I know this is going OFF TOPIC here but I do believe maesie that animals wait...either to you go or come, my first dog Skippy waited till I got home from work and he died in my arms 15 mins later...that was the most painful loss I ever had being my first dog and my first loss and he was only 10y.

I know this is going OFF TOPIC here but I do believe maesie that animals wait...either to you go or come, my first dog Skippy waited till I got home from work and he died in my arms 15 mins later...that was the most painful loss I ever had being my first dog and my first loss and he was only 10y.

 

I agree... I have had many pets die, but this is the most painful one...

I forgot we had this in our FAQ...I hope this helps a bit.

 

Euthanasia : The Difficult Decision

Although no-one wants to be faced with this situation, as bird/animal owners, chances are that one day, you WILL be faced with dealing with this.

 

 

The word euthanasia comes from Greek terms. ‘’eu’’ meaning ‘good’, and ‘’thanatos’’ meaning ‘death’. This is my view on what is a ‘good death’. The death should be as humane, as painless, and as trauma free as possible. The animal should experience little, or any if possible, anxiety pre-death. Loss of conciousness should be quick, and as pain free as possible. Usually, a well handled euthanasia is totally pain free.

 

Here is how the proceedings went with my recent encounter with euthanasia with my cockatiel, Chip.

 

1) Extensive tests were run to evaluate the seriousness of his condition (it was already clear at this point that his condition was quite serious.)

 

2) I asked my vet to be totally honest with regarding the outcome of the tests, if Chips condition was to prove incurable, and his life quality was going to be poor and degenerative, to advise me if euthanasia was advisable. I knew deep down that I would probably recognise this situation myself, but allowing for emotion to blind me slightly over my pets welfare, I needed to be sure I would not let my pet down.

 

3) Agreeing/coming to terms with such a decision should it arise, is not easy. However, it is vital at this point that you put your pets welfare before your own emotional needs.

 

HERE IS HOW TAKING MY BELOVED PET BIRD ON HIS FINAL JOURNEY WAS HANDLED: None of it was easy, it was extremely difficult and painful emotionally, to the point of being physically painful. BUT deep within my heart, I knew I was doing right by my pet. (this is simply the decision to let a beloved friend go, not the actual act of euthanasia that I speak of above)

 

1) I prepared his travel cage and made it as comfortable as I could, as I did with any trip to the vet..

 

2) I kept my own emotions under strict control, and quietly and calmly removed him from his cage and placed him in his travel cage.

 

3) I was not kept waiting at the vets. They knew the reason I was there, and I was called in to the consulting room within minutes.

 

4) My vet quickly went over Chips condition, his prognosis, and reassured me that I was doing the right thing. I was asked if I wanted to be present during proceedings, which I did. There was NO pressure whatsoever put on me over this,

 

5) Chip was first of all given a whiff of general anaesthetic, and he very quickly and painlessly fell asleep, deeply asleep. It was calm, struggle free, and humane. Once he was fully anaesthetised, he was injected directly into his liver, via his stomach. This is the injection that actually causes the death of the animal.

 

6) All through the procedure, the vet chatted gently and calmly to me, explaining step by step what was happening. This kept me calm, which in turn will have reflected on my pets final emotions before he fell asleep under the anaesthesia.

 

7) I was then left in total peace and quiet (although the vet did not leave the room, he simply stayed silent) while I held my bird in my hands close to my heart as the final steps of his beautifully peaceful journey were completed.

 

8) After about a minute and a half, the vet gently suggested that he was going to check for breathing and heartbeat. Chip was not removed from my hands, and the vet was gentle and calm as he very carefully checked Chip for any signs of life. He acknowledged gently that Chip was now at peace.

 

9) A little bit of panic started to grow inside of me at this point, I needed to be sure that his euthanasia WAS successful. My vet patiently gave me another minute nursing Chip, and then quietly and calmly checked for signs of life again. He reassured me that Chips journey was, indeed, over. Chips passing was extremely calm, painless, and peaceful.

 

I am sharing and reliving these moments for those of you who think I could never cope. It will be traumatic and disturbing and horrible. My pet will suffer.

For those of you who may be facing this now, or may at sometime during the future face this difficult decision, I hope my experience has helped, or will help you feel more prepared should the time arise,

The personal loss and grief can still be extreme, but I do have to say that the beautiful peacefulness of your pets passing becomes a great comfort.

If your vet does not use anaesthesia as a prelude to euthanasia as a matter of course, you CAN insist upon it. This way, things are much easier on both your pet, and on you, especially with a small animal.

