What are peoples opinions on this?

My brother and his wife's dog is ancient, she goes to the vet on a regular basis, has had tons of surgeries and bills. They are basically keeping Jaycee (14 year old Italian Geryhound) alive. She has no quality of life and is miserable. My sister in law REFUSES to put her to sleep and gets really pissed off when anyone asks how she is. It's kind of pissing me off to watch Jaycee suffer like this. Anyone been through this?

11/27/2005 3:03:48 PM

yup. my granddad had a dog for many years. the last few years, it had lots of problems, and was blind in both eyes. It was in very bad shape. My granddad refused to euthenize it. It wandered out of the house one day, and was run over.

11/27/2005 3:05:53 PM

put it out of its misery

11/27/2005 3:08:02 PM

your sister is dumb. it's gonna die soon anyway, what's the point in making it continue its pitiful existence? some people need to grow up. does she think that death isn't a natural and inevitable consequence of life?

[Edited on November 27, 2005 at 3:08 PM. Reason : sdf]

11/27/2005 3:08:07 PM

^I agree. And my brother is kind of caught in the middle because it's her dog and she'll bitch him out if he tells her to put it to sleep.

11/27/2005 3:13:18 PM

hes the man. just slap her and tell her how it's going to be

11/27/2005 3:15:20 PM

If the surgeries help, and the dog isn't in pain, let her spend all the money in the world until the dog dies. If the dog is in pain, don't extend its life.

11/27/2005 3:18:03 PM

my thought is, that if the animal is getting any enjoyment out of life what so ever... if he/she ever has any time of happiness then you shouldn't put it down. maybe your sister in law sees a side you don't?
however, if she is always miserable and has no quality of life, let her go. I personally wouldn't want to suffer.

11/27/2005 3:24:45 PM

hell no, don't let that dumb bitch waste your money. there is an opportunity cost, such as spending the money on your kids or yourself.

11/27/2005 3:24:57 PM

Well, Jaycee is basically on death's door. They take her to the vet at least once a week and I know her back causes her lots of pain and she's basically living off of pain pills. Jenn's mom works at a vet office, so I assume she gets a discount.

11/27/2005 3:29:10 PM

she'll be sad for maybe a week, tops. Then she will be relieved -- relieved to have some $$$

11/27/2005 3:31:13 PM

she is being selfish
she shouldnt prolong the dogs suffering
its going to die eventually and in this case it sounds like the sooner the better

11/27/2005 3:35:35 PM

they might be getting a discount on the pain pills but the dog isnt getting a discount on the pain. i work in a vet hosp. and pain pills just make it not hurt as much....

sorry sis, but euth is the HUMANE thing to do. would she want to suffer like that?

11/27/2005 3:50:27 PM

I mean, it isn't painful or anything to put the animal down.

I think it's a very nice thing to do for it honestly, as it will not have to suffer a painful death. Also consider that the animal wont know that it's about to die, and thus probably wont experience any fear either. Not the worst way to die at all, much better probably than dying of "natural causes."

11/27/2005 4:15:29 PM

I'm sorta torn on the idea of euthanasia

on the one hand, I'm for human euthanasia if the person can give permission or has given prior permission. The problem with animals is that, even though they may be in pain, they may want to keep living. many humans want to keep living through adversity, cancer, etc - why wouldn't a dog or cat?

I know that it's hard to see a pet suffer, but at the same time, you're not god. If the animal is ready to die, it'll die. On the other hand, we have raised these animals in unnatural situations, we've bred them to be human companions, and they don't have as many wild instincts as their ancestors. They may not be able to die as they're supposed to or something, who knows? It's a hard thing to think about.

[Edited on November 27, 2005 at 5:07 PM. Reason : .]

11/27/2005 5:05:44 PM

[whole lot of hippy BS]

11/27/2005 5:47:58 PM

My family's first dog got cancer and it was too advanced by the time we noticed the lumps to do anything but give her pain relief. My parents finally decided to euthanize her but not until she seemed ready to go, when she didn't wag her tail and her eyes didn't light up when she saw us, and stayed in her doghouse. We knew she was in too much pain and ready to go, so we took her in. If the dog is in constant miserable pain, and it's obvious she isn't interested in being with her family (owners) anymore, she should be taken in for euthanization. Doing otherwise is cruelty.

11/27/2005 6:23:25 PM

Quote :

"on the one hand, I'm for human euthanasia if the person can give permission or has given prior permission. The problem with animals is that, even though they may be in pain, they may want to keep living. many humans want to keep living through adversity, cancer, etc - why wouldn't a dog or cat?"

Parents can give consent on behalf of their children for lots of things, I think that idea could be extended to pets which are also dependents. Since euthanizing a pet also requires a vets consent, I think the standard is high enough for it to be okay. I'm also fine with human euthanasia (given the right set of circumstances), I'd rather see someone who has decided to end their life in a controlled hospital environment than parking their SUV on a train track somewhere.

