We are a family of animal lovers. We have 3 dogs, 1 cat, a pond full of fish, one house fish and two mice (recently deceased). We are in a situation now that leaves us with the decision of having to put two of our dogs to sleep. Sheba, a full bred American German Sheppard, and Miriya, a full bred yellow lab. Sheba is 11 years old and is believed to have liver disease. Unfortunately, we can not afford the cost of doing all of the tests necessary to tell us for sure. The poor dog drinks tons of water, and as fast as she does that, she's going to the bathroom and letting it all out. We had to put her in the garage, which breaks our heart, because the smell was filtering into the house even though we cleaned up after her as soon as she did it. We are taking her to the vet on Friday for a second opinion, but I fear that we are going to be told the same thing. Thus, leaving us with the only alternative - putting her to sleep. Miriya is 12 years old and has developed a tumor in her nasal passage. It is cancerous and eating away at her bone. We have her on antibiotics and prednisone but it now seems that not even the pills are helping. Every time she sees me, she wags her tail and coos and it kills me to know that I have to put her to sleep. The tumor in her nose is getting bigger and I would rather put her to sleep than let her suffocate because the tumor is blocking her airway. I can't bear the thought of putting either one of these dogs to sleep but it seems like it is our last resort. We have exhausted everything within our physical power. I want to scream and cry out loud and yell at someone!!! I know this is all a part of the circle of life but these dogs are like my kids. I guess I'm posting this message because I feel guillty about putting them to sleep. I just don't know what to do. Does anyone out there have any advice? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />

Don't feel guilty. If your dogs are sick and suffering. The compassionate and honorable thing to do, is let them go.

The kindest, most loving thing we can do for our canine friends is let them have a peaceful, pain-free end. It's also one of the most difficult things that the human part of the equation has to deal with.

I've done this six times...heart failure, cancer, degenerative diseases have claimed six of my best friends, and it was a true blessing to be able to release them from an existence that was becoming filled with pain rather than pleasure. It broke my heart each time - but I COULD NOT be selfish enough to ask them to endure the pain so that I could have them around a little longer. I couldn't do that to a pet I loved so much.

Talk to your vet, they can help you set the "signs" that will let you know when it is time to let them go. Then be strong for your dogs, and allow them to pass on so they will be peaceful and painfree. It is a very gentle passing. When my rottie Talen was put down because of osteosarcoma, as the solution was injected you could see the relief on his face - "it doesn't hurt anymore". He just laid his head down, sighed, and was gone - quietly and gently. We knew then that we'd done the right thing.

I hope this has helped a little - I truly know what you're going through.

Thank you for your quick response. I agree that we do not need to be selfish at a time like this and I most certainly do not want my friends to endure an ounce more pain than they have to. I know what we have to do...the other hard part of this all is that we have two children. One is only 2 so she won't really understand but our son is 8 and a pretty sensitive kid as far as boys go. It was hard enough to explain to him why his mice died...we did explain to him that they will be in a better place and they won't have any more pain. In telling him that I think we are trying to convince ourselves, too. It's just so hard - death is too final. But as I have read many times in this forum, our dogs will live on in our hearts and memories and we will see them again one day when it too is our time to go. It's just sad, I'm so very sad. I just wanted to say that I appreciate anyone who has taken the time to read, let alone to reply to, my post. It feels good to be able to share my emotions without being judged or considered foolish...thank you so very much from the bottom of my heart.

It's a really tough decision, but you're doing the right thing.

I don't know, since you have small children, if the following suggestion is right for you, but the last few times I've had to euthanize a pet, I've had the vet come to the house to spare the animal the trauma of that last trip to the animal hospital. Our last dog died in my wife's lap--a lot better than a steel table in a cold room, even if you're there.

Thanks for your advice Dave. I did consider that option about having the vet come to our place but being that we do have the children I think it's best if we go to the vet's office. I'd rather have our son remember Sheba and Miriya as playful and happy in our home instead of having him remember that they "died" here. I'm not sure if that makes any sense or not but that's what my instinct is telling me to do. It's amazing how attached we become to our pets...I'm just experiencing such a whirlwind of emotion. The best way I can describe it is NUMB. And on top of it all, it's not just one "family member", it's two. I've heard it said that God doesn't give you crosses that you can not bear - I say right now, the load is getting a little heavy. March is a horrible month, I lost my mom 2 years ago in March and now to be losing the dogs in the same month is a lot to bear. I'm sorry to keep rambling on and on... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

I feel for you. I just lost my GSD last month. He was just a little shy of his 10th birth day. The vet was telling me he had a brain leasion or something to that effect. All Ajax would do the last couple of days of his life was pace back and forth in the living room. When you try to give a dog chopped up pieces of steak and he won't eat there's something seriously wrong. The dog yelped in pain if you just patted him on the head. I'm still having a lot of guilt over it. The next treatment option would have been to take him to Detroit to see a neurologist again. My feeling is that it was due to a vaccine reaction from last year. He started devloping a lot of weird neourology problems about a month or so after the last set of shots. Even with Pet insurance any treatment would have been very expensive (best case your talking brain surgery). I never thought the day would come for me to make that decision either. I always thought that as long as the dog wasn't in pain and there was a reasonable chance of recovery, I'd do just about anything to keep him alive. I'm not sure if that helps or not. I'm still grieving a little even though we just adopted a golden retriever. We may get another GSD but that still up in the air. I haven't found any really impressive GSD's at a shelter and decent working line dogs are a little pricey.
Anyway, good luck, I'll keep you in my prayers.

Thank you for your empathy. This most certainly will be one of the hardest decisions of my life. My husband thinks that it's time, and I know he's right. What an emotional roller coaster...God give me the strength.

Dear Cheryl,
My heart feels for you,I myself had to put down my two german Shepherds a month and 3 weeks ago.I can not tell you the sorrow I feel for my loss.I can only believe you feel the same,My male could no longer walk(2years)and his mate went down hill seeing the male not able to walk.Both 13+Life was so good and we were so happy,the thing is don't get too comfortable with what your in love with(with me it was my dogs)for tomorrow it can all be gone.I have never been able to deal well with the loss of my pets and I am a medic and a combat medic,worked on an ambukance seen all kinds of death,but my animals,oh boy I know how you feel kiddo.Take care,if you need to talk mail me.
T

Just hang in there. I did have to explain the loss of two of my pets to my daughter (then 3 and again at 8). Children are more resilient than we give them credit for, and she really did understand that Gypsy and Dara weren't hurting anymore, and that as long as we remembered them, they were still with us in our hearts. I think she dealt with it better than I did!

Don't feel guilty, and by all means allow yourself to grieve! You need to do that, so that you can get on the other side of this. It's ok for kids to see that - it's a part of life that they need to know about, and they learn to deal with it by watching us deal with it.

*hugs* - you'll get through it, I promise. It might not feel like it now, but you will.