Putting Pets to Sleep

[Monica]

Very sad story Bring4th_Monica, but it shows you truly did your utmost best for your companions, and that's wonderful. If you were sure your pet was ready to go, which under the situation you explain seems to be the case, then it's the right thing to do.

I have more stories. I'll tell just 1 more. We had a cat with a tumor in her ear. The vet said she had about a 50-50 chance of surviving surgery, because of her advanced age and heart problem. He said if we did nothing she would probably have a good quality of life for a couple more years.

So we were faced with the difficult decision: Have the surgery and risk her dying, or take our chances. We decided to take our chances, since she was so old anyway. We wanted to have as much time with her as possible.

I ended up regretting that decision. The vet was wrong; her quality of life degenerated. Her condition worsened. We tried all sorts of things that didn't work, and she ended up in pain. (This was before I had the water and other resources that I know about now.) But, if we had opted for the surgery and she had died, then I'd have regrets too. So there was simply no easy answer.

The veternarians don't always have answers. It's not always a simple matter of throwing enough money at it (even if the person has the money!).

Complicating our decision was the knowledge that it wasn't just a simple matter of removing the tumor. Cutting out a cancer doesn't just 'get rid of it.' It makes its spread. That is well documented. The act of removing the tumor causes any escaping cells to metastacize. And it's impossible to avoid a few cells escaping the surgeon's knife. So cutting out a cancer is a surefire way to ensure it will spread. Then what? The root of the issue has not been addressed.

Conventional treatment of cancer is barbaric. It's bad enough that children are subjected to it. Adults can make their own decisions but children? and now cats and dogs? It's horrible. I would never subject an animal to chemotherapy. They wouldn't even understand what was being done to them. They would be subjected to more pain, and it wouldn't even work anyway. At best it might extend their lives by a few months or so...painfully.

We are caretakers of these animals. They are being subjected to experiences they wouldn't have to deal with in the wild. Cats and dogs are now getting cancer, diabetes, liver disorders, dental decay, heart disease, and all the other myriad 'human' ailments, due largely in part to the toxic, dead, degenerated, filthy diet they are fed, just as humans are getting those diseases due to the SAD diet. Animals fed the same way as humans are getting sick, just like humans. Those diseases aren't seen nearly as much in the wild. It is a 'domestication' problem so we have no choice but to deal with it.

Zachary, I admire that you make your own pet food. That is a huge step in decreasing the risk of degenerative diseases! I don't do that but I do buy premium pet food and add superfood supplements.

Each of us must deal with these situations as best we can, as mercifully as we can. Prevention is a big part of the equation. We can't totally stop our pets from aging, but we can go that extra mile and feed them well. As you have shown, it needn't be expensive.

Personally, what creates some resistance within me is when I see people putting their pets to sleep because they don't want to take care of them as they grow old, or worse, because they don't care for the pet anymore regardless of the age. It's so common... and it breaks my heart.

Yes, I agree with you on that! People often have their pets 'put down' when they become inconvenient. That just blows my mind!

Right now I have another elderly special-needs case. One of my cats is 18. He isn't sick but is just old. He's still very spry but is missing some teeth. I have to feed him canned kitten food to keep him from getting skinny. He can't eat much at a time so I feel him about 5 times per day. He has to be kept very warm. I'm bonding with him even more than before, having to take care of him. It's a special time of closeness. He's a real sweetie.

I have 6 cats all around the same age. Strays all. Wish me luck in about 10 years when they're all aging!

Thanks for sharing your story. It's inspiring.

Thank you for starting this discussion. It's important!