Dark humor and cuddles with my animals after work. Not a vet, but work in a shelter and emotional whip lash is a real thing

Veterinarians are real heroes to me. Our cats are our children. The empathy shown to us on that most difficult day is remembered forever. ❤

I was a train wreck as someone who had never before taken a pet for euthanasia. I hope wherever that vet is he's doing well. When we were ready to love again, I chose him again to provide care to our new ones. Unfortunately I was acquainted with a vet who ended his own life at the office. May he Rest In Peace 🕊️ with all the animals he helped to get well, or to end of life care.

I'm a retired paramedic... my job was to possibly deal with someone's worst day on trying to save life or limb. Some of the truly horrible ones stay with me, but also some of the funny ones too. Humor is what kept me sane... for the most part. We, who choose careers or have a calling for jobs that take an emotional toll, we have to be a lil "warped" to start with. Be kind to yourself, your pets and each other.❤

@Kitsune1989

27 күн бұрын

SARs here. Had a really bad call last month. Some kids took fuck around and find out as a personal challenge. Stole their parents ATVs to have some fun. One kid ended up with 3rd degree burns all over his body, clothes half melted to his body. And pinned between a tree and his still smoldering atv. The perfect horror sandwich. Thankfully the other kid had an extinguisher on his atv. But he was conpletely in shock. And of course since most of us aren't paramedics and have barely more training then a fresh EMT if that, we aren't allowed to administer the good pain meds nor are we trained for that particular brand of disaster. Broken bones sure, exposure, heat stroke, and other weather or terrain related medical issues sure. The occasional "I should not have put that in my mouth" and definitly the "I'm lost" scenario. Not burns of that degree, not crush injuries that complex (usually it would be a landslide or something similar and then it wouldnt just be a small team of 4 sent out). Storm had already rolled in so waiting was not an option. Neither was staying put since we were in flash flood area. And of course we were in an area that wasn't accessible by air so we couldn't get help or get him out that way either. Because nobody takes convenience into consideration on the worst day of their lives strangely enough. So we had to hike it out... it wasn't a long hike, maybe an hour give or take. Longer getting out then going in as the weather had turned nasty and we had to account for carrying someone. I'm not sure if his screaming bloody murder was better or worse then when he went quiet and shock set in. But I'm sure I have enough nightmare fuel to give the therapist nightmares by proxy. Last I heard he was till alive. A wonder given how notoriously sterile the woods are.

When my dog (the one in my avatar) passed away, we found a veterinarian who would actually come to our home to do the deed. That vet was an angel to us on the worst day of our lives. I hope knowing that she made that horrible day a little easier for all of us gave her some comfort as well.

I imagine that it's so sad and hurtful to have to put an animal down, but please try to remember you are relieving their suffering. It is the ultimate relief. They get a free pass on the suffering. We humans are forced to live in agony. Forced to live when the suffering is so great that we no longer desire to, knowing that the suffering will never leave, nor decrease nor soften. Animals are the lucky ones and you are the heroes who help them. Sending hugs!

Tech here, and it’s hard on us, like he said one minute grieving a favorite pet the next being happy for a new puppy/kitten. Once had to hold up a client because they just collapsed in grief and another time I’m on the floor cuddling a 115 lbs lab I had loved for years. We take a breather, go out back and cry/get it together, then go on with the day. It’s HARD on us too. We have to have dark humor, and whatever else we can do to cope.

Thank you Mr vet. I brought a chicken - hen - into the vet one day because she was old and was sick. We decided to put her down and really they were laying hens but I was teary because they were also pets. Anyway, I was very grateful for The assistance from the vet and the kindness they showed, and it was a relief to see the hen finally free of suffering. This is from Australia.

I'll never forget how kind the vet who took care of my sister's beloved cat was, gently laid out all the options we had after her breast cancer ulcerated, and when we decided to put her down he explained the process and gave us all the time we needed to just sit in the room and cry with the cat. I hope vets realize that even though euthanizing a beloved pet is an incredibly tough decision to make, their kindness and professionalism makes such a tough time just a little easier to cope with

I had a senior dog go downhill rapidly and finally euthanized while we were at the vet for something completely different - everyone in the waiting room happened to see our emergency and were so kind to me and the staff. But when it's behind closed doors nobody knows what's going on! I always try to be compassionate and kind at my vet, you never know what people are going through.

