Our pets are a huge part of our lives. Much like the "comfort and joy" that you might experience from a familiar Christmas song, pets enrich our lives all year long. Unfortunately, there comes a time when will inevitably say, "Goodbye"....
When the decision comes to taking your pet to the veterinarian for the last time, it's never easy. So many conflicting things go through your mind. Is it really time? Can we do something to prolong/improve his quality of life? Are we doing this more for us or the pet?......The hardest part is that once you made the final decision to euthanize your pet, there's no turning back.
As callous as it might sound, if our pets just passed away in their sleep, it would make things much easier. I'm certainly not saying that it still won't hurt. But at least it takes away the mental torture of knowing whether or not that you made the right call at the right time.
While I'm in no way comparing the loss of a pet to a loss of a person, it still stings. Anyone who has ever had a connection with a beloved pet knows exactly what I'm talking about.
A lot of people can't relate because they haven't had the direct interaction with the pet. For the most part, pet owners have an isolated connection with their animals. If your friend's pet passes away, you will sympathize with them because of the hurt that he/she feels. But you don't really feel the loss because you yourself haven't had that same interaction. I have heard some people say, "What's the big deal? It's just an animal?" While that mentality would definitely make the loss a lot less painful, it's not a realistic approach for most pet owners. We view our pets as part of the family.
Yesterday, Tina and I put our cat (Lester) down. We brought he and his brother (Lewis) into our home as kittens about 15 years ago. Although we wrestled with the decision, we knew that Lester's time had come. We thought about waiting another week or two to see if things improved. But we knew that we were just prolonging the inevitable. We went forward with it and we're both feeling the loss this weekend. And as a reassurance of Lester's absence, Lewis has been calling for his brother all morning.
Watching your pet pass away as the vet injects him with a sedative overdose is hard. And then seeing the vet put the stethoscope on his chest a few minutes later and confirming that he's gone is even harder. But it pales in comparison to coming home and not seeing your pet greet you when you walk in the door. Scattered toys, blankets and food bowls will inevitably trigger memories in the following days. And they will all be good memories.....
kw
