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BlazeCast Rewind: How Do You Know When to Let Your Pet Die?

Dec. 13, 2012 12:44pm Scott Baker

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Comments (55)

Tonto Lebowski
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 11:04am
I love my pets like they are my children. My human children are all grown and going about their lives. It is the most difficult and agonizing decision in the world to take one of your furry best friends on their last ride to the vet. But I think they know you are doing them a great kindness, and you are doing it because you love and have loved them dearly since they became a part of your family. When I see one of my Buddys beginning to fail, I build them a beautiful little pine box. Prepare their gravesite. Give them all the love I can until it is time, then take them to the vet and do what is best for them. Then I mourn. Then I adopt again, and give that love to my new Buddy. But never forget my last Buddy. My friends who are losing thier Buddies, now call and ask for a little pine box for them. It gives yor furry Buddies dignity and shows your love.

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mako887
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:56am
Watching Glenn talk about Victor was something that any pet owner knows of. I’ve had owned many dogs in my life and it is never easy to say goodbye to them. One of the first dogs I owned just walked away from the house when it was her time to go. We never found her. Other dogs had to be put down due to illness. Others died in their sleep. It was never easy. You look in the dogs eyes and you can tell that they know it is time to go, but you want to hold on and keep them with just a little bit longer. If anyone has ever read the poem “Rainbow Bridge” they know what I’m talking about. I know now that all my “dogs in heaven” are healthy and happy, running and playing together, just waiting for the day we’ll all be together again. I miss each and every one of them.

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trolltrainer
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:48am
Headline:

BlazeCast Rewind: How Do You Know When to Let Your Pet Die?
————————————————————————————————–
I am not God, I do not control when anything naturally dies. The headline should read “How do you know when it is time to put your pet down.”

This is seemingly insignificant, but it is actually a blaring inaccuracy that highlights the problem with journalism today. I was hoping The Blaze would eventually rise above this kind of reporting, instead it has gotten much worse.

Never mind the insipid nature of the “story.” Yeah, I know about Glenn’s dog and I feel for him. I have been through it too. I think most of us have. The answer is you put the pet down when it suffers on a constant basis and when you see it is time by looking in it’s eyes. This is a mystery that deserves space here? Really?

And yes, I am fully aware that I do not have to frequent this site. Thing is…I have such great hopes of what a site like this could be and could mean to conservatives. So I keep coming back hoping things will improve. But the truth is this site is set up to generate hits and comments. Success equals numbers, not content. It really is too bad…

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- dsd13130
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:37am
  Wow…that was a REAL constructive comment…got SO much out of it. Yeah, my suggestion would be create your own website and post the PERFECT reporting you are looking for.
  
  Report this comment
- trolltrainer
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:55am
  Why, thank you! If you think about it you are correct, my comment was MUCH more constructive than yours! I was offering an honest critic of this site. BTW, I have been here from the beginning under this name, have you? This started out as a serious site where serious people discussed serious problems. Now it is nothing but troll-bait designed to incite anger with yellow headlines that are simply ripped from Yahoo News and the AP. It really is not even “journalism” but merely re-posting for the most part. When the Blaze team actually does something on their own it is usually misleading and full of spelling and grammar errors. Not to mention the insipid topics.
  
  Maybe if enough people like me, who WANT a better Blaze, would make known their dissatisfaction with the current state of this site then the people who run it might improve things.
  
  Probably not, but even so, I think that makes MY comment MUCH more constructive than YOURS. After all, what have YOU offered here?
  
  Report this comment
- trolltrainer
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 11:09am
  trolltrainer
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:55am
  
  BTW, I have been here from the beginning under this name, have you?
  ————————————————————————————————-
  I looked, you actually have been here from the beginning too. In fact, you joined just 1 day after I did in 2010! Small world…
  
  That said, I am not a troll. I am a serious poster that simply gets fed up with the lack of professionalism. I respect Beck and expect more out of his enterprises, even if this one is kept at arm’s length.
  