 

Euthanasia is seen as a dark subject, and from my experience, rarely discussed openly in public forums. It is even quite difficult to find heartfelt personal experiences on the web.

 

I hope my very recent experience of it has helped remove some of the darkness and horror that often seems to surround this subject. I hope it shows that those final steps in that final journey, can, indeed, have a peaceful beauty about them.

Even as I am writing this, I am grieving the loss of my much loved friend. But, I am NOT grieving how he passed. I will be eternally grateful for that beautiful, painfree, fear free passing.

 

AKA BBC Member Chirpy

MY LAST NEWS HERE

 

First of all, please accept my sincere thanks for all your help, views, comments but most of all your caring shown over my darling Percy. Can I offer my condolences to everyone one who has lost a pet because it's something I know from experience that we don't "get over" but sometime hence - come to terms with in our own way.

 

This afternoon Thursday 25th Sept at 15.30 GMT my darling baby Percy was put to sleep and I held him and told him how much I loved him, that I was setting him free and he would soon be away from the pain and suffering he'd had over such a long time.

 

The vet was so very kind, so compassionate I knew out of all the vets my Percy had seen that when I needed it most, we were with the right one. Mark told us how he admired what we'd done all these years for Percy and that when it came to the right decision for Percy's sake, that we were doing the right thing. I had a job to let go really because my baby was talking when I got him out of his carrying box, telling me to "come on, scratch his beak"..... but I knew we just had to let him fly free from the pain.

 

Mark did everything he should as Elly had described and we brought my little darling home about half an hour ago. My hubby is digging his final resting place, I can't face that at the moment but later will buy a plant to put there above my baby's grave.

 

Thank you everyone, thank you for the last 5 years of help, support and understanding you've given me on this wonderful site. Without that I don't think I could have done half the things I've done and to know that here were people who understood it all and knew what I was going through.

 

I will eventually look in the "In Memorium" section, I have avoided it for so long....but I need to go there when I feel a little less numb. I think after that I will leave the site as I can't bear the memories, but I will most certainly say prayers for you and your darling birds and keep you all in my thoughts as you have done with me.

 

with love in friendship

 

Chrissie

Oh Chrissie....tears are running down my face, I am so sorry ((HUGS)) now Pretty has a new friend to play as they fly free together. I will PM you.

(((BIGGEST HUGS AGAIN)))

 

I am so sorry

Hugs I know how hard this can be and how hard it can be to finally say "I am letting you go"

I have PMed you... biggest hugs always

I am really sorry Sorry its been so painful a journey for you but happier for Percy as he is now free from all that kept him so restricted in his life.

 

I have a few special places in my garden where the special ones of my heart lay. I try and plant them in plant pots so, if I ever move house they will come with me.

 

I had a very special cat once that suffered like your Percy did. I delayed the inevitable so very long. She had reached a point where she had lost her coat and had weeping sores all over her skin from imagined flea bite allergy. She was blind and could not see or find her dinner two inches from her face. Every time she jumped down from somewhere she would break bones in her feet and legs...you could hear them snap. My daughters would not allow me to have her put down. I waited till they went to school one day and took her for her last trip to the vets. She went in peace and I brought her home. I laid her in her favourite place under a bush in the garden for my children to find when they got home. They...my kids....were happiest believing she had died in her sleep in her favourite place in the garden in the sunshine and I never ever told them it had happened another way.

My only regret is she lays in a garden that isnt here with me.

 

I am sorry that I forgot for a little while how hard this is to go through, but I have remembered now, and you have my deepest sympathy and biggest hugs.

:angel1: Kaz

Edited September 26, 200816 yr by KAZ

l'm so deeply sorry ((((Hugs))))

l have read your thread with tears in my eyes, it brought back a lot of memories. l know that it was such a difficult decision to make

Friday

Thank you everyone I know you understand just what I'm going through. I will reply to my PM's over the weekend but I wanted to thank you so much for all you've said. I am going to post a small message in the In Memorium now because I feel I need to.

 

Thank you again, my heart goes out to you all for your kindness and caring.

 

hugs

Chrissie

Hugs. It is a very hard thing to put them down. It always seems that just before you take them in, they start being really cute and make it hard for you to make the decision. Saffy decided to perk up and eat seeds at the vets and she looked so cute. She was all fluffy and her cheeks were so puffy and she looked so cute, but she was very sick.

With Arkady I wasn't able to see him before he died. He died at the vet hospital while I was in lectures and it has only just hit me now that I really wish I could have seen him before he died. He was my naughty bubba and I miss him.

Chrissie, please accept my condolences on your sad loss. You tried so hard to do everything possible to help your little friend.

Edited October 8, 200816 yr by KAZ