11/27/2005 6:56:11 PM

what ever happened to taking it out back and shooting it

[Edited on November 27, 2005 at 7:15 PM. Reason : ]

11/27/2005 7:13:00 PM

we put my dog molly to sleep when she was 15...she had been deaf for years and had really bad arthritis...it hurt us to watch her get up. but some days were good days and she wouldn't hurt as much and be boucning around like a puppy again. some days were bad days and it was sad. but she was still our molly. we never even THOUGHT about putting her to sleep b/c of that.

one day my parents found her and she was bleeding badly from her anus. she had a very large tumor in her stomach and it was so far advanced there was nothing the vet could do. and it had already started to spread. my parents decided then that it was time.

if the dog is in a lot of pain and nothing else can be done...then i'm all for it. but if something can be done to help your dog (and to me there's no price limit on what i'd do to care for my dog) then there's no reason imho to euthanize.

11/27/2005 7:17:46 PM

My husband and I finally had our cat Franco euthanized after a long battle with feline lymphoma--and we wish we'd done it sooner than we finally did, because those last two weeks were just terrible. Franco wasted away to almost nothing because he was expending all his energy just trying to breathe, and my husband refused to allow me to take him to our vet one last time because he couldn't bear to lose his cat--when he finally took Franco in, it hurt a lot more than it probably should have because of the two weeks when Franco's condition took that last precipitous drop. We were prepared to bankrupt ourselves for Franco because he had given us quite a few years of love and companionship, but when he got out of his cat bed and collapsed on the floor because he was too weak to move we knew it was time to let him go.

If the dog's quality of life is so shitty that she's miserable all the time, it's IMO time to let her go.

11/27/2005 8:42:13 PM

Quote :

"I know that it's hard to see a pet suffer, but at the same time, you're not god."

thats such a stupid argument
gg hippy

11/27/2005 8:46:33 PM

How about this one then: You don't know what the animal wants.

11/27/2005 8:54:31 PM

so i guess parents shouldnt make decisions for children

11/27/2005 9:03:59 PM

^^I doubt pets have much concept of death regardless.

11/27/2005 9:54:04 PM

Quote :

"We were prepared to bankrupt ourselves for Franco"

You have a sickness

11/27/2005 11:39:03 PM

poisen

11/28/2005 12:49:54 AM

we put down our dog pepper in march. she could barely breathe, she had stopped eating, stopped drinking, and refused to lay down for 10 days. we took her into the vet 5 or 6 times trying all different medicines but none worked. her lungs were filling with fluid, her kidneys had shut down, her liver was on it's way out, and she had cancer.

she was obviously miserable. it was extremely hard to even look at her. we took her in on a saturday at 1130am and had her put to sleep, at the advice of our vet. with the first injection she finally relaxed and looked so relieved and comfortable. with the second she was gone. it was the hardest thing i've ever had to do but it was right to keep her around just because we'd have a hard time letting go.

11/28/2005 8:28:40 AM

Quote :

"You have a sickness"

Quite possibly--but some people see their pets as members of the family, us included. My husband and I have no children, so we have the cats, and they mean as much to us as any human child (which is to say, a hell of a lot).

11/28/2005 8:36:32 AM

Quote :

"what ever happened to taking it out back and shooting it"

yup, animal doesn't feel anymore that way than the clinical way. And to them it is just taking a walk in the woods, not some metal table in a vets office.

Quote :

"on the one hand, I'm for human euthanasia if the person can give permission or has given prior permission. The problem with animals is that, even though they may be in pain, they may want to keep living. many humans want to keep living through adversity, cancer, etc - why wouldn't a dog or cat?"

But most people who get cancer and live through it are younger and have many years left, or at least the possiblity for many years. Dogs just dont live that long. More than 15 years is rare, especially in pure breads. Hell, some breeds have life expectancies of only like 6 or 7 years these days.


Some of you have some very strange opinions. I mean I love my dog and all and would be sad, but it is just a dog and in the grand scheme of things Human > Dog, not =. Death is a part of life.

11/28/2005 10:15:01 AM

Quote :

""what ever happened to taking it out back and shooting it" yup, animal doesn't feel anymore that way than the clinical way. And to them it is just taking a walk in the woods, not some metal table in a vets office."

uh, no. there would be a loud shot, a high chance the owner didn't get it right the first time so the dog lays there suffering, and not to mention a fucking huge bloody mess.

taking the dog to the vet allows the family to be there, talk to, and cuddle the dog while she goes. the dog just drifts off to sleep and there's no violence involved...

11/28/2005 10:20:48 AM

a 22 short bullet cost about 4 cents thats my popular option. alot cheaper and same results with no pain.

11/28/2005 10:23:03 AM

a large bag and an exhaust pipe works also

11/28/2005 12:24:56 PM

Quote :

"My sister in law REFUSES to put her to sleep and gets really pissed off when anyone asks how she is. It's kind of pissing me off to watch Jaycee suffer like this. Anyone been through this?"

yep. been there. immaturity rules in those situations. there is nothing you can do. people are stupid.

11/28/2005 12:30:51 PM

Quote :

"I know that it's hard to see a pet suffer, but at the same time, you're not god. If the animal is ready to die, it'll die."

That logic makes no sense....

You could argue that you're playing God by prolonging the animals life with medication and surgery when it's ready to die. We should just regress to the stone age then and not use any science except herbal medicine to treat everything from a cold to amoebic meningitis?

