(featured partner)

I've found my vet's office can get very dusty....

Putting a pet to sleep is an intensely personal thing.

Here, you've got a bundle of fur that you've had for years. They are a part of your family and you are a part of their pack.

I've always thought that, when their quality of life is extremely low and they are in constant pain; you owe it to them to act in their best interest.

If they can't ever get better and hurt all the time; that's when I think you need to say goodbye to your friend.

/ but, like I said; this is a very personal thing, and not everyone agrees about it

Yeah, it's a tough decision, but it comes with being a pet owner. They can't make these decisions for themselves, so it's your job. Sometimes sooner is less selfish than later... I took my dog in last spring. We'd had him 12 years, and he was starting to develop kidney stones. A lot of them. We could have paid to have them removed, but it wouldn't have lasted long, and he would have had the issues come back over and over... Never seen anything as sad as the look on his face when the stones would finally break free, and he's suddenly accidentally peeing all over the floor. You'd have thought he'd just eaten the baby.

Anyway, some people might think I made the decision to put him under just to save money and trouble, and that I was just being cheap, but things were never going to get better, and were only going to get worse. It's a tough call, but if you've had your pet that long, you should already be mentally prepared...

A quick scan of the article didn't really bring up anything douchey.  Seemed like someone who faced with the decision of what's the best thing to do, given all of the circumstances and the emotional issues that come with making that choice.

Am I missing something?  Or was this just subby trying to get another greenlight?

A year and a half ago or so my kitty companion of 15 years had her kidneys fail. She had already been a few years old when I got her, so when her kidneys failed she had already lived a nice long life of being utterly pampered and doted on by me - and later on by my wife too.

I figured I'd be a big tough guy and everything, but when it came time to do the deed I was blubbering so hard I had to use my GPS to get home from the vet - a trip of around 5 miles and a grand total of 4 turns in a town I've been living in for like 15 years. I was such a wreck though that I just couldn't figure out how to get home. My little cutiekitty had been my buddy for so many years through so many major events in my life...

its always tougher to put down animal after you give it a name...

/chicken for lunch
//steak for dinner

Put an animal, dog or cat down, one a member of your family, that you loved, and they loved you & come back to us and tell us about it.

The real question is if it is harder to put your cat down, or go down on your cat.

M-G: I've found my vet's office can get very dusty....

Just reading the article made me feel like it's a bit dusty in my office.

/going to go home and hug my kitties now ...

Is it easier to send them to Hell?

I've just been thinking about this recently.  My now 11 year old dog has had some minor issues here and there, and I worry that he's going to have something more "major" happen, which might make him suffer, and that I will be unable to make the call when the time comes.  He still is pretty spry but I know it could turn pretty quickly.

I've shed some tears already thinking about the future when he's gone, but anyone who takes on the responsibility of a pet has to realize that the odds are, you will outlive them.

It is hard to send a pet to heaven, but this helps get them there a little faster..

show me: Whenever someone said they were going to "put down" a cat I would envision them with a sneer on their face pointing at the cat saying stuff like, "You're a worthless, no-good, meowing little turd! The best part of you ran down your momma's ass and ended up as a stain in the alley!"

Oooooh! That cat got SERVED!

Has anyone had a pet just "die in their sleep"?  I'd like for the decision to be taken out of my hands just once, instead of having to go through all that trauma.

Pfft.  Putting down a pet gets easier every time you do it.  The kids love a new puppy, so we get one every year, and put the old one to sleep.  After 7 or 8 years, it's just like recycling last week's paper.

It is hard. That's why whenever our pets get on in years, I arm them with a weapon of some kind and we engage in single combat, so I can slay them and send them to Valhalla where they can rock out every day with endless catnip, meaty bones and ready biatches in heat. Except for our pet rats. They get little newspaper boats doused in gasoline, set aflame as they sail into the distance, over the horizon in the neighbors pool.

I don't quite get the headline? What makes him a douche?  Or what makes him a douche on all other days?

Most people selfishly keep their pets alive longer than they should; after the animal is clearly not having any kind of quality of life.  This author waited until the cat indicated that it was time by stopping eating and then didn't delay in having her euthanized.  He indicated that before that, she had still been a loving and engaged animal, even if she had elimination issues, and didn't appear to be in pain.

ronaprhys: A quick scan of the article didn't really bring up anything douchey.  Seemed like someone who faced with the decision of what's the best thing to do, given all of the circumstances and the emotional issues that come with making that choice.

Am I missing something?  Or was this just subby trying to get another greenlight?

Seemed medium douchey - like "gosh I was surprised to realize that I experienced normal human feelings".

It's annoying that these "journey of self-discovery" style articles actually get published.  I sure hope nobody got paid more than 79 cents for that.  There's just no journalism left anywhere - all writing is now directed towards entertainment, just the first step to maybe making it up to writing for the next Jim Belushi sit-com someday.

