How do you know when they've had enough?
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It is your writing skill that brings out the horror of it all and your humour that makes it bearable. Last week, I think it was, The only gleam of light in my life had been the sight, on TV, of two middle-aged men poking holes in hot water bottles so that people would get wet when they slept. What absolute rotters!
I've had a couple of elderly rabbits die in the last 18 months. You could see they were going downhill in the last few days, and with each of them I thought if they'd not passed over by a certain time, I'd have to take them to the vet, but they both died just a few hours before that time, in the house and being stroked during their last few minutes, with no struggle.
The same with two hamsters we had. One of them, Milly, had cancer, with a massive growth on her neck. The vet advised there was nothing to do but bring her in when she'd had enough. She was still friendly and interested in us even though she was sleeping a lot more and not eating much. She used to love running round in one of those clear balls. A couple of days before she died, we let her out of her cage for her evening wander round - she still appreciated it though she was too weak by then to do more than potter for a few minutes. The ball was lying a couple of feet away, without its cover on. To our surprise, she climbed into it and managed a couple of -albeit slow - rotations before climbing out. We got the feeling that she was satisfied she'd done it. The next night, she'd lost interest in us and I made up my mind I'd take her to the vets' next morning if she was still alive. My husband always gave her a slice of cucumber as a treat last thing at night before he came up to bed. That night she didn't want it, and in the morning she was dead.
My old cat had got to the stage where she couldn't jump up onto our bed any more and had to be tempted to eat, but she still loved to be with us and wanted to be involved in what we were doing. She died in her sleep with no sign of any struggle.
If you know your animals, it's little things that tell you what they want, and whether they're ready to go.
Good luck to both of you. xxx
And even now, I'm wondering - what's the cut-off point? And I think that's the painful part of being a pet-owner - as you so succinctly establish, Whisks. You have the power of life and death over a living creature. You are also better equipped than the animal in question to make the decisions you feel are best for it. After all, you'll probably know what's wrong with it in the first place and what its natural life-span should be.
Sometimes though, I wish I didn't.
So I went back to the cat, who was lying in the road while cars zoomed past and bleeding from its rear. I could tell that no vet could help the poor thing; it was obviously mortally wounded. There's a thing I know about cats, cos I lived like a wild animal myself as a child: I'd often find dead cats, or their bones, in obscure places. They prefer to do their dying in peace and privacy. So I found a piece of board and slid it under the dying cat, being very careful not to hurt it, carried it into the nearby field and found it a place under the hedge where it wouldn't be disturbed. I said goodbye, and I'm certain it gave me a look of gratitude before I walked away.
Our Staff Megan is now almost 15 and she is dying, her legs have just about gone and my OH as her first person has decided it is time, so on Tuesday we will set off to the vet and hopefully get it right and Meg will depart.
I shall dig a hole for her in the garden and we shall probably plant a shrub or a tree where she lays.
I shall miss her hugely, but she has no life and is horribly depressed.
So it is her time, I for one do not fear dying but f**k me am I scared of lingering in some hideous twilight, shadow world for years and years in some home or hospital.
Meg will live like all my other departed Dogs, cats etc... in my memories and we will get a companion for Ted and she will be a rescue oldie and we will give her as good a home as we can and mourn her when she goes.
Not sure how I shall be when Ted croaks though?
I'm not looking forward to the day when Mac's hips start to go. When his life is full of misery instead of joy I'll have to do the right thing and I know I'll be in bits over it.
'Nuff said.
Hope all proceeds as you and Daffy would wish.
Kim x
And thanks Alan. You're a goodun too.
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