Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer
I've got some sad news today.
My friends had to put their dog, Luca, who I look after regularly, to sleep. She's had problems with her health for a while now and had gotten worse over the last six months (see a previous post). Their vet kept talking them into trying "one more thing" multiple times. But last night she started have trouble breathing. So this morning they went to the vet one last time.
<snippage>
Poor Luca, it's better like this. I just wish that her last six months were better and happier for her.
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Oh, Rumple...I'm sorry to hear that, but honestly, after your last post, I'm relieved for you AND I'm relieved for Luca. It didn't sound like Luca's quality of life was very good, and I know, all too well, how hard it is to make that decision on behalf of a pet--which, obviously, can't speak to you and say, "FFS, let me die already, wouldja?!" I had a much-beloved cat, years ago, who'd reached 17, and developed cancer. She was amazingly healthy and in good shape, in every other way, and she had not one, but TWO cancers--one slow-growing, one fast.
Long story short, we treated her for it (the fast-growing type). She lived for another two years, which, let's face it, in cat-time, is a pretty good result. She was cancer-free for a goodly chunk of that.
But
it was selfish of me. At the time we discovered it, she was healthy and happy. Yes, cancer, but everything else was pretty good. I should have allowed her to decline, and then put her out of her misery, once the disease affected her quality of life. But I was too selfish to let her go, so she suffered through chemo and all that, twice a month for 6 months.
I put her down as soon as it recurred; I'd grown by then and realized I'd been wrong to do what I'd done. When our next (rescue) kitty, Clancy, developed an illness that made him sick to his stomach and in pain, I had him put down as soon as I knew he was in pain. I didn't try to make him go through chemo, etc.
I really DO understand how hard it is to do this for a furry member of the family, but it's the right thing to do, hard or not. It's part of our responsibility, and that vet was shameful, in what he did, extending that poor dog's time of suffering like that (and her owners'!). Totally unforgivable, in my opinion.
I'm glad, Rumple, that you don't have to worry about it, though. I would
not have wanted to be in your shoes, with a very, very sick dog, and the possibility of
you having to make that call, while they were out of town, not one iota. I can't think of very many worse scenarios (aside from human tragedies and the like, of course).
So..I'm sorry for Luca, and her mum/dad, but I'm relieved for you, and for her, too.
Hitch