  Report this comment
patriot48
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 7:15am
From my experiences with dogs that have passed in my life is that you know when the end is near because the dog will let you know. They simply refuse any food. There is nothing that will make them eat and I think it is an instinctual thing that only animals know. When it happens it happens very quickly and you just know that it is the time you have been dreading. But the signal from our very best friend is very clear after a weeks or months of not knowing when we should say goodbye. Suddenly it is crystal clear. It’s almost telepathic from them to you. And there is no longer any question in your mind…..you just know.

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- Tigress1
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:43am
  You are exactly right! You just know.
  
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joehanx2
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 4:07am
get on the floor and do what he does if it is uncomfortable then you must do what is right

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Guitar Master
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 3:17am
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
From THE REPORTER
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I must be a really dumb azz for thinking that a loving family member (pet) should die a natural death. Of course trying to convince most of you otherwise is like pizzing in the wind.

All of you lemmings have been brainwashed by society and your family vet to stick a big long needle in your pet and watch him die in front of your eyes. Would you do that to your son, daughter, mother or father? Oh, yea you could say “but they are just an animal.”

All of you simply take the easy way out and you justify yourselves by telling mournful tales about poor Spot and his sad final days. You are too freak’n lazy to care for your pet until he dies a natural death. Oh yea, your pet finished his USEFUL purpose (to be your living toy) and now it’s time not to be burdened with his care in death. You people make me want to vomit.

You are all simply a bunch of lazy cowards. You are the same lot that gets your flu shot every year because you are convinced by the ad companies to do so.

So go tell your sad stories about how much you loved your pet, yah, you loved him so much you killed him. Hah ! You people are pathetic.

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- Melchizedek
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 6:56am
  You name and response indicates that you are a teenager so here’s a learning opportunity……Having to put a pet to sleep is a very difficult decision to make….I cried a lot when I took my old friend of many years to the vet for this purpose. But if you really love your put and it is suffering you do what needs to be done and put it out of its suffering. To do otherwise is a selfish and not cowardly … It’s more cowardly to be afraid to do what should be done rather than to just stand aside and watch your pet suffer……If your pet is not suffering then it’s a different story. You’ll undestand this better once you become an adult.
  
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- Xplorer
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 7:03am
  With my experience, my dog suffered from congestive heart failure and his kidney was shutting down ever so slowly. I hoped he would pass peacefully on his own but he fought and fought for months. It wasn’t until he was vomiting bile and no longer was able to digest the food I was injecting into his mouth via a syringe. I tried so long and did everything I could to make him comfortable and always hoped he would recover. He was almost 15 years old when I made the decision to let him go. I still think about that moment often, it seems he knew he was there at the doctors to feel better. It was very peaceful but I would never want to do it again. His sister will be 15 years old in February, she bounces around like she is 15 months old. I know how you feel as I am on your side. I believe people sometimes let their pets go too easily due to costs or time, but not all of us that own pets look forward to the goodbye.
  
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- Tigress1
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:30am
  I had a dog with severe anemia (I think he was poisoned because he ate several cans of the recalled Alpo a few years ago). Transfusions weren’t working, he was too weak to walk, he was breathing rapidly. I wanted him to die in his own home with his family and other pack members, and I asked if he would just die in his sleep. The vet said “Most likely not. Eventually it would become so difficult to breathe that he would feel like he was suffocating. Many dogs panic when that happens and they become very fearful.” My dog didn’t deserve to die like that.
  Another dog had severe kidney failure and had taken addictive seizure medication her whole life. When she couldn’t eat or swallow her medication she would have suffered withdrawals on top of dying from kidney failure. She didn’t deserve to die like that.
  Another dog was very old, and came down with CONSTANT seizures resulting in massive pain. She didn’t deserve to die like that.
  God put people in charge of the animals. To ignore that kind of suffering is equivalent to NEGLECT.
  
