Posted on 01/24/2010 12:29:06 PM PST by Slings and Arrows
Thanks. This is a really hard part of pet “ownership.” We are in total control of when and how this happens. Their lives and well being are completely within our control. Yet, for the most part, there is little sensitivity by vets to these final moments. I am glad to have had a mobile vet since Pedro hated the vet’s office and the trip there. He had to go to the oncologist but our regular vet is in a big van with all the office elements. Called CatCalls. I have gratitude for that.
I think that if we support the mobile vets even if a house call costs a little more, they will thrive.
I am so sorry.
I went through this in June with my beloved 16 year old.
I am now fostering one of the many dogs thrown away by a bad owner.
Your Mom had to be really hard. Thank you Lord for not making me experience that yet.
9 years ago I had to put down my loyal friend of 17 years...I still cry. So very painful. She was in my arms when she left.
Prayers up.....
Bingo.
And the dogs will tell you.
Listen.
That was my situation exactly... then I had to proceed to the funeral home to take care of some details for my Dad's military honors ... They were not a happy three days...
Before you bring home any pet, get a realistic, educated vision for that animal's entire life. If you can see in that vision how you can make that animal healthy and happy for its entire life, then feel free to bring home the animal as a pet. If you can't see how you are going to provide that animal with a healthy and happy natural life, don't adopt that pet.
As an example that most of us understand, that cute kitten in the window will live twelve to twenty years with good luck and good care. Things can happen. I know the heartbreak of a cat dying young of certain feline diseases, but I've also seen them live well past fifteen years. Getting a vision for that kitten next week is easy. We can all imagine coming home from work and hearing the thump, thump, thump as the kitten bounds down the stairs. We can imagine swinging a ball of yarn for the kitten to chase. We can imagine the tired kitten falling asleep in our hands. However, the rest of that vision is more or less fifteen years of food and water every day, emptying a litter box every day or maybe every other day, shots and vet visits every year, clawed furniture, and cat hairs on everything. The whole vision can be part of the joy of owning a pet, but one needs to embrace the whole vision before bringing home any animal.
As a snake owner, I try very hard to impress on people the need to get this vision. Snakes are easier in some respects. They eat only once a week to ten days. They only pass waste about once a week. When they shed, they shed all at once and don't leave little hairs floating all over the house. They don't chew clothes or scratch furniture. They are harder in other respects. Most need supplemental heat in their cages. They need places to hide in order to feel secure. A few species become large and need large cages. They are still less dangerous than many favorite dog species, but providing them space requires planning. Some species live twenty or thirty years with good care. Finding people to care for them when their owners are away is harder.
This list was obviously written for mammals and mostly dogs, but some comparisons are interesting. I've already mentioned that the lifespan is often longer for some species. One can't demand much of a snake, but an owner has to give the snake a routine to which the snake can adjust. Unhappy snakes don't eat, and the owner must learn to adjust routines to what the snake likes. (I have one who likes his pre-killed rodents presented in a little cup.) They understand our words and our tone less than dogs or cats do, but they learn to trust (or not trust) their owners. No one disciplines a snake, but they are not capable of delivering a bite that will crush a person's hand. The ones that are over fourteen feet or so have long teeth that produce deep wounds, but smaller snakes can do almost no tissue damage with a bite. They are not a pet for people who want to be served by their pet, but they are fascinating little friends for those who learn to see a different perspective and figure out what these animals want and need.
Thanks for posting.
As you said, your Dad had returned for her. She was comforted in his loving hands.
thank you for that! :)
I didn’t stay with my old dog because i knew I would cry, and it always upset him so to see me cry, and the last thing I wanted to do was upset him. But it was hard, very hard.
Ah, yes. I remember little Hannible.
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