Has anyone put their dog to sleep?

nycnola · February 2012

My poor dog is in the home stretch of anal cancer. She was diagnosed when DD was about 4 weeks old. How do you know when its time? What is it like? How do you get through it? Thanks...

shibby00 · February 2012

I have. My dog was very old and was having a very hard time getting around. As long as he was happy most of the time I put it off. As soon as he started having major issues moving and getting up, I knew it was time. I took him in and the whole thing took about10 seconds. I am very about putting the animals welfare above my own need to have them around, so I just knew when it was time. It was very peaceful, and not traumatic. GL, I know it's hard.

nealbl · February 2012

We did about a week before LO was born he was suffering form cancer in his nose that was going into his brain. We just knew it was time. He couldn't stay awake for more than 5 min and would fall asleep standing up and just fall over. He was having more and more seizures. I so wanted him to meet LO and have one picture of them together but I realized I was being so selfish by wanting to keep him in such a poor quality of life just for a picture. I knew it was time to say goodbye. Our vet had been through a lot with us and him so it was as peaceful as something like that could be.

They have a room setup that is just for that. It has a couch and tissues and soft blankets. We walked in and the vet could tell when we walked in why we were there. He said he would personally handle us to the nurse. We went to the room he explained how it would go. Normally they give a sedative and then the drug that kills them. We had a bulldog who already had breathing problems and he was afraid a sedative would make him choke to death so he would be doing just the drug. We held our furbaby in our arms and told him goodbye. He inserted the needle and within 1 min he no longer had a heartbeat. They left us in there with him and said we could leave when we were ready. It was heart wrenching, but I would not have had those final moments go any other way. It was important to us that we held him while he took his lasts breath we did not want him to be alone.

I am so sorry you are going to have to go through this, but know you gave your furbaby the best life possible!

Chrissy1019 · February 2012

We put our lab to sleep 6 years ago. She had liver failure and she wasn't eating, had a huge distended belly and was in pain. We went in and they put a Iv line in so when they gave her the shot they weren't fishing around for a vein. We sat on the floor with her on a big comfortable and once the shot was in it was really quick. We did let out a few heaves after she was gone when the air was leaving her lungs. They left us alone with her for as long as we needed and that was it. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But after leaving I was ok because I knew it was the right thing to do for her. I'm so sorry you're going through this. It is the hardest part of being a pet parent.

Arcadia1114 · February 2012

We had a family dog for 15 years when he had to be put down. I felt I owed it to him to go in with him. They put an IV in his leg. It was very fast and peaceful. I am so sorry for your loss. Pets a family.

hydies33 · February 2012

We had to on Christmas Day just a few months ago

She got sick very quickly. They told us it was time, and we knew they were right. She could hardly hold her head up. She didn't move. She barely acknowledged us anymore. It was one of the saddest days of my life. We all 3 stood with her and DH held her while she passed.

Even though it was the right thing to do, it was awful. I'm so sorry for you. I cried for a week solid. I just allowed myself to cry and work through it. I also gathered lots of pictures of her and our family looked through them and talked about all of our good memories and what a blessing she was to us for 10 years.

Two months later, it still hurts and I still cry sometimes, but I no longer have that "oh my gosh, I can't get through the day without a breakdown" feeling anymore.

Sorry for your family. It will be hard, but it will get better with time.

beevs98 · February 2012

we had to put our dog down Jan. 12

We knew she was suffering but she gave us a look that it was time. She started not spending time with the family & her smell changed. It was the toughest thing we ever had to do but it wasn't right for the dog to be suffering either.

Good luck

meco17 · February 2012

So sorry you are going through this..We almost had to make that decision last week, but our dog passed on his own very quickly. He was in perfect health, or so we thought, until the 1st of the year we notice a slight cough/throat clearing off and on...We then noticed his groin area was swollen so we took him in thinking it was just an infection or something. They gave us antibiotics for 10 days which helped some but then they took xrays on his abdomen and chest and as a xray technologist once i saw them i knew we didnt have long..he had some sort of cancer they think started in his prostate and metastasized throughout his body..his lungs were full of cancer They basically said there was nothing we could do and to take him home and we would know when it was time..They said basically when he stops eating and functioning its time. That was last Wednesday night....I spent all day Thursday in tears because he went down hill FAST..he wouldnt eat much and just acted scared..it killed me to even think about making that call because he was seriously fine until then...He didnt give me long enough to decide what to do though because he passed away on Friday afternoon It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that he is gone because it was so fast..but im glad he didnt suffer for weeks or months. I can't imagine life without dogs, but it is so hard to lose them Sorry again you are going through this.

pphshorty · February 2012

So sorry to hear about your pet. Unfortunatly i see a lot of euthanasias since i am a vet tech. We usually start talking to our clients about it when the quality of life is becoming poor and there is little or nothing more we can do for them. It is very quick and painless. Everything shuts down and they go to sleep very quickly. It is a very difficult decision to make but it is very humane and peaceful. We always give our clients the option of being in the room when it happens. If you are not sure you can always discuss it with your vet. You have the final say but they can help you to make the decision.

Jessys_Girl · February 2012

nycnola:
My poor dog is in the home stretch of anal cancer. She was diagnosed when DD was about 4 weeks old. How do you know when its time? What is it like? How do you get through it? Thanks...

First, I'm so sorry you have to go through this. It was one of the most horrid experiences of my life in terms of how sad/awful I felt.

My dog had a large fatty tumor on his stomach and it was inoperable. He was 14, and the vet had said that with his other heath problems (he had a few minor other things going on), that he would not survive surgery to remove it. the tumor grew so large it began pressing on his bladder and he became incontinent.

I had told my DH that I would clean up messes for as long as I had to, that i was not unhappy about that at all. But then, one day, the dog just seemed so UPSET that he had peed on the floor. He was crying and whining at the door, and I didn't get to him quick enough and he had to pee on the floor, and again, I wasn't upset, I didn't punish him or anything, but HE seemed to feel awful about "breaking the rules"....I realized that every single day while we were at work, this is how he must be feeling....and it broke my heart.

That was when we decided to put him down, because he was not going to have a good quality of life.

And I will say, more than 6 months later, I am STILL grieving. But, this dog was my best friend for 14 years....so I can't imagine NOT grieving over him.

Kitiara5512 · February 2012

With Cookie we knew because she was in pain. She wasn't getting any better, her leg muscles were deteriorating due to the steroids she needed to keep her blood cell production up. We called my mom and she told my aunts and uncles, and we let our friends know. We had people stopping by all day to see her and we took a lot of video of her, and some friends and my parents came with us and stayed in the room when she was put down. I hope she knew how loved she was surrounded by friends and family.

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