Trust me, I've seen some animals that needed to be put down and the owner would become irate when we would mention it. How about a dog that has bladder cancer, but the owner refuses to do surgery (too much $$$) but elects to come in the hospital TWICE a day so we could push a catheter up the dogs penis to drain the bladder. We did this for a month, and by the end of the month, when the dog FINALLY died at home, in pain, the dog had gone from very sweet to trying to bite everyone around, including the owner. THAT dog needed to be euthanized.

Part of being a Vet is knowing the animal. Most vets like animals to come in twice a year for a check up, not to rip you off, but to watch your animal grow. We will be able to see if the animals quality of life has decreased if an owner sticks to the same vet (not if they price shop whenever a 3-year rabies is due).

Bottom line, the sister-in-law is a moron. Why doesn't she put the animal out of it's misery and use all the money to better the life of a new pup? Tell her that there is a puppy out there that needs to be rescued that WILL die because it has no caretaker, so she needs to stop being selfish and grow up.


My parents dog was in a rough situation a few months ago. He came down with pancreatitis, which led to liver failure and bacterial blockage of the bile ducts yielding a gall bladder the size of a golf ball (which is big anyway, but for a 12 pound MinPin, thats' enormous). We did what we could for a week, and planned on putting him down on a monday if the bloodwork to do on saturday showed no improvements. We weren't going to spend $4k on a surgery to regraft his bile ducts and his wuality of likfe would be horrible because we would die in a few weeks anyways. Luckily, 6 weeks of hardcore antibiotics and restrictive diet not only has kept him alive and solved the problem, he's also shed a few pounds and become even healthier than before

[Edited on November 29, 2005 at 9:20 AM. Reason : my parents dog..]

11/29/2005 9:15:43 AM

^ I understand your argument, and that's why I made really careful stipulations to mine. It's also why I said I was torn and gave several opinions. This isn't the sort of thing you can only use logic for, but you also shouldn't only go based on your emotions. I'd say that, in general, it's a case-by-case basis.

As gamecat said, you don't know what the animal wants. Animals definitely DO have a concept of death, that's why many of them leave and go to hide when they're ready to die. It's instinctual and not an abstract thought in their minds, perhaps, but that doesn't mean they don't know when death's coming.

Anyway, all I'm saying is that these animals have evolved now to be coexistant with humans. they can't survive in the wild for the most part, so they need to be taken care of by us, and that means we should think of them as living things. Also, I definitely DON'T agree that human > dog. I don't believe you can judge a living thing's worth based on whether it's the same species as you or not.

11/29/2005 11:40:16 AM

Quote :

"uh, no. there would be a loud shot, a high chance the owner didn't get it right the first time so the dog lays there suffering, and not to mention a fucking huge bloody mess."

um, the dog never hear the sound. and you shouldn't be doing that if you miss at point blank range. It's not like you shoot em in the gut and let em bleed out.

Quote :

"a 22 short bullet cost about 4 cents thats my popular option. alot cheaper and same results with no pain."

11/29/2005 12:07:25 PM

^that's my point. a lot of morons don't know what they're doing with a gun and would fuck it up.

11/29/2005 1:38:56 PM

Quote :

"Bottom line, the sister-in-law is a moron. Why doesn't she put the animal out of it's misery and use all the money to better the life of a new pup? Tell her that there is a puppy out there that needs to be rescued that WILL die because it has no caretaker, so she needs to stop being selfish and grow up."

I gave them a pedigree chinchilla complete with $200 cage as a wedding gift and they dumped the chin with my parents because the vet told them it'd kill off their dog. Honestly, I'm through dealing with them and their animals. Sucks too, cause my brother and I were close, but now with the new wifey it's like I don't exist.

11/29/2005 1:42:44 PM

^why didn't you get them something they registered for?

11/29/2005 1:48:15 PM

yeah, buying someone a pet as a gift is never a good idea.

11/29/2005 1:57:24 PM

put it out of its misery

if I'm ever in tons of pain with no hope of recovery I'd hope someone would do the same for me

11/29/2005 6:52:57 PM

exactly, you see it in zombie movies all the time

11/29/2005 7:13:06 PM

In reply to the pet gift thing, they DID ask for it.

11/29/2005 7:46:55 PM

We just moved in Sunday to our new house and already this damned dog my brother so lovingly "gave" me because his girlfriend decided she didn't like him in her new house has already pissed the carpet three times. He's about to go out back and buy a fucking 12 gauge slug in the head. First fucking house I have ever owned and the carpet is already going down the fuckin' shitter thanks to this hairy rat.

11/29/2005 10:05:57 PM

keep the dog outside. problem solved.

11/29/2005 10:21:22 PM

Why don't you mind your own goddamn business.

Haha j/k, seriously though I would, but its a little dog. Cockapoo or some shit. I dunno, but it'd probably freeze to death outside.

11/29/2005 10:24:51 PM

"accidentally" leave the door open

11/29/2005 10:27:50 PM

accidentally shoot it

11/29/2005 10:55:40 PM

do like in Boondock Saints

11/29/2005 11:38:06 PM