So I watched one of my friends with her dog in the last few minutes of his life Saturday night. He had been sick and she knew she'd have to make a decision soon, but not this soon. I went over just to visit them both, but when I got there; her dog was having some sort of seizure. My friend looked at me with tears rolling down her face and said, "I have to do this tonight."
I'll never forget what transpired in the next 20 minutes. I watched this beautiful dog gasping for air, his eyes looking at us for answers and the sounds of him crying in pain as they lifted him off the bed, out of the house and into the car. All the while my friend, who was trying to appear strong for him, kept asking out loud, "Am I doing the right thing?"
It hits particularly close to home as I have a 14-year-old cat who’s had some bad episodes lately. Three weeks ago I had to take him to the emergency vet center and I couldn't help thinking to myself, I am not ready for this. Suddenly, it becomes hard to escape the sad truth of owning and loving our furry friends. That is; while pets give us so much love, unconditionally, every single day, there will come a day we have to say goodbye, as most won't outlive us. And even more horrific, we will probably have to make "the decision" to let them go.
My boss, who created this HeadDrama site, said to me that I should just start "thinking of my cat as already dead" (now you can see why he started this site!) He doesn't have the same affection for pets as most people do, and nowhere near the type of love I have for animals, in general. I once jumped into a pool to save a drowning moth, yeah, it’s true! After watching this poor thing struggle to live for 30 seconds, I had to jump in and I didn't care who was watching! Animals are living, breathing creatures too and none of us deserve to suffer.
So for me, the "am I doing the right thing?" question is easy to answer. For the rest, check out our partner site HeadDrama.com
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