Dear owners, and all you PupViners…
I know you’re used to reading happy lines from me, but today, my heart aches.
We lost a dear, dear canine friend yesterday. He was in too much pain to keep going on. His cancer had spread and the only thing left to do was put him to sleep forever.
Tigger was my parents’ dog and a beloved family member. He led a happy life, full of action, and sprinkled with love and kisses.
As I was browsing the Internet, trying to find something that would ease our minds, I stumbled across a social media post from a colleague of mine, explaining what really happens when your dog enters the room where he’ll fall asleep forever.
I hope this will make the decision easier for you as it did for my parents.
I hope and pray that your furry little buddies now run through green pastures and chase after butterflies.
The End Has Come
Our beloved Tigger was in a lot of pain. There was no way we could’ve helped him anymore. It was a matter of days or weeks when Tigger would cross the rainbow bridge. We all agreed that we love our dog too much to let him feel such incredible pain.
When our family vet asked my parents whether they want to be in the room when Tigger closes his eyes forever, they immediately knew the answer. They never planned on leaving him in his final moments.
Later on, as I was scrolling through the Internet, I realized they made a good decision.
I know it’s painful to see your dog going for good.
I know it’s a pain that will never go away.
But, I also know we all need closure.
I don’t know about you, but neither my parents nor I would have ever forgiven ourselves if we hadn’t been there for Tigger.
A social media post by Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital really opened my eyes and I want your to open wide, too:
When you’re a pet owner, it is inevitable, the majority of time, that your pet will die before you do. So if and when you have to take your pet to the vet’s office for a humane pain-free ending I want you all to know something. You have been the center of their world for THEIR ENTIRE LIVES!!!! They may be just a part of yours but all they know is you as their family. It is a crappy decision/day/time/event every time, there’s no argument against that and it is devastating for us humans to lose them. But please I beg you DO NOT LEAVE THEM. Do not make them transition from life to death in a room of strangers in a place they don’t like. The thing you people need to know that most of you don’t is that THEY SEARCH FOR YOU WHEN YOU LEAVE THEM BEHIND!!!!
They search every face in the room for their loved person. They don’t understand why you left them when they are sick, scared, old, or dying from cancer and they need your comfort. Don’t be a coward because you think it is just too hard for YOU, imagine what they feel if you leave them in their most vulnerable time and people like me are left to try our best every time to comfort them, make them less scared and try to explain why you just couldn’t stay.
From a tired broken-hearted vet.
Don’t abandon your dog in his final moments, no matter how hard it might be for you.
I think anything else added would just destroy what our dear colleague from Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital said.
Until a brighter topic comes up…
Love from Liam and his remaining four-legged buddies.