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- trolltrainer
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 10:08am
  Guitar Master,
  
  You are certainly entitled to your opinions, and this one even has some merit. It is not an easy thing to put an animal down and those of us that believe in God certainly have to balance His sovereignty with our stewardship over these animals. I feel that when an animal is severely suffering, and I do not mean just aches and pains but things like renal failure, the inability to walk even yards or obvious constant pain then it is our duty to put that animal out of its misery. But I certainly understand your point of view.
  
  So why do you feel the need to be rude about it? Are you so close-minded that you cannot see the other side? I can respect your view on this even though I believe it to be wrong.
  
  Report this comment
- mbck1491
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 11:14am
  Wow, and you think letting the pet that you claim you love so much to just lie there in pain and turmoil until is dies, and you claim it’s in the name of love. What’s wrong with that picture.
  
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- Cardilover
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 1:22pm
  Dogs do not think much about yesterday. They have no concept of tomorrow. They live in the present. If their present is awful and painful, with no prospect of being better, then we owe it to them to put them down painlessly and quickly. I would opt for sooner than too late. I do not ever want to see my precious dog suffer, knowing that I could have given him the ultimate gift of a painless letting go.
  
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happy2behere
Posted on December 14, 2012 at 1:12am
Answer: When the dog no longer seems like himself.

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neverending
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 10:49pm
From past experience I truly believe they always have a way of letting you know. The most important part is to set your emotions aside and think only OF THEM! They can’t tell you they are suffering but they have their own way of relaying the message. Never, never easy – in fact most difficult thing I have ever had to do.

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deb7505
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 7:53pm
I put Weezer down on Thanksgiving. It was time. It’s like she was wanting me to do it. All dogs go to Heaven!! Sure do miss her….

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CatherineAnn
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 7:20pm
I swear they tell you. It is in their eyes and the way they look at you. You know when they are ready to go. I have had many cats, dogs and horses die and all have had the same attitude when it was time. Call me crazy but I have experienced it so many times I know it when I see it. I have three old animals now and soon they will be ready to move on. I hate that but death waits for no one and when an animal is in pain and life is uncomfortable you have to do the right thing. Then you pick yourself up and go the the closest shelter and bring home a new Buddie. That way you give a life to another animal who would not have had that if it were not for you.

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Jenny Lind
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 6:22pm
I lost two within the last year and a half. First my sweet Suzi Q, complications from diabetes, then my grand old man, the time came when he didn’t bounce back. Those little Schnauzers, and the two left, I called my inheritance when my husband died. Lost hubby and half the fur pack, and I cannot tell in words how hard it’s been. I just plain grieve. Oh I keep going- have to, want to try to leave this country in a better place for my family. Thank heavens for the last two, they make me laugh every day, tell me when strangers come around and keep my feet warm at night. I am so gratefull to have these wonderfull companions in my life, they ease a lot of pain. Letting go is truely hard, but I believe the gang will all gather on the other side someday, and we’ll watch over our family still here.

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Wino911
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 5:12pm
10-years ago we put our female pit-bull down and still today it makes me cry. She was a rescue dog and a sibling to our only child. She gave us 14 wonderful years and we had to put her down the same week our son went away to collage. Boy did I ever have a empty nest feeling. She went downhill within two weeks, slower on walks & loss of appetite. One day she went and hid in the bushes and I knew it was time. We loaded her up in our Suburban with her favorite blanket and toys like we were going for a routine car ride, the vet came out to our car and gave her the injection. It was heartbreaking, she is buried in our backyard & I miss her.

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- crypticguise
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 6:15pm
  I loved my pet dog when I was a young man. But a pet is not a human being, and does not live as long a life as a human being. At some point they will grow old, perhaps sick with various maladies and die.
  
  It is a sin to allow a pet to suffer, but not a sin to relieve the pain and suffering. We do it with our human loved ones, but make believe that morphine drip is helping their pain. It is killing them.
  
