Makes me want to cry. I’m so so sorry. 
Ah, @Nrdsb4, I’m so sorry. Dogs are the best people. They love us more than we love ourselves. Of course you’re sad, but you did the right thing.
I wish someone would do it for me when my time comes.
I’m so sorry and sad for you and your family. It’s so painful, but you did the right thing. Hugs…
@Nrdsb4 I’m so so so sorry. It is so hard.
We had a dog that had grand Mal seizures starting around 10 years old. Terrible, so scary. Didn’t happen again for about 6 months. Then another 6 months. Then started more frequently. And she was having more physical trouble recovering from each one. The vet said: one time, she may not come out of it. So next seizure, she came out of it, and we had her put down. It was so awful. But at least she was with us, peaceful.
I wish you the very best to cope with your loss.
This is what happened. He had a seizure, and instead of recovering to his old self after about 15 minutes, several hours later, he was still in a fog. He seemed like he went blind for a while after it. He couldn’t see things in his path. I took him out to pee and instead of walking onto the grass, he walked straight off the porch and fell into a flower/shrub bed. It was just so scary and upsetting. I told the vet it seemed he had gone from struggling to suffering. He kept him for observation and documented another long seizure the same day. This morning when I told him we were leaning towards letting him go, he said “When I think someone is giving up too soon, I try to talk them out of it. I’m not going to try to talk you out of this.”
It is so very hard. It would be much easier to find them passed away in their sleep. Taking active steps to end things is just so painful, I can’t even express how I am feeling.
I went to bed and tried to nap, but couldn’t. When I got up, I saw that sweet DH had removed the crate, numerous leashes, food and bowls. I really don’t need those reminders right now. That was thoughtful of DH.
@Nrdsb4 I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s so difficult, even when you know it’s the best course to take.
@Nrdsb4 so very sorry. You took such wonderful care of your boy.
@Nrdsb4 I am so sorry. It is terrible saying goodbye to a beloved pet.
Also, can I just add that it isn’t always super obvious when you need to euthanize a pet? I think that’s a myth that keeps people second-guessing. Sometimes, you have to just make a head decision.
We had to put down an old cat who had jaw cancer. We could see that his mouth wouldn’t close, that he couldn’t eat easily, and that he needed lots of gabapentin to sleep comfortably. But he still purred and jumped in our laps, and when the euthanasia vet came to put him down, he sniffed curiously at the basket he’d be carried in to the crematorium. It felt horrible, but I know in my head it was right.
Just so sad, tearing up now. We miss our beloved pets so much.
@Nrdsb4 sending hugs and sympathies your way. You stayed loyal to your pup through his troubles for many months. You gave him every chance and loved him and comforted him all along the way. What a lucky boy with a wonderful life you gave him. You were both lucky.
We lost our dog almost three weeks ago. I am too recently familiar with those first day feelings of them being gone. “So quiet” - even if they didn’t make much noise! One day at a time and at some point even with the sadness you will smile at the memories. More hugs!
They leave a hole in our hearts when they depart. Hugs.
I’m so very sorry, @Nrdsb4. Even when you know it’s the right decision it’s painful. I hope with time you will be able to recall the joy and happiness Sparky brought to your life and it won’t hurt so terribly.
Thinking of you.
Today I’ve been busy, so not so much time to cry. I’m feeling less guilty for taking “active steps” to end my dog’s life. But when I think about it, the pain hits deep.
How do these little creatures get so deep into our hearts? I don’t know why, but I’ve cried more after euthanizing my pets than I have after losing my Mom and brother. It’s certainly not that I value my pets more than my family, but maybe because my pets had no say in how things developed. My mom and brother had advanced directives, so I had no role in how things played out. Also, I felt like I lost them long before they died, due to cognitive decline over a long period. This particular incident was so sudden in terms of one minute not doing great but still pretty normal and stable and then quickly it’s time to euthanize. I don’t know, but I feel a little weird about my reaction now vs. with my family. Stoic with people, a mess with a pet.
Thanks for all the kind words.
I’m so very sorry. Our fur babies truly are part of our families. For what it’s worth, you made the right decision.
Nrdsb4, I cried more for my dog than I did for close family members, too. The intensity of our emotions towards a pet can be quite startling. There’s not the kind of baggage with a dog that we might have with a parent or sib, even if we love that relative dearly.
My sweet pup was outside walking around the yard when the vet came to the house. K was fine on her feet, but the tumor in her neck cut off her airflow when she lay down. Our vet told us we did the right thing at the right time; K was starting to suffer, and we didn’t want her to go through that.
Sending you much love.
“Nrdsb4, I cried more for my dog than I did for close family members, too.”
Ditto. I guess as humans we are responsible for those we have tamed.
"You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.”
The Little Prince
Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
@Nrdsb4 , I remember telling out vet, “he was a perfectly good (without any real issues) dog yesterday!” Now I appreciate that he only had one bad day to endure and that though sudden for us was a blessing.
I hope I will have only one bad day to endure.
My vet called today to check and see how we are doing. He said that he and the office staff took this one particularly hard because they have known our little dude for so long and so well. He boarded there whenever we traveled. He had medical issues that mandated fairly frequent care. They all knew me whenever I came in; we all used to say I should have my own dedicated room.
He expressed to me that he was worried I might be second guessing myself and wanted to assure me that he would not have let me do anything too soon that was inappropriate, at least without making his case strenuously. That there was only one direction we were headed, and it was going to be traumatic for all of us, most of all Sparky. That dogs rarely go gently into the night and that we had saved him much pain and suffering.
That was a very nice thing he did, and it does help a bit.
So very sorry for your loss, @Nrdsb4. It is so difficult to say goodbye. We had to make the active decision with our cats, but with our dog, after nursing him along for a long time with end stage congestive heart failure, mitral valve disease and lots of meds, special procedures and diets, belly bands when the diuretics caused bladder control problems, he died in his crate (which was his happy place where he got a treat after being outside). He was happy and interactive until the end, but finding him in his crate was no easier 