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This series could easily incorporate many other losses, such as missing or permanently disfigured pets, but it wouldn’t be complete without discussing  euthanasia, an elective procedure that is certainly difficult for me to discuss. Whether you are for or against euthanasia is not the issue; the fact is, euthanasia is part of most animal husbandry curriculum, and veterinarians are trained to recognize signs and symptoms of marked behavioral changes, irreversible pain, and terminal illness. If your pet or pets don’t die of natural causes at a ripe old age, you may face a decision about euthanasia sometime in your lifetime.

 

I devoted the introduction in my book Happy Tails to an observation of an undeniable life and death bond my friend and author Michael Reisig had with his Rottweiller named Ra. Michael’s story steps through an excruciating four weeks of attempting to help his dog turn the corner during an illness that eventually took his life. Michael slept on the floor with Ra during the final days, syringe feeding him and helping him breathe. As an illustration, this man was extremely devoted to his dog. But he realized one day that Ra had lingered long enough without improving, that he was in terrible pain. He held Ra while the veterinarian put him down.

 

Most veterinarians today use intravenous potassium chloride injected into a major artery of a dog or cat. Some veterinarians will use an anesthetic beforehand if you request it; this helps lull the animal to sleep so it won’t feel the second injection, or the sometimes irritating components of potassium chloride. Potassium injected in large amounts stops the heart within three to five seconds.  "Putting to sleep" is a correct layman’s term describing the animal’s response during appropriately injected euthanasia. Particularly with an anesthetic administered beforehand, the animal goes into a deep sleep, with all respiratory and neurological responses ceasing within ten seconds.

 

As your pet’s companion, you know better than anyone about its normal behavioral responses and daily habits. This is important information when taking a sick pet to the veterinarian. What your pet is doing differently can be critical in helping a veterinarian pinpoint the nature and degree of its illness. An example is Oz, an eight-year old German shepherd our Humane Society trained as a service dog and adopted out to Ina Jones last April. We’d observed some paranoia in Oz that seemed to subside with training and placing him in a home environment. I’d watched Oz change from cowering in the corner of a pen to a happy, playful dog who ran tag with our Shelter Manager Becky Lamb.

 

Oz had a contracted ehrlichiosis sometime before he arrived at the shelter. When I took him in for treatment for nosebleeds, I observed him to be profoundly depressed, based upon how he normally acted. This later played an integral part in understanding how sick he really was. We felt we were on the rim of his disease,  catching it early enough, but Ina reported early July his symptoms had returned.  On their daily 6:30 a.m. walks, he was rapidly growing weaker. He would stop and put his head down, or seem to be suddenly terrified. The veterinarian believed Oz had developed brain lesions  from the fevers and possible former abuse. He was having migraines and nosebleeds. Ina, who raised and trained German shepherds with her husband, Sidney, told me she had never encountered a dog with his supreme intelligence. He watched the streetlights and walked when they turned green, for example. Between the migraines and fevers, Oz was a fighter. The good days were good and the bad days were very bad. On Oz’s last day, Ina fed him his favorite food, a pound of raw hamburger. She said she had to feed it slowly to him throughout the day because of his nosebleeds. She chose for him to die at home and held him in her arms while the veterinarian put him down.

 

Losing a companion animal is extremely heart wrenching and difficult. Ultimately the one who has to emotionally deal with the way the animal dies is the owner. If your pet becomes terminally ill and you are asked by a veterinarian to consider euthanasia, do what you would do under any medical advisement. If there is some question in your mind concerning the diagnosis, request copies of your pet’s laboratory results and office evaluation and seek a second opinion. Most veterinarians can advise you correctly concerning the nature of the animal’s pain and its prognosis for recovery. It rests with you to decide whether it is humane to allow the animal’s disease process to take its course to a natural death, or have your pet euthanised. Having your pet euthanised by a veterinarian in your home may alleviate some of the animal’s distress, if it never enjoyed car rides or veterinary visits, for instance. You may choose to hold your pet, as Michael and Ina did. If you feel your pet may read your own distress, which they are very good a doing, you may choose not to be present. Doing what you believe is best for your pet during the entire process is tantamount to helping you through the grieving process.

 

Animal Control officers and shelter staff working at kill shelters must go through  similar steps in processing grief. Emotional attachments to animals can develop within minutes. Most officers and staff I’ve talked to who see euthanasia as simply "part of their job" do not effectively cope with the grieving process and eventually switch jobs. The ones who stay,  however, say these measures help them cope:

 

Any euthanasia performed at the shelter is intravenous and administered by licensed veterinarians or personnel only

 

Euthanasia is not seen as a solution to overcrowded shelters or animal overpopulation; instead, the same shelter staff often volunteer to initiate and maintain effective, cost-efficient spay/neuter programs with municipal muscle behind them

 

Euthanasia is seen as more humane than confining an animal to a cage for life

 

Before euthanasia, the animal’s stay at the shelter is made as pleasant as possible; shelter personnel carefully regulate animal intakes, avoid overcrowding the facility, feed the highest quality food and water affordable, maintain the animal’s living quarters on a daily basis, administer or commission timely veterinary care, exercise and play with the animals frequently, encourage volunteer visits and participation in foster care, and lobby in earnest for the animal’s adoption.

 

Whether euthanasia is right or wrong is not the issue. The issue is your pet’s ability to live out a quality life, its capacity to remain disease-free, and its chances of living fully and comfortably.
 

 

More from Julie:

• Pet Loss, Pt. 3 •
• Pet Loss, Pt. 4 •