Pfft.  Putting down a pet gets easier every time you do it.  The kids love a new puppy, so we get one every year, and put the old one to sleep.  After 7 or 8 years, it's just like recycling last week's paper.

-50/10. And, guess what? Wasn't funny.

inner ted: (featured partner)

I don't understand this where does it say that? Why do people keep saying that? I've only seen that a few times.

iheartscotch: Putting a pet to sleep is an intensely personal thing.

Here, you've got a bundle of fur that you've had for years. They are a part of your family and you are a part of their pack.

I've always thought that, when their quality of life is extremely low and they are in constant pain; you owe it to them to act in their best interest.

If they can't ever get better and hurt all the time; that's when I think you need to say goodbye to your friend.

/ but, like I said; this is a very personal thing, and not everyone agrees about it

My older dog is a not-quite- 11 year old lab.  I'm allready dreading the day that this comes...

If you own a pet, it will almost certainly die before you and you will be ethically responsible for giving it a good death. Stop your wallying about sending it to heaven. If the animal's in distress and won't get better man up / ovary up and put it down.

Just did this last week to one of our dogs. She deserved to die of old age, but that was not to be.

In the top 5 worst days of my life.

CarnySaur: Has anyone had a pet just "die in their sleep"?  I'd like for the decision to be taken out of my hands just once, instead of having to go through all that trauma.

I had a cat that disappeared under the porch one day to die.  I was a kid but don't remember him being all that sick before. It was definitely easier than when I had to take the family dog in and have him put down. I was just visiting the folks and he had a seizure or stroke or some such godawful thing. So much dust that day.

"I don't quite get the headline? What makes him a douche?  Or what makes him a douche on all other days?
Most people selfishly keep their pets alive longer than they should; after the animal is clearly not having any kind of quality of life.  This author waited until the cat indicated that it was time by stopping eating and then didn't delay in having her euthanized.  He indicated that before that, she had still been a loving and engaged animal, even if she had elimination issues, and didn't appear to be in pain."

Agree, completely, and guilty of that, but no more. To me, pups & cats are family members, but they can be euthanized in a humane way and to wait too long because of the attachment is wrong when the animal suffers. Obviously, not everyone agrees.

I've had cats euthanized and I have allowed them to die naturally at home. This call has to be made on a case-by-case basis, depending on what is wrong with the animal. In some cases, euthanasia is the only course of action, but in most, allowing the animal to die at home is the way to go, especially in multi-cat situations. It is better for the cats left behind to assist the dying cat with their passing (and boy do they ever; it's amazing to watch) and they absolutely do get a sense of closure from being with the dying cat and witnessing its dead body. This doesn't happen when the cat is removed and taken to the vet to be euthanized. I can tell you the longer goodbye of allowing the cat to die at home is far less traumatic to me than the sudden loss by euthanasia. Yes, they usually do quit eating a few days before dying and quit drinking in the last day or so. But this isn't the cat committing suicide as the vet in the FA suggests. Rather, the cat knows that its systems are shutting down and food and water are no longer necessary. Cats will usually choose a quite place to die and may even begin sleeping there preferentially for several weeks before the event. When the time comes, they will go to this place, lay down and slowly drift away. Another thing a cat will do is say goodbye to its human companions by spending extra time with them and being extra, but calmly, affectionate. It's actually beautiful to watch. For these reason, I choose euthanasia only when absolutely necessary.

I didn't have a chance to put my dog down. One day he disappeared. I figured he ran off. After a while, we noticed a smell.

Ahh, yet another reminder that we as a society treat our animals with more dignity and respect in their final years than we do our own family members.

This is rather timely for me, since my girlfriend and I are likely going to have to put our cat down in the next day or two. He hated me for the first 2 years we were living together too, but there is something lovable about a cranky bastard of a cat.

/Whole damn house is dusty.

CheekyMonkey: Pfft.  Putting down a pet gets easier every time you do it.  The kids love a new puppy, so we get one every year, and put the old one to sleep.  After 7 or 8 years, it's just like recycling last week's paper.

Molavian: ronaprhys: A quick scan of the article didn't really bring up anything douchey.  Seemed like someone who faced with the decision of what's the best thing to do, given all of the circumstances and the emotional issues that come with making that choice.

Am I missing something?  Or was this just subby trying to get another greenlight?

Subby is having a hard time being a douche because he's sad.

Trolling subby is trolling.

Subby used an ambiguous pronoun - as written, the 'I' in the headline could either have meant 'I, the subby' or 'I, the article writer.'

Either I, sweatybronson, am having no trouble being a douche today, Or I have spent way too much time tutoring for the SAT verbal section.

When I was first married, we adopted a ginger tabby who was three months old. That cat was my buddy  for the next 17 years (and, at age six, was a  "mentor" to another kitten I adopted) . He outlasted a marriage and several girlfriends. When he died, I couldn't even talk about it for three months, his young buddy walked around the house for weeks crying and looking for him (that was really sad; at least a child you can comfort by telling them that their friend is in heaven or "away"), and pined away, dying 50  weeks later. The younger cat was only 12 and healthy. He just could not get over his buddy. It took me a while also. I buried them both beneath the same rhododendron bush so they could live on as part of the plant.


