Asked By:
Kelly
in
Dogs
-
749 days ago
Katie's Answer
Good question. I've been a vet tech for years and (unfortunately) this is a big part of my job. It mainly boils down to quality of life. Can your pet still be himself? Is there any medications to help him be painfree? Ask for options before you say "I know he's in pain, so I'm gonna put him down." There are a lot of great things you can do for your geriatric pet to help him feel his best in his final years.
However, old dogs are not the only ones that get put down. Perhaps your 3 year old Boxer has cancer and it's spreading. Chemo no longer works, and he has trouble breathing, but still acts and looks like a puppy. How long do you let him go without treatment, since he's so good at hiding the pain? Have X-rays taken and see how bad his inside is. THe inside is almost always worse than the outside.
Aggressive pets may need to be put down also. I'm not advocating putting a pet down because of behavior problems, but regardless of what trainers say, not every aggressive dog can be rehabilitated. Some of them are inbred and have real mental issues, not behavior issues. Are there children or other pets around? Can he do real harm to anyone. Consider these questions, and don't let someone tell you you should never do that, you should only try to rehome him. How could you rehome a dangerous dog, what if he attacks the new owner? Could you live with that, regardless of whether or not he was warned? They don't all get better, trust me. Some literally are just crazy and a threat to other creatures.
No matter what you do, please refrain from doing the "he should die at home" type of thing. euthanasia is virtually painless (except for a needle poke), and you can decide when he passes and be there with him. Not all dogs die in their sleep, sometimes they die while you're gone and it can take a while and be painful. WHen you euthanize, they actually fall asleep and don't wake up. Very peaceful. You know when to do the right thing.
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