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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2015 15:20:48 GMT -5
I am not talking about doing what is easier at all.
Just for those that know their ferrets are terminally ill ,do not let them suffer drawn out deaths- some of these deaths I read about are nightmares.
Like if you can't manage your ferret's insulinoma, then put them to sleep. Don't let them seize to death.
Or if a medication is going to cause kidney failure , why do a double whammy on a terminally ill ferret?
Yes, if your ferret can be made well do something.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2015 16:56:26 GMT -5
A good example of this is my grandparent's last dog, back when I was just a toddler, had very bad cancer that could not be treated, and everyone told my oma (grandmother) to put her down, but she refused. This dog was very mean from what I remember, and my grandpa tells me that she was very sweet before she got sick.
Now my oma is afraid of getting attached to another animal because of how her dog "suddenly" died, and refuses to get one even though it would help my grandpa. She's also constantly asking me to go back and live with them, but wouldn't let me bring my ferrets or cat. So in the end, the dog suffered and my Oma has closed herself off from all animals.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2015 18:44:18 GMT -5
Oh how many times have I told myself the same - after my first cat died, after my ferret, Ozzy, who was my best friend, and was with me in times of joy and sorrow, I grieved for so long, I said I would never adopt another animal, it hurts too much. But Ozzy sent me Aramis, the morning Ozzy passed, Aramis was born. And somehow found me.
I believe in dying with dignity, and I hope that when the time comes, I will have the strength to understand and accept what they try to tell me. Ozzy passed at home, I saw him fade away and couldn't get him to the vet (emergency vet did nothing), he was scared, he didn't pass peacefully. His last moments are going to haunt me forever, I'll never be able to forget that image of him, and it hurts so much...
I wish here people would be able to make thst decision about themselves. I saw my father begging for it to be over, to let him go, and we couldn't do anything about it. The doctors wouldn't. Seeing despair, begging for death changes you forever.
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Post by Klarissa on Aug 3, 2015 19:04:53 GMT -5
I'm sorry about Ozzy & your experience. Losing a pet is hard enough, without the struggle of trying to find a ferret experienced vet to help the fuzzers.
Next time I go to my vet, I'm going to voice some of the concerns I have about my pets end of life care. I wonder if I can have instructions in advance for my furry kids end of life care, to make sure my vet is on the same page now. Save me the stress of having to push my wishes in an already stress situation.
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Post by RedSky on Aug 4, 2015 7:34:24 GMT -5
Poor Ozzy and your dad. I can understand your pain and my heart goes out to you. My Grandad was in so much pain at the end, he was riddled with cancer, it was throughout his entire body even his brain so he didn't know what was going on and he just laid their a frail old man who could no longer do anything but wail. It was heartbreaking to see him like that and my only hope was that he was too out of it to know what was going on.
My vet is pretty good, she is similar to me in that she wants to give thing a try but she is also very honest about success and failure and gives you a short and long term view of what will, might or could happen. I'll be taking my hamster in to be PTS tomorrow, her appetite isn't as good as it could be but she's still eating and still running on here wheel, digging, chewing but I can see pain and it's going to get worse not better. I noticed this morning her sister hadn't eaten much either, so her time will be soon. They are badly bred and have never been the healthiest or most social animals. Their other sister was put down late January this year as she seemed to have a respiratory infection that just wouldn't shift, she perked up a bit and we were hopeful but then she suddenly got worse and I could see she had given up.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2015 21:41:54 GMT -5
I was actually ready to let Marley go this morning. I never would have done it before, and I only feel differently now because my mother's cat had to be let go. She was in so much pain. I didn't think they would pull Marley out of what she experienced last night, but I recognize that there's no weakness in ending her suffering if it comes to that. I also know that that doesn't make it any easier. However, there have been two situations in which I held on too long, and that's almost a worse, lingering pain than I would feel to give any of my little loves peace while I can.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 17, 2015 9:30:19 GMT -5
I grew up on a farm in Sweden and have seen life and death very close, I helped a lot of lambs into this world and have seen so many calves emerge from their mothers. I've also seen the sorrow a cow went through after her calf died, she never got up from the floor again, we had to put her down before she starved to death since she stopped eating. She was so sad. =( Maybe i'm too practical about my pets but if they are sick and there is nothing to be done, I rather help them over the bridge than prolong any suffering. People have called me coldhearted but I rather think it's the one keeping their pet alive for any cost is the one that are selfish. I love all my pets and I don't want them to suffer. I once had a cat (his name was Kokos aka Coconut) I saved from a really miserable life from an alcoholic that had like 30 cats in his tiny apartment, he started with 2 and so the story goes. He was fed canned haricot verts (string beans?) and was inbred I don't know how many generations. He was my soulmate (writing this is tearing me up) and he was as weird as me =D After 5 years he started peeing everywhere and I took him to the vet for a urinary tract-infection. He got medicine, but it was making him sick, he puked everywhere and he started to look really haggard and thin. So we tried another medicine, same result, and it didn't even work for his infection. After maybe a month I took him to another vet that said he got an lasting infection and he could eat more medicine for it but it wouldn't really help. So I let him go. I still visit his grave and put potato chips on it, he loved them, especially sour cream and onion. If I knew then what I know now he wouldn't have suffered that much, maybe it wasn't really my fault giving him kibble. Maybe the damage was already done. I don't know. I miss him.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 19, 2015 11:02:16 GMT -5
What a fabulous article, and it gets to the heart of it all, doesn't it? I have been very lucky to have found wonderful vets in the places we lived. Our current vet is someone I wish I could come to myself for my medical care! She is pulling double duty, as she is not only a vet, but a therapist for the owners. She always lets us know what is in the realm of possibility for treatment. She is pretty up to date on her tech and gadgetry, always looking for the cutting edge stuff. She will be the first to tell you, though, that just because a procedure can be done, it doesn't mean that it should be. Her first and foremost obligation is to the animal and its quality of life. She understands that financial hardships are a part of pet ownership sometimes, and she works with patients if an expensive treatment would give a long life to the animal. I like to say she runs a compassionate business. There are those vets out there who are in business to make a buck. So glad I have never patronized them!
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