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- cosmic dogma
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 11:26pm
  Sad for your loss. I lost a 15 year old beloved pet recently. Got a new puppy. Have lost one pants size, am on the puppy house training exercise program. Every 20 minutes walk puppy for 10 minutes up and down the drive and in the yard. Bend over and pick up shredded magazines and newspapers puppy has stolen off tables. /somehow the weight just falls off. It is a mystery.
  
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Trance
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 4:37pm
I’ve been struggling with this question for about 6 months now. I have a 21 year old cat that my wife and I got when we bought our first house in San Francisco. So, she’s been with us since 6 months after we were married. She doesn’t use the litter box, instead she pees under my pool table. We laid out some newspaper, but it still stinks enough that the home theater room and the pool table room are unusable.

Even though she’s blind in one eye, and very skinny, she still enjoys sitting on our laps. She meows loudly in the morning to get her canned food, and she doesn’t appear to be in much pain. She does walk very slowly, and doesn’t jump up on stuff as much as she used to. It’s such a hard decision, and every time I think about having her put to sleep it feels like I am betraying her. I’m just hoping that there will be some obvious sign soon.

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- trolltrainer
  Posted on December 14, 2012 at 9:56am
  Ride it out Trance, my parents are in the same place with their cat. She gets bad but then always bounces back. 20+ is old for a cat. If she is not suffering just enjoy your last months together. She has given you all those years of love, a little cat piss is not a bad price to pay. She will be gone soon enough.
  
  Just my opinion…
  
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egclark
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 4:17pm
Compassion will guide you. Let that rise above the pain. For there’s a part of you, which is never ready. There is no practice for a final “goodbye”.

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fatsomann
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 4:10pm
God gave us animals to remind us of God’s presence in our lives and that the world does not belong to just us. When the quality of life has diminished and they can’t do normal functions on their own (eat, drink, “go”) it’s time. Highly recommend having the vet come to the home. I am lucky to have vets that do.

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Megamom
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 4:10pm
When my dog of 13 1/2 years was ill with hemangiosarcoma someone sent me this link.
http://www.naturescornermagazine.com/help_companions.html
I found it made it a lot easier to know when the time had come then what our vet gave up. Knowing in your heart it is the right time and letting her go was so hard. But she was probably ready before we were.

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lili018
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:48pm
I lost my dear cat in October. She shared 14 years of gentleness and pure loving presence with me and her sister. She actually let me know the day she was ready to go. She had been diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer and the Vet had provided me with the tools to provide palliative care. As she always had done, she allowed me the time I needed to catch up with having her leave. On that last day, she asked me to let her go… it was in her eyes and in the way she laid her head against my hand. So, I asked God for strength and honored her request with all the love, gratitude and grace I could muster. I miss her very much. So… how do you know? Just listen, and they will tell you. Then find the courage and strength in God to honor their last request.

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AxelPhantom
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:39pm
On the subject of poems and when is the right time to get a new dog—when your heart is ready to give this…..

Here in this house…

I will never know the loneliness I hear in the barks of the other dogs ‘out there’.
I can sleep soundly, assured that when I wake my world will not have changed.
I will never know hunger, or the fear of not knowing if I’ll eat.
I will not shiver in the cold, or grow weary from the heat.
I will feel the sun’s heat, and the rain’s coolness, and be allowed to smell all that can reach my nose.
My fur will shine, and never be dirty or matted.

Here in this house…
There will be an effort to communicate with me on my level.
I will be talked to and, even if I don’t understand,
I can enjoy the warmth of the words.
I will be given a name so that I may know who I am among many.
My name will be used in joy,
and I will love the sound of it!

Here in this house…
I will never be a substitute for anything I am not.
I will never be used to improve peoples’ images of themselves.
I will be loved because I am who I am,
not someones idea of who I should be.
I will never suffer for someones anger, impatience, or stupidity.
I will be taught all the things I need to know to be loved by all.
If I do not learn my lessons well,
they will look to my teacher for blame.

