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#1
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Letting Go
Tomorrow we're saying goodbye to our precious Sydney, who has been a
member of the family for 14 years. He has kidney failure, and the vet is willing to attempt to prolong his life; but, the prognosis is, of course, bleak. We have never had to do this before and are terrified for him. Is there any way to make it easier for him? I have heard such horror stories about how dreadfully traumatic it is for the dog. Is there anything special we can request from the vet to make this transition peaceful for him? Thank you all very much. |
#2
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Letting Go
On 10 Dec 2008 23:44:13 GMT, Sharonpo wrote:
Tomorrow we're saying goodbye to our precious Sydney, who has been a member of the family for 14 years. He has kidney failure, and the vet is willing to attempt to prolong his life; but, the prognosis is, of course, bleak. We have never had to do this before and are terrified for him. Is there any way to make it easier for him? I have heard such horror stories about how dreadfully traumatic it is for the dog. Is there anything special we can request from the vet to make this transition peaceful for him? Thank you all very much. I am so sorry for your loss. I had to do this in September for my Bagel. It's hard. He was already in board at the vet (and pretty unable to move due to a neck injury) so when we got there at the right time he had been moved to the area where they would euth him. A tech was feeding him chicken she had made him. we visited with him a bit (we all said goodbye to him) I hugged him. the vet gave him a tranquilizer and left us a few more minutes. his breathing became deep and regular and I could see he was NOT in pain any more for the first time in a long time. the actual injection was quick and as far as I could tell he was not in pain nor was he afraid. The only thing I wish I had done was brought my other dog with me so she could say goodbye. I think it was very very very hard on her. IF you can do it, be with him till the very end.... that's my personal advice. Best Wishes, Nessa ---- Dog Mom to: Hannah age 6.5 Pitador rescued age 9 weeks Harley small shaggy cow that I love and adore (landseer Newf rescued 10/08) (Angel) Bagel went to Rainbow Bridge 9/18/08 my Newfandstuff age 8.5 |
#3
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Letting Go
"Sharonpo" wrote in message ... Tomorrow we're saying goodbye to our precious Sydney, who has been a member of the family for 14 years. He has kidney failure, and the vet is willing to attempt to prolong his life; but, the prognosis is, of course, bleak. We have never had to do this before and are terrified for him. Is there any way to make it easier for him? I have heard such horror stories about how dreadfully traumatic it is for the dog. Is there anything special we can request from the vet to make this transition peaceful for him? Thank you all very much. We went through this with our Sheltie, Lacy, nine years ago. The final diagnosis was made on a Thursday. The vet gave us some medication, and we were going to try to get through the weekend. But when we arrived back home, we decided not to prolong her suffering any more, and I took her back over Friday. My husband couldn't do it, so I went alone. Although Lacy had a great fear of strangers, and wasn't fond of the vet, she allowed him to shave her foreleg and start an IV without any fuss at all. I held her in my arms, and she was calm and cool. I was watching her eyes, and the vet said, "That's it." I had missed it! It was so gentle and calm that I didn't even know he had injected the drug. Lacy had simply slipped away, right in front of my eyes, and it was so subtle I didn't see it happen. I closed her eyes, and said my goodbyes, and left her with the vet. He had her cremated, as we didn't think we could bear to bury her ourselves. It was the greatest gift I could give the old girl, and I'm forever grateful that I stayed with her, to make sure she was unafraid and calm. I'm very sorry for your loss, and I wish the same easy passing for precious Sydney as Lacy had. Phyrie |
#4
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Letting Go
Sharonpo wrote:
Tomorrow we're saying goodbye to our precious Sydney, who has been a member of the family for 14 years. He has kidney failure, and the vet is willing to attempt to prolong his life; but, the prognosis is, of course, bleak. We have never had to do this before and are terrified for him. Is there any way to make it easier for him? I have heard such horror stories about how dreadfully traumatic it is for the dog. Is there anything special we can request from the vet to make this transition peaceful for him? Thank you all very much. When it was our Mollie's time we brought along a quilt from my bed where she'd slept so many nights. We folded it to make a pad on the floor and she laid down and made herself comfortable. I knelt down and took off her collar and scratched the itchy part of her neck and stroked her face while the vet gave her the shot. She drifted away smelling home, looking into my eyes. Know that this will be much harder on you than it will be for Sydney. |
#5
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Letting Go