/Why, yes, I prefer cats to people for most purposes.

My first kitty I got back in 2007 was a very special and unique ball of black fur I called Shadow because he followed me EVERYWHERE in the house and even outside. Never growing up with cat or dog due to parents allergies, I learned a big lesson in patience and forgiveness because Shadow got into trouble a lot and required a lot of kitty attention to the point where I actually had him in his cage and  I was parked out late at night in front of Petsmart and was thinking of dropping him off and leaving him there for someone else to take care of him as I didn't think I could do it anymore. Yeah, I know it sounds pathetic but I wasn't used to the demands of animal beyond hamster that I had as a kid.

Needless to say, I just couldn't do it and I brought him home and started to let him roam free outside my apt so he could expel his energy and leave me alone to play games and watch movies. Even though I knew it was much riskier for him to be outside, I just couldn't be bothered to deal with him indoors all the time. We continued to bond and grow together as I started to learn a bit more about patience and getting over his mistakes and misbehaving, but we had a lot of great and funny times together.  Three years ago, my now ex let him out one evening as he was crying at the door late at night as we were going to bed and she let him out.  That was the last time I ever saw him. He never came back, no one had seen him anywhere as we waited over 2 days and nothing. We posted LOST posted, we talked to the garbage and city street cleaners if they had found a black cat with a collar with information on it but we never found out anything other then "rumors" of a black cat getting hit by a car a few blocks away but no body was found and the collar he wore was never retrieved.

The last time I cried that hard for that long was when my long term relationship of my ex ended over  year later. I was just beyond devestated and in a state of moral depression as I knew I hadn't been the greatest first time cat owner to Shadow as I could have been, I was mean to him at times and sometimes hit him in anger, but he always seemed to forgive me and wanted to be part of my life, and suddently, he was gone, with nothing left but a house full of untouched cat toys, empty litter box, lots of pictures and memories and two very broken hearts as my ex was very guilty about letting him outside in the first place that late at night, especially for a black cat.

I'll never forget you Shadow, what you taught and brought to my life, even though I didnt' realize it until after you were gone. I'll miss you.

I think my dogs sensed that it was suddenly getting dusty in here. One curled up on me and the other is trying to be funny.

/Mikey, 1996-2011. Good dog.

Isiah 30:26 reads, "Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days." Thus Heaven receives from the moon as much radiation as we do from the sun and in addition seven times seven (49) times as much as the earth does from the sun, or fifty times in all. The light we receive from the moon is a ten-thousandth of the light we receive from the sun, so we can ignore that. With these data we can compute the temperature of Heaven. The radiation falling on heaven will heat it to the point lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation. In other words, Heaven loses fifty times as much heat as the earth by radiation. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann fourth-power law for radiation (H/E)^4 = 50, where E is the absolute temperature of the earth - 300K. This gives H as 798 K (525 degrees Celsius).

Why would I want to send my pet to such a place?

Sob....fark the dust, i'm just flat out crying now

sweatybronson: Subby used an ambiguous pronoun - as written, the 'I' in the headline could either have meant 'I, the subby' or 'I, the article writer.'

Either I, sweatybronson, am having no trouble being a douche today, Or I have spent way too much time tutoring for the SAT verbal section.

Just consider the "Better Headline:" part.  The "I" is the author, not the submitter.

CarnySaur: Has anyone had a pet just "die in their sleep"?  I'd like for the decision to be taken out of my hands just once, instead of having to go through all that trauma.

Yup. A little black kitten appeared outside my apartment one day and snarfed down the food we gave him. Never found an owner, so he became mine. He'd almost started to get along with the other cat when his heart gave out in the middle of the night, about six months later. I picked him up from the foot of the bed to try and get him to snuggle with me and he was stiff as a board. It was pretty horrible.

CrazyWhiteBoy311: This is rather timely for me, since my girlfriend and I are likely going to have to put our cat down in the next day or two. He hated me for the first 2 years we were living together too, but there is something lovable about a cranky bastard of a cat.

/Whole damn house is dusty.

Sorry man...

My wife and I sat with our Denali when he was given the shot.  Must have stayed in the room for 20 minutes or so, just crying, holding him and stroking his fur.  Look forward to running in fields again with him some day.

CarnySaur: Has anyone had a pet just "die in their sleep"?  I'd like for the decision to be taken out of my hands just once, instead of having to go through all that trauma.

We had a severely mentally challenged cocker spaniel that finally died in her sleep. Dumbest dog I ever met, even before she inhaled three pieces of bread, choked, lost one of the two brain cells she started out with, pissed herself and started convulsing. Three mornings later we found her cold and stiff on the couch.

/Name was Tiffany
//This was the ex-girlfriends thread right?