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- AxelPhantom
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:47pm
  Here in this house…
  I can trust arms that hold, hands that touch…
  knowing that, no matter what they do, they do it for the good of me.
  If I am ill, I will be doctored.
  If scared, I will be calmed.
  If sad, I will be cheered.
  No matter what I look like,
  I will be considered beautiful and known to be of value.
  I will never be cast out because I am too old, too ill, too unruly, or not cute enough.
  My life is a responsibility, and not an afterthought.
  I will learn that humans can almost, sometimes, be as kind and as fair as dogs.
  
  Here in this house…
  I will belong.
  I will be home.
  
  (author unknown)
  
  Report this comment
Countrygirl1362
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:34pm
I made the decision Monday to put one of my dogs to sleep after his quality of live dropped to zero after a “stoke” over the weekend, he was 15 years old. It is never easy, but it is part of being a responsible pet parent. It is the hardest thing to do but also the kindest thing we can do to allow the animal to die with dignity and to not allow them to suffer.

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- Ranger1967
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:59pm
  I also suggest you have them put to sleep in their own home instead of at the vet. It seemed so much more peacefull with dignity. Two Golden Retrievers in the past two years. The hardest was Belle, the female….she fought with Myasthenia Gravis for 8 years. She beat the disease but got cancer since she had no imune system. She was the test dog for Roche Pharma that led to the cure for humans. When she passed, I am not sure who cried more, the vets on the case, the MG patients she met, me or God. Just an angel getting her wings….and a “Belle” ring is heard.
  
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toto
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:25pm
Years ago, probably would not happen today, I was able to put my dog down myself. She was a lovely 16 yr. old Shetland Sheepdog, that would rally repeatedly when we would take her to the vet for the “final time”, and the vet would send us home. I had a medical background and the ability to do it, so I asked for and received phenobarbital in an oral dose. It was peaceful and done at just the right time for her, I have no regrets. Oddly, this peaceful pain and suffering end is denied humans. Understand all the slippery slope and religious rational.

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Bonnieblue2A
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:20pm
Apologies for my typos. I don’t have any heat in my office and my fingers are too cold to type.

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Bonnieblue2A
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 1:08pm
You know it is time to help your dog by allowing the cet to euthanize him/her when:

When the dog’s bad days out number the good day.

When your dog is in obvious pain, unable to function without physical assistance and when ask the vet: “is this as good as it gets” and the vet relies that is is only downhill from this point.

When your dog is unable to do 3 things he enjoys and no longer find comfort and joy in human companionship but is hanging on only because you don’t have the courage to do the right thing and let him go.

When you are struggling wanting to know if it is the right time……..the time has already passed.

I’ve had have 3 of my dogs put to sleep. It never is easy. However, Yah gave us dominion over the animals and we have a responsibility to them to not allow them to suffer when it is clear their time has come. Glen, I listened to your radio broadcast this morning describing Victor’s condition. It is time to let him go, past time. Every moment he is in pain and suffers is because you were to selfish enough to return the unconditional love he has shown you and your family. Do the right thing and give him a way out of his pain. Please.

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AxelPhantom
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 12:59pm
We let our “Lady” go last year after she had a stroke that paralyzed her back legs. Her eyes told us when it was time. When she could no longer do the things she loved like chasing squirrels, protect the kids or just for a walk down in the pasture we knew the time was coming. The stroke was just the final thing. We buried her down in the pasture so now every day when we take the dogs for a walk we can say “Hi”.

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denispaul
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 12:55pm
Sorry Glen but i won’t watch this just like i turned the radio station this morning too depressing.

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GhostOfJefferson
Posted on December 13, 2012 at 12:49pm
When you start droning on about your pet, on the air, for hours, while the nation burns?

What do I win and where can I pick it up?

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- Ranger1967
  Posted on December 13, 2012 at 2:22pm
  Becasue god loved man so much, he made dogs for their friends….friends are hard to say goodbye to…
  
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