"Sharonpo" wrote: Is there any way to make it easier for him? Stay with him, and stay calm. Be there for him, set your own feelings aside until afterwards. Is there anything special we can request from the vet to make this transition peaceful for him? For ALL of you, not just for him, and not necessarily in order - I list all suggestions for general purposes, I realize it may be too late for some of them to be practical for you; also, some vets are not willing to do all of these things: Request that the vet schedule your appointment for first thing in the morning, or last before closing. Request that you be allowed to enter and leave by a side or back entrance, and that you not be required to sit in the waiting room. Request - BEFORE leaving home - that you be allowed to leave the dog in the car and discreetly take care of payment & paperwork beforehand. Request that the vet use a shunt rather than doing multiple injections. Make sure what the vet's policies are regarding owner participation BEFORE you go in. Some don't want owners to stay, and/or don't want to let you be there when a shunt is put in. If he's a large dog, ask that the vet let you sit on the floor with him rather than putting him on a table. Decide beforehand what you're doing about body disposal. |
#6
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Letting Go
Nessa, Phyrie, Kathleen, elegy
Thanks guys - so much. It's the IV that I wonder about. Can Sydney be sedated before that, or is it even necessary to go the IV route. I know that's gotta hurt and cause pain, fear, etc.. I thought we were more mentally prepared for this than we are simply due to his age. |
#7
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Letting Go
On 11 Dec 2008 01:58:45 GMT, Sharonpo wrote:
Nessa, Phyrie, Kathleen, elegy Thanks guys - so much. It's the IV that I wonder about. Can Sydney be sedated before that, or is it even necessary to go the IV route. I know that's gotta hurt and cause pain, fear, etc.. I thought we were more mentally prepared for this than we are simply due to his age. IF I recall correctly the sedation does not require an IV just a shot... then the IV is done when sedated Best Wishes, Nessa ---- Dog Mom to: Hannah age 6.5 Pitador rescued age 9 weeks Harley small shaggy cow that I love and adore (landseer Newf rescued 10/08) (Angel) Bagel went to Rainbow Bridge 9/18/08 my Newfandstuff age 8.5 |
#8
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Letting Go
Sharonpo said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior: Is there anything special we can request from the vet to make this transition peaceful for him? Will your vet do home euthanasia? This is what I did with my old girl a few years ago and it went very well. -- --Matt. Rocky's a Dog. |
#9
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Letting Go
"sionnach" wrote in message ... "Sharonpo" wrote: Is there any way to make it easier for him? Stay with him, and stay calm. Be there for him, set your own feelings aside until afterwards. Is there anything special we can request from the vet to make this transition peaceful for him? For ALL of you, not just for him, and not necessarily in order - I list all suggestions for general purposes, I realize it may be too late for some of them to be practical for you; also, some vets are not willing to do all of these things: Request that the vet schedule your appointment for first thing in the morning, or last before closing. Yes, it was hard to walk through the waiting room with other people there with their pets, although we did not have to wait, but were ushered right in the moment we came in. I did go in ahead before bringing Lacy in to make sure they were ready for us. Request that you be allowed to enter and leave by a side or back entrance, and that you not be required to sit in the waiting room. Request - BEFORE leaving home - that you be allowed to leave the dog in the car and discreetly take care of payment & paperwork beforehand. That's a great idea too. I wish I had thought of it. I had to stop at the desk on my way out to take care of that. Request that the vet use a shunt rather than doing multiple injections. Make sure what the vet's policies are regarding owner participation BEFORE you go in. Some don't want owners to stay, and/or don't want to let you be there when a shunt is put in. If he's a large dog, ask that the vet let you sit on the floor with him rather than putting him on a table. Decide beforehand what you're doing about body disposal. This was very helpful in our case. We knew we didn't want to bring her home again, and the cremation service (rather than "disposal") eased any guilt that might have occurred. One nice thing: we later received a card from the Western College of Veterinary Medicine saying that a donation had been made to the College in Lacy's name by our vet. I was surprised and touched by the gesture. Phyrie |
#10
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Letting Go
Sharonpo wrote in
: Nessa, Phyrie, Kathleen, elegy Thanks guys - so much. It's the IV that I wonder about. Can Sydney be sedated before that, or is it even necessary to go the IV route. I know that's gotta hurt and cause pain, fear, etc.. I thought we were more mentally prepared for this than we are simply due to his age. Just a bit more information. I'm still trying to learn the numbers, and don't fully understand it myself. His creatine (?) is 7.1. In healthy dogs it's below 1.4. The other number is BUN and should be under 25 or 28, I forget which. Sydney's is 188. I don't know what it all means, but an IRIS Staging graph does finally put it a little more in context for me. The vet was pretty non-committal and was willing to stand behind whatever I decided. Making a decision is the hard part. |
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