chemo, but at what price? He would have absolutely hated it, and would have given up, I knew him well enough to know that. I chose to have two tumor reduction surgeries, knowing that it would not save him, but it bought him some comfortable time at home, where he was happy. I know that it was the right thing to do, and I will never regret it. He got to die in relatively little pain, where he was happiest, at home. That being said, I am the type that would take a second mortgage to save and/or help my beast if I felt things were fixable, or if I felt they could live a life fitting for them, no matter how long.
My horse suffered a catastrophic tendon injury not two weeks after I bought her, and most people would have had her put down. I changed dressings, wrapped and re-wrapped, ice bathed, walked, and basically coddled her for over a year. It cost thousands, (although I never really added it all up, too depressing). She healed, and was 90% sound. She is a showjumper no longer, but is a fat, happy pasture potato, and that's just fine by me. I would never judge anyone for having her put down were they in my shoes, but I knew we could fix her, so we did.