When Should You Put Your Dog Down?
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In Reply to: Saying Goodbye posted by DogLover on October 30, 2003 at 00:12:44:
too many people kill their animals too casually.
I had a wonderful dog. He started getting sick. The vets didn't really look for a cause- just put him on thyroid med for life and said we had a 'geriatric' dog and we had to expect ill health. I lucked into the solution reading a James Herriot story in Reader's Digest. Removed cabbage, spinach and broccoli from his diet and my dog turned back into a puppy- he had three more wonderful years ( I threw out the thyroid tabs).
I had specifically asked three different vets if his condition could be due to poisoning ( there was some going on in our neighborhood) and they all said no and acted like I just couldn't accept his 'old age' I told them about his diet ( I was cooking for my dogs back then- good alternative vet recipes, but I added cabbage for flavor, or started with our left over spinach water, or gave the dogs all our broccoli stems for chewing on ( they now get carrots instead of bones). Took that old-time Scottish vet's writings to tell me you aren't supposed to give brassicas to dogs.
When I was 26, a doctor dismissed my health problems with the comment, "you're getting old"
Vets are quick to dismiss dogs' problems as geriatric. If you keep looking for cures for yourself on sites like this one, you should give your dogs the same chance at a good life.
Vaccines cause health problems. Start by limiting your dog to a rabies shot every three years.
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by maire on October 30, 2003 at 05:22:23:
I feed a lot of things but never cabbage and spinach doesn't
agree with them and only tried broccoli a few times. Did
you feed them often ?
I have one that is slowing down an trying different
things.
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by maire on October 30, 2003 at 05:22:23:
I feed a lot of things but never cabbage and spinach doesn't
agree with them and only tried broccoli a few times. Did
you feed them often ?
I have one that is slowing down an trying different
things.
In Reply to: Saying Goodbye posted by DogLover on October 30, 2003 at 00:12:44:
I can't access the link but I wait for the dog to tell me
it is time to let go, when their quality of life is gone
and they don't seem to enjoy living and even then I'd have
to see something compelling since I don't think they think
about things like we would and may be happy even with
limits.
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by Vince F on October 30, 2003 at 06:03:25:
I used the cabbage because I thought it would add flavor- the dogs loved cabbage- sometimes they'd grab a fresh head out of my grocery bag if I got distracted.
The broccoli stems just seemed like a good thing to chew on, since we didn't haver bones in the house- I was trying not to waste.
The spinach water, also, wanted not to waste after cooking our family food. The dogs loved it all, but lucked into finding out not to feed it to them in time.
I switched to Nature's Recipe Veggie dog food.
I often supplement the dogs with raw eggs- they love them.They love chewing carrots and they like tofu.
Since that misadventure with the brassicas, the dogs have been healthy on whatever i feed then and play and reproduce successfully.
Believe it helps to have more than one dog- no matter how much we care, we don't really speak their language- animals need the companionship of their own species-I think it makes them happier, which is good for the immune system.
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by maire on October 30, 2003 at 12:01:52:
I have two hounds for My pleasure since I like and need the
different temperments of a male and a female. The breed
Ignore each other when not in heat but will lay together
when cold. They interact with me so maybe just do it with
the alpha.
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by Vince F on October 30, 2003 at 17:34:26:
So are you part of their pack, or they are part of yours?
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by maire on October 30, 2003 at 05:22:23:
Hi Maire,
I have a vet that has the determination to try to allow the
animal to live as long as possible, sometimes too long
in my opinion. (he loves them all and is an amazing
guy). He took great care of both of my last two pets, but
really had difficulty with me bringing up the mention of
putting them down when their time came. Without
going into it, both situations were not good at the end.
Both should have been put down earlier, and my vet
and I have talked about this in detail. He agrees now,
and through my cat's death (a year ago) he has come to
understand that sometimes it is better to put them
down. At his request I let my cat die naturally with the
help of injections of major painkillers, and it was a
horrible choice. He believes that there is a process of
surrender that we all need to face at the end, and that it
is part of life. I can see the validity in this, but after what
happened with my cat, he came to realize that
sometimes it isn't the right thing to do, and that in
reality, the truth was that he didn't want to be the one to
put them down any longer. His partner will do it, but he
can't. Something inside of him, when looking into the
animals eyes, says not to do it, but to assist them
through a comfortable natural death if possible. He
has had great difficulty with this whole aspect of his
profession, and is now more into psychomotor work
with the animals, even though he is still running the
animal hospital as well.
It is a tough decision when you love animals (and
people!) to know what the right thing is. For two years I
assisted my dog through his hardships, to the point
that I was pulling out my own hair at the end. I was
stuck between my own exhaustion, my vets opinion of
keeping him around, and my deep connection with this
dog. He was my best friend for almost 16 years, 4
years past his life expectancy. To this day, I regret not
letting him go sooner. The end was horrible. My
innocent side wishes for that soft peaceful lift and a
sweet and swift goodbye. None of my animals have
died this way. But to be honest, no matter what I have
chosen in the end for them, it was just so painful to see
them go.
dd
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by Vince F on October 30, 2003 at 06:07:05:
I just put down my 14 year old welsh corgi five weeks ago.
It was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. I have never a pet as much as that one, but his quality of life was getting so bad. I wanted to let you know that there is a great site called www.petloss.com and it is wonderful and they have message boards, etc. It has certainly been a good outlet for me in my time of grief.
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by maire on October 30, 2003 at 05:22:23:
Thanks, Maire.
The Whole Dog Journal is full of this kind of information. See the holistic vets archives.
Everyone needs to know the kind of stuff you have posted.
Namaste`
Walt
In Reply to: Re: Saying Goodbye posted by Alpha Male on October 30, 2003 at 17:51:20:
Both. They have to deal with human things and I let them
do doggy ones.
It might be the breed or that makes them SO indifferent
to each other except when in heat and they are catlike in
many ways or it could be they they have had problems from
troubled pasts that I cure that might make them see me as
their leader.
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