I'm so sorry for the loss of your little man. Losing a furry family member is the hardest thing, because their love is so uncomplicated and so freely given. I think making those hard decisions is the steep (but worth it) price we pay for all the joy they spend their lives giving to us.

I really appreciate your comments about Blue. I had to put one of my cats down in February. She was 14, but she always had a vomiting problem and one morning she was throwing up red blood. I freaked and took her to an emergency vet hospital. They did all the normal things and we scheduled a ultrasound for the following week. The next morning was still bad, so I called my local vet to have her euthanized. I just knew it was the right thing to do. I have another cat who is 19 years old with kidney disease. She's an old lady and has lost a lot of weight over the last 5 years, but she is still eating and drinking. She still hops onto my bed and the couch. She vocalizes a lot. We have full conversations! lol! But she still seems happy and so I'm waiting for that moment when I just know it is time for her. If she gets lethargic and stops eating, it will be time. Hard decision to make, but a necessary one.

I had my beloved dog euthanised, and it was terrible. I was too young to understand it or have a say. If I could go back and made that decision, I would spare him at least a week and do it sooner. I loved him very much, and it have been over 20 years but I still feel bad for not trying to influence my parents (we did what we could to make him comfortable). To all the owners facing that decision - think of your friend quality of life! Thank you dr Bozelka for touching this difficult subject.

Oooh, this is one of those subjects I really, really want more of. Recently, I was at the yearly gathering for a rabbit rescue org that I am a member of, and we had a philosopher give a talk on different approaches to animal welfare, QOL and obviously euthanasia came up too. A good few of us were ready to take a whole semester if we had had the opportunity. It was fascinating, heartbreaking and very, very thought-provoking. Choosing euthanasia for my pets have been a rollercoaster. It's ALWAYS hard, but sometimes we get blessed and it is hard, but SIMPLE. Other times it is hard and SO COMPLICATED. For me, my main rule is that I try my very best not to be selfish with the decision. I would rather choose euthanasia with an older animal on a good day in peace than wait for them to all of a sudden take a sudden turn and have to be put to sleep while they are scared and confused because I had to take them to an ER and the last thing they get from me is stress and panic and guilt - and that will be my core memory of their passing too. I try to do for my pets what I would want for myself, because I can't ask them directly in their own language how they want to go about it, and when enough is enough. Thank you for sharing about Blue.

This is such an important video and conversation to have. Two years ago we put my dog Maxwell to sleep at the age of 16 (and it kills me to this day that we waited so long to do so-but that's a different story)- we were lucky to have a Veterinarian come to the house. He got his favorite treats, lots of cuddles and after the vet gave him the final injection after a sedative he just let out a big sigh, closed his eyes and passed away with his head in my lap. He was in his favorite spot, surrounded by everyone who loved him and that's all that matters.

@Finkeldinken

Ай бұрын

At-home vets for saying goodbye are an amazing service! I am sorry for your loss, and from someone who has also miss-timed our farewell to a 16yo dog, my heart goes out to you. I also have guilt from our old boy, but I try to tell myself that I learned some valuable lessons from him at the end. It is difficult to make the decision either way, but when the pet is a member of a whole family it is really difficult to get everyone on the same page, and that makes it so much harder.

@chericeevans9990

Ай бұрын

at home vets are amazing in this regards. my rat terrier was 18 and it was very similar. she went so quickly after the injection that it even surprised the vet

Sorry about your Blue, may he enjoy his life over the Rainbow 🌈. It is a difficult conversation, but one that must be had before making the decision. My stopping point was when Anabel, in kidney failure, either stared at the food or vomited it; had lost weight; and I had mobility troubles from arthritis & wasn't sure I'd even be able to stoop to put down food and water. It was a correct decision and humanely carried out.

Thank you for this ❤ my cats are currently both healthy, but they are aging. I dread the day I’ll have to make that call for them. It’s helpful to be reminded everyone and every situation is different. I’m so sorry for your loss 😢 You were looking out for him at the very end.

The first time I remember this happening, I was 9. The vet explained what might happen and we were able to stay with him until he passed. Ya know, I have helped other pets and being able to be with them really helps me. You really can tell.

