PSA from either your favorite or unfavorite veterinarian

DuckDogDr

This is a Pissed off Service Announcement 

Guys when the time comes to have to euthanize your pet. Don't be the individual or family member that walks away when the hard time comes..because its "too hard"..suck it up and be there.

Its disheartening shift after shift when people use that excuse and it's also not fair to your veterinarian..
Often times we're the ones that have set up with them all night with them in pain, from the broken bones, the cancer that's eating away their insides, the trouble breathing from congestive heart failure, 

Only to watch them light up and see their demeanor change as you pay your last visit...for you to the. Walk off with your back turned as they look at us suddenly scared and confused..leaving us to try and console them and fill a roll we never can...we're there with not only their physical pain but also their emotional pain as well watching them trying to process what is happening...

That last one is a roll we shouldn't have to fill, nor do we really want to....

Gulfcoastguy

8 years ago I I sat on the floor with my Boxers head in my lap. The poor young vet , I think it was her first time to euthanize. I made a promise to my girl when she chose me. I also wouldn’t let her be constantly scared and confused from brain tumor induced seizures. I took her home and dug her grave myself.

EzraBrooks

I can't believe people do that. With my dog we had 17 great years and one awful day. It is hard but I could never let her go it alone.

fishlessman

took a while but i talked the vet into coming outside to the truck one time, they did not want to do that at all

JohnInCarolina

I can't imagine doing that, but I'm sure there are some people who are so attached to their pets that they just can't bear to watch them be euthanized.

What they're probably not appreciating is what you're describing at the end there, that the pet will suddenly be afraid.  If the vet explains that's what will happen and they still walk away, well... some people don't deserve to have pets.

Ozzie_Isaac

Every dog I have had put down has been in my arms.  I cannot imagine any other way.  Just writing this makes me tear up, but they are family.  I wouldn't imagine not being with them for their last breaths.

Fred19Flintstone

I’m not a pet person.  But even I wouldn’t do that.  Especially since my sister’s our vet.  We have a dog for Wilma and the girls.  It’s old and sick.  It has two paws in the grave and the other two in banana peel slippers.  When it goes, they will be very sad.  

Out of respect for their feelings, I won’t exclaim “Yippee!!  No more dogsh!t in the yard!”

danguba78

This definitely hits home, as our 13-year-old bulldog is now in “palliative” stage of cancer.  Four kinds of cancer, actually.  When the time comes, we’re likely going to use of those in-home veterinary euthanasia services.  I don’t know who dreads it more—me, who who grew up with dogs and knows what’s coming, or my my wife, for whom this is her first dog.  Either way, this period sucks, and hard as it is, I want to be there for my friend one last time.  

Obligatory pic of dog and egg:

dbCooper

@DuckDogDr

Your thoughts, plus taking the time to share them, tell me you chose the correct profession.

Like others have posted, I can't fathom the situation you describe.  That is breaking a trust relationship.

Our veterinarian office will make a home visit to euthanize.  My subjective experience is this is beneficial in a multi-dog household, allowing the other dogs to see their buddy is gone, instead of wondering why they are no longer around.

northGAcock

I have done it both ways. They both suck for the owner. 

MasterC

I've held two and one day a third....

MasterC

Mrs.C will be buried with the ashes of all three

Ozzie_Isaac

I don't know how you do it.  A friend just sent me a message about an investment property she bought.  She bought it a few days ago and just went to check on some things.  The fvcking owners left their dog in a crate in the house.  Never told anyone.  Thankfully, she found it before it died of dehydration.  And thankfully she also found it a home.

The problem with this world is the people.  WTF.

pab

This past Sunday I drove my boy Bud E Guy an hour to an emergency vet to have him put to sleep at 5 am. He was struggling to breath from heart failure. They asked if I wanted to be with him and I said I had to be with him, I promised we would be friends to the end. When they wheeled his gurney into the room and saw me and heard me call his name his tail wagged and I held his head between my hands as he took his last breath. I’m crying like a baby now, but I am so glad I was there with him.

kl8ton

We had to pay extra to be with our dog when he was euthanized. I paid it.  

Botch

I didn't have to pay extra, but they asked me if I wanted to pay/paperwork before the final injection, which I did.  
Vet told me, after the shot, to spend as much time as necessary, and he left the room.  I appreciated that.  

Gulfcoastguy

Botch said:

I didn't have to pay extra, but they asked me if I wanted to pay/paperwork before the final injection, which I did.  
Vet told me, after the shot, to spend as much time as necessary, and he left the room.  I appreciated that.  

My vet didn’t charge me at all. She offered cremation by a third party for $200 but I chose to bury her in her favorite sunny spot.

caliking

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I don't know how you do it.  A friend just sent me a message about an investment property she bought.  She bought it a few days ago and just went to check on some things.  The fvcking owners left their dog in a crate in the house.  Never told anyone.  Thankfully, she found it before it died of dehydration.  And thankfully she also found it a home.

The problem with this world is the people.  WTF.

I’m not a pet person, but there’s a special place in hell for people like that. 

Coastal_OReggON

caliking said:

I’m not a pet person, but there’s a special place in hell for people like that. 

I couldn't agree more.  Humans can be so disappointing.  

@DuckDogDr I'm so sorry that you have to see such heartbreaking things like that.  It takes a special person to do all that you do.  Thank you for being there for our four legged family members.

Gulfcoastguy

caliking said:

Ozzie_Isaac said:

I don't know how you do it.  A friend just sent me a message about an investment property she bought.  She bought it a few days ago and just went to check on some things.  The fvcking owners left their dog in a crate in the house.  Never told anyone.  Thankfully, she found it before it died of dehydration.  And thankfully she also found it a home.

The problem with this world is the people.  WTF.

I’m not a pet person, but there’s a special place in hell for people like that. 

I kind of like the idea of reincarnation for some of these owners. Let them come back as a dog who spends his life chained to a tree..

GrateEggspectations

I must be tired, because I read “vegaetarian” rather than “veterinarian.”

bella21

I was there until the end and after today for my sweet Bella :(

Kayak

Heck, I have a cousin who refused to visit his father in the hospital. Same reasoning.