I put another dog to sleep last night. Black dog carried on about six months after . That's too many to euthanize in a year.
Brown Dog was the first time I had to put an animal down, so let me share my experience in case you will also be a rookie one day. My wife shared some wisdom from a veterinary technician...
Nobody ever complains that they put their dog to sleep too soon.
We went back to the first place which is a 24 hour veterinary hospital. They charge about $250 to euthanize your pet, cremate your pet with no return of ashes, and make you a cast of a paw print with your pet's name on it. That's the cheapest option they have. What to do with a dead pet is maybe the most stressful thing for me. It's good to have someone handle that with a little dignity. I'd feel bad putting my dog in the trash. She deserved better. It's okay if the ashes go to the landfill, I guess. Black Dog was a scavenger before I got her - that would be an all-you-care-to-eat buffet for her and she could chase the seagulls.
Home service in our case was many hundreds more expensive.
Anyhow, if you think this moment is coming maybe it is best to start shopping. Get an idea of prices and facilities. While I only know one place now, I think it is pretty nice. They have a comfortable lounge. You can go spend some time with your pet in there, they don't rush you.
The actual act goes down like this. They will take your pet to a procedure room and put in an IV line, then they bring them back to the lounge. Again, you can hang out until you're ready. When you are you call in the vet and they will explain the details to you. In my case it's like this.
- They will administer a strong sedative through the IV line.
- They will flush the sedative in with saline
- They will confirm that your dog is unconscious
- At your direction they will administer another drug which will stop the unconscious dog's heart and breathing.
- They will confirm that there's no pulse. It's done.
They are awake, then they are totally unconscious, then they stop breathing and there's no pulse. There is not any kind of struggle. It is sad, but also a great relief. You worry a lot about your sick old pooch. She was horribly ill, no question. Dogs are tough and won't tell you that they are suffering until it is really bad. Farewell, Black Dog!
I'd make these final points:
- Stay with your dog, don't drop them off. They will be worried and looking for you until they are put to sleep. It is sad, but not traumatic to stay with them until the end.
- Be realistic about money. I loved my dog, but diagnostics would have been four figures with no assurance that she'd live much longer or comfortably.
- Think about what it will be like if you have to do an emergency euthanization with a screaming dog in pain. I was ahead of this in both cases and glad for it. Once you get to the point where the pet is old and sick and you worry about them all the time - well that's pretty close to time to be thinking about this.
Go appreciate your dog now.