Thank you for this. It’s pretty much what my butt explained to me when my elderly retired Guide dog was on his way out. He developed cancer along with a kidney problem due to medication from arthritis treatment. My vet told me that she picked four or five things and when the dog quit doing half of those, it was time for him to go. He quit eating and we couldn’t convince him to start eating again. Even medication to increases. Appetite only got him to eat half a bowl. So we knew then that it was time to go, and it was lovely and peaceful as much as it could be. I’ve got my friends ashes here now and I look forward to the time when I am ready to get another dog.

They will tell you when it is time, it's hard to put it in words but they let you know. Thanks for this video and would love more on this topic.

Thank you ❤ My family has had to go through this a few times over the years including like 4 times since 2020: elderly cats and dogs with chronic conditions 💔 (Feline kidney disease sucks 😞😞) No one likes having to make this call but our goofy fur babies rely on us humans to have their best interests at heart. This is absolutely one of those times

My husband calls it the last great gift you can give your pet. Me ? I go to pieces 😭

Making this decision is one of the hardest things we’ve ever done, (we’ve had to do it a few times over the years) but when their eyes tell you they are ready that’s when you know it’s time. 😢 It’s about doing what is right for them.

@WildflowersCreations

Ай бұрын

This!!! "It's about doing what is right for them."

So sorry for your loss. 😢 Thank you for sharing this difficult moment with us. ❤

I’ve just had to do this, but in my heart I knew we had done all we could, and if we kept treating the symptoms we would be doing it for us and not for our cat. That for me, is the line in the sand, thank you for sharing this.

A live event would be soooo insightful. 🙌🏼 Thank you for taking the time to talk about this difficult subject and sharing your personal experience. Rest in peace Blue ❤ very sorry for your loss. He will be missed I am sure he had a wonderful life with you.

Thank you for your videos and information. I had to make this decision myself along with my family back in 2012. Our first cat Tabby had a over active thyroid and we were treating it with meds and then Hill's science diet food. Well it was about the beginning of March that year and I noted that she was sleeping more favoring one side of her mouth when eating, then her grooming stopped I was worried. I took a look in her mouth and I saw what looked like an ulcer on her gums. Mom and I called the vet and got her in to see the Dr in the next few days. Then did a biopsy and well turns out she had aggressive Cancer of the gums. As a family we had a discussion about if we would do and good cry realizing that our little girl was sick. We decided to put her to sleep since we couldn't afford the $1000.00 chemotherapy treatments. I spent extra money to have her cremated by herself. She is always on my mind and I miss her everyday but I know I made the right call. I just couldn't put her though the chemotherapy treatments as I had seen what it did to my Mom just 6years earlier with breast cancer. The way you said about blue not doing things he loved is true, Tabby loved following me or dad around the house and then she just didn't do it as much anymore.

When we put our last dog to sleep . . . she had been declining but was hanging in there, until one weekend when she didn't eat well (completely abnormal for her), followed eventually by a morning when she couldn't stand up by herself. I don't know how else to describe it but whatever was "her" was gone--she was alive and responsive, etc., but whoever she was as an individual was gone. We still miss her twelve years later but we don't second-guess that it was the right thing to do.

This man is so wise. I am grateful for his help on this sad topic. I need to hear this. It's coming...soon. Thank you, Dr. Bozelka.

very well stated. we, as humans, must be capable of setting aside our feelings, it is not about our pain, our loss. quality of life for our pets is not years of their short or long lives. they dont speak our language. they trust us for every need. thank you for these videos. adopt dont shop.

Us wanting another week or day is not a reason to keep them around. I've had to euthanize three cats, years apart and under very different circumstances. To me, as much as I love them, it's about ending the suffering. NOW. It stressed me out so much to see them suffering. I take into account their age, condition and what can be done to help vs the stress they might be put through or their eventual quality of life before reaching the ultimate decision. There's also the question of expense. No one wants to talk about it but it's there. I don't want to start a huge debate/argument about it but let's face is - it's not an unfamiliar factor. Thanks for addressing this issue!

I've had to put down 2 pet cats and a pet dog over the years. I still wonder if I did the right thing. I know I waited too long for one of the cats. She was miserable for the last few weeks of her life. I just hoped that she was going to rally like she had over the last few years of her life. I still deeply miss each of them.

Thank you for sharing your experience. I teared up remembering going through the same thing with my dog several years ago and our cat last fall.