Very insightful and intelligent take on this Doc. The message about how varied humans use varied coping behaviors as strategies to deal with the trauma or stress of the job makes a lot of sense since they’re just people like anyone else. The point about having to switch emotions with rooms is something I never thought about and a very powerful, eye opening share

I think if you realize how much a pet can suffer in some cases if you dont put it down then it is sad but in another way good to let a pet go. We had pet dwarf chicken for a while, chicken dont show any symptoms untill they keel over, kind of. On of them had some kind of laying disorder, it stood around, the cloaca working like trying to poop, not eating. We did the warm-water-bottle and bathing thing, then I called the nice and competent breeder plus I got through to a very nice vet specialised on chicken. they both said like: if it is like this for 2 days, it is seriouse, not likely to get better. THe vet had some diagnostic hints, so I was sure that there was not an actual egg stuck, and she said that she could treat it, but, big but, it was not sure that it survived and it could happen another time as much of this is gnetics so we discussed it in the family and my younger kid (then 10y old) wanted to help me. I read up on how to dispatch a chicken and then we went to a quiet corner of the garden and I overstretched its neck quickly. My son and I cried hard, decorated the painfree chook with flowers and gave it a good burial. Next year in spring we planted a pussywillow dwarf tree on top of it, as a memory. So, in this case it would have been cruel on the chicken not to put it down, the vets near me only handle dogs, cats and rabbits, so I thought it less stressfull to handle it this way. THere is responsibility in having pets, and sonetimes thats hard

Unfortunately lost the vet when I was a kid to depression. He was the nicest guy I've met and in my recollection always kept a happy face. It hit me so hard I still remember even though I'm 39 now and my memory is half gone. I didn't get it back then, but I get now that being a vet can take a toll on someone. It's probably a good thing I never managed to become one because I don't know that I could do it. Just what I've seen helping strays as much as I can is already taxing enough, can't imagine.

Im always grateful to the vet for being able to end my animals suffering.

I bless our veterinarian and all the techs at our clinic for their kindness when we had to release my 23 year old cat Harvey from this life. They were so loving. All the techs came to say goodbye, because … well, unusually for a cat, he loved coming to get snuggles from them. Euthanasia is a hard thing, but it is a sacred gift, given to prevent suffering. To any vet reading this, I hope you will share in my gratitude.

When Sheba was sick and could no longer be helped our vet was sobbing right along with us. He left the practice shortly after that.

I always wanted to be a vet when i was little, but then I realises that euthanasia is a part of that job - i dropped the idea because i knew i wouldnt be able to handle that ❤ so props to all the loving vets out there!!❤

I will always be grateful for any veterinarian. I would never question their judgement and have only been amazed at the compassion they have for animals (because our family's dog and cats are definitely a handful behavior wise- case in point my dog head butting the vet during her first round of rabies shots, and my parents' vet for putting up with 3 "spicy" cats for their yearly checkup)

You took my breath away Doc! Thank you for addressing this difficult subject.

This is a great post. Veterinarians sadly have a high suicide rate in comparison to other medical professionals. It's one of the many reasons that veterinary social workers are helpful in high stress environments such as emergency veterinary medicine. Thank you for posting this!

So thankful to you all for providing this necessary service. Just euthanized our 18 year old poodle last week and while heartbroken, it was the right decision. The team at our vet was amazing -even did the procedure on a Saturday (which they usually do not do) so our adult son could be there.

I just had my cat put down about half an hour ago. She had a long, healthy, happy life (22) and only declined this month, especially starting yesterday. It was time and now she's not suffering anymore. The vet tech who carried her body out of the examining room after said she was going to start crying. I hope she's okay.

@kayesguineapigs

Ай бұрын

Paw prayers from all of us we understand

@jennie9

Ай бұрын

​@@kayesguineapigs Thanks.

My sister who is a veterinarian found that learning about Codependency and how to fight against codependency can help you emotionally deal with euthan1zing pets. She said if she didn't learn about fighting against codependency then she probably wouldn't be a veterinarian anymore.

I understand it will hurt anyone and I am glad there are still people we can go to. On an amusing note the auto generated text speaks of dealing with Youth in Asia, which is a whole other strange issue to deal with.

Also the differences between an ER euthanasia and a GP euthanasia is often the factor with how it's handled. GP vets are less likely to see super critical cases that come on suddenly, and ER vets don't often have recurring patients. The emotional toll is there no matter what, it's just slightly different depending on the circumstance.

I’ve had to have a few beloved pets put down. It was the only right thing to do, but still, it pretty much wrecked me. I never imagined it was easy for the vets and their staff, either. For all of us, it’s the down side of taking care of animals.

I’m working towards hopefully being a vet one day, but the emotional toll I’ve heard others say with it does make me nervous lol

Thank you for sharing this with us. ❤️

Thanks for continuing this conversation, it's so important.

For me, the puppy and kitten appointments help me recover emotionally

When our cat was euthanized I wondered if I would hate our vet the next time we saw her. Luckily that didn’t happen. But, is that something that does happen? Clients hating their vet for being the one that ended your pet’s life?

🧡

♥️