What to do when you have to make the agonising call to be kind to your pet and have them put to sleep!

Sorry for the delay in posts, but I have been away and the Internet when available was so bad it was near impossible to use.

After writing my last post, it brought back bad memories of what happened when we had to make that agonising decision to put our beloved Buffy down for the good of the dog.

Whilst weighing up the pros and cons of what was best for Buffy the Vet and nurse were extremely kind and considerate. However, when we had to make that final decision they became extremely clinical, quickly giving Buffy a needle putting her to sleep with the nurse then picking her up, placing her in a black plastic bag swinging it around to twist the top, tied the bag up and handed her to us. My wife and I were so dumbfounded with the cold hearted process we just stood there unable to talk. All I could remember was Buffy looking up at me when the needle went in, as if to say help me. We were devastated. And on top of that we then had to go back to our four young children in the car and tell them what had happened and drive 2.5 hours home. It was the longest trip I have ever had to endure.

Some 16 years later we were faced with the same dilemma of how to best perform the task with another beloved small dog we had rescued from death row as a pup, who after 15 great years had become deaf, blind, incontinent and no longer able to get around easily, or in and out of the doggy door in a very cold winter. .

After many discussions with a vet, we found it became kinder to let her go, than keep her. The vet suggested that they could come to our home rather than have it performed in a clinic. This allowed us time to say goodbye and kept our dog at ease being in familiar surroundings, without the stress and smell of a veterinary clinic.

Whilst there is never a good way of having this procedure done and although still upsetting to see our beloved dog go, it was so much easier and nicer for both us and our dog. Even the Vet had a bit of a tear in her eye when our dog licked her hand as she put the needle in her paw.

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