So sorry for your loss and thank you for taking time to share your insights as an ER vet for this difficult topic. Chronic issues with slow decline are very hard in my experience - I've unfortunately lost a few pets to things like renal failure -- because there's always that reluctance to let go/guilt you're giving up too soon, so it's good to have this reminder to focus on your pet's quality of life over your own emotions.

I just had my cat put down a couple of hours ago. She was 22 and slowly declining with severe arthritis and muscle loss. Her pain was fairly well managed until recently. Yesterday, she started vomitting and stopped eating and drinking. Her blood work today showed a significant increase in kidney issues, pancreatitis, and liver damage. They could have tried to treat her but it would have meant keeping her in the hospital and there was no guarantee of success. It was a clear sign of a future unacceptable quality of life, so I opted to let her go. It was very peaceful and she's no longer suffering anymore. I miss her terribly but I'm at peace with my decision, and that's the best you can hope for in this kind of situation.

I'm sorry for your loss and that of your fiancee. Take care, and thanks for your videos.

This is never easy. There does come a point where giving the family member an end to suffering and ending with dignity, peace, and love, is the right choice. There will always be a hole in my heart, their shape and size. There may be another to join us, but there will never be one to fill that void. Still. Spouse and I are not young anymore, but we had a little lady give birth to her family on our bed. We accepted two of our grand-kittens into our life, realizing that they are probably our last two. This ramble? We decided to reuse the names of two of our beloved family members that we still missed (13 and 17 years after they left us). It feels good to be using the names again, and having our two making new memories. Special tribute and a new round of love and happiness.

Thank you so much for making this video. I'm so sorry that you and your fiancee had to say goodbye to your beloved Blue. I've been there and it's so hard, but it would have been so much harder without the support and expertise of a trained ER/hospice veterinarian helping us at home. Please definitely make more videos on this tough topic. This is a rare subject on KZread/tiktok that can really really help an LOT of people. Huge potential to help here. Thanks again.

This is so timely for me. We’re not there yet, but my elder girl is 17 and has a few new issues, she’s done great for 18 months and still ticking this list.

I. So sorry for your loss. What a wonderful pet parent to allow a good goodbye for Blue. My cat was a traumatic experience because of the vet 100%. My dog was a traumatic experience 100% because of the vet. My other dog was a traumatic experience 100% because of my husband. Cat was forced into hospice treatments I didn’t want but was made to feel like a monster for even suggesting otherwise. Several thousand dollars and a miserable now suddenly blind, shivering confused scared 16 kidney failure cat I snuck her off to my dogs vet office on an early Saturday morning when the cats vet was closed after giving her the best most loved outside with her until 5am where she was happiest last night of her beautiful wonderful life. She deserved better. My dog was ready. I knew it, he knew it. We were a week from his 15th birthday and Christmas. I took him in to his favorite vet human he’d had 12 or those 15 years and she said idk how you did this but he’s actually going into full heart failure and likely would t have made it another afternoon. She took him back, the suddenly came in and asked if I could say goodbye in the back of the clinic because they somehow forgot whatever insane reason lifted my102lb lab onto a steel grated sink trough table to sedate him and he was out so fast they couldn’t get him back down and weren’t able to lift him. So my wonderful 300hour saved lives found missing children greeted returning military at the airport service dog I constantly sang comforted in times of distress was left in a loud cold busy surrounded by people hard metal table where I could barely whisper to him without people staring at us. I still feel like a monster and wish I had simply had a meltdown and got him off that table myself, but I had breast cancer and a port and no hair was definitely not likely to move him myself. He deserved the best goodbye and I abandoned him in the back of a noisy clinic being led out as fast as they could get me out. His partner dog went a year later at the age of 18 and was still wonderful but in so much pain, had lost bladder control, and having occasional terrifying seizures. My son and husband were her favorite people. But my husband refused to come back with us or say goodbye and when they brought her partially sedated into the room and laid her on her thin blanket on a hard cold floor she suddenly panicked right when they were injecting her. Looking for my husband, looking at me in a panic, then she was just gone. Omg I’m the worst monster ever. I honestly despise my husband for doing that to both of us. What would I change? I will have a house visit vet for my dogs hopefully into their old old well lived well loved life, so I could spend more time, as much time as I need. Instead of having a stranger dump them into a bag loading them into a track and sending them away for cremation.

I'd love to see more videos like this, thank you for this one tremendously! Sorry for your loss

Omgoodness the timing on your video! Im only commenting since you had posted it recently. My sincerest apologies to you and your now wife with Blue. I just lost my baby girl, Destiny 2 weeks ago now. That was so horribly hard. Still is obviously, she was always by my side. She made it 17½yrs with me.

We had to make this choice a moth ago, it was not an easy one but we couldn't keep pinning her down to try and get her medication into her. She has no strength. She was diagnosed with IMHA. We gave her a fighting chance but her body couldn't do it. Thank you for sharing your story

So sorry for your loss! I know it’s tough to let your fur baby go!😿

I'm so sorry for your loss. Thank you for making this video. 💔

Rest in peace Blue. I had to say goodbye to my old girl, she was 16. I had her since a kitten. Normally i am stoic, but i sobbed my eyes out at the vet.😢😢

Love this guy!!! Humor is spot on!! Wish he was my kitties vet! Come on up to Walworth county WI

I'm so sorry for your loss

Thanks for tackling a delicate topic.

Thank you for making this video, and please make more if you feel like it. This topic is grossly under-covered. And when it is covered, all you get are lists of signs to watch for, but nothing on how to make the actual decision. We have lost four of our cats in recent years to various illnesses, and with each one I've wondered: did I move too soon? Did I wait too long? Could I have done something better? Any insights you could share would be wonderful.

Thank you

The last pet I had to let go was suffering from kidney failure because his teeth were rotted. ... and the reason his teeth were rotted is because someone else in my neighborhood had catnapped him and held him for two years and taken terrible care of him until he got sick, and then he was back. We did what we could, but he didn't respond to medication, and we weren't going to put him through a tough surgery that had a very low chance of helping. That incident was part of the reason that we started keeping our cats inside. Sure, they love the outdoors, but they're small predators, and their worst enemy in a city is other humans, whether it's people who treat them poorly, the machines people use (cars, mowers, etc), or people who let their aggressive or infectious pets roam free.

Oh thank you very much for this KZread. It looks like he really was ready and the thing of it is is was he old? I think you said he was over 15 or maybe not

thank you

Aww poor pretty kitty. That's super heartbreaking everytime we have to say goodbye. How old was he?

My vet started one of my cats on Solensia for arthritis and she will climb in her carrier to get her shot every month. She comes home acting like a kitten again, and she loves it. Her and her sister will be turning 11 in August. Her sister has never stopped being a lemur and climbing or jumping, so we haven't put her on the meds... we have another cat who is 8 now, and he may be the next to start these arthritis monthly shots since he seems to be slowing down next.

@victoriarodriguez9981

Ай бұрын

I don't know how old Blue was, but if your cat was close to 15, I'm not sure the arthritis meds would have helped... the oldest cat my mom ever had was 14, and most of our cats passed away between ages 3 and 6 for other reasons.

I’m having a situation with my 13 year old Boston terrier, Bert, that has degenerative myelopathy. No use of his back legs, completely incontinent, uses a wheelchair outside sometimes if it’s sunny out. I feel bad for him when there are squirrels out back and he can’t run with the other dogs to chase them. He just sits there and whines, looks sad. He’s still eating , and can get himself to water. He can’t get up the stairs by himself. Is this just going to get worse? I’ve heard it affects his breathing eventually. It just feels like “the long death”. My heart breaks everyday. Any insight, advice, words of wisdom would certainly help. Thank you. I love your videos……heartbroken in Texas.

❤

The hardest ones are with those that don't want to have to take the desicion ever and just lets their suffering animals waste away because they think euthanasia is evil. I had one person actually threaten my life because I put one of my cats down. The person knew the following about him: The cat were 26 The cat had nearly no teeth after he at 21 thought he could beat up a fox The cat had dementia and anxiety The cat had started to urinate in electrical equipments like toasters etc The cat didn't move from beside the fridge The cat always though he was hungry, hence him hanging out by the fridge The cat had forgotten half of his body and only washed one side This is the cat the person thought I should rehome. It was just his time to sleep, it would have been so cruel to